The young officers at the front, who were well provided with money, spent a healthy winter. Ski-ing was one of the chief amusements; they brought the sport back to Vienna, where it had previously been something of a novelty. Otherwise the social life of the people was but little affected by the diplomatic trouble that was causing such perturbation at the Ballplatz. There was some complaining at the scarcity of men. Vienna hostesses had always counted on providing each girl with a choice of partners; this year the available men were either getting on in life or unduly young, as the mobilisation had swept up the rest. Those who remained at home, too, were overworked, and could not spend their days in semi-somnolence in the office and their nights in the whirling activity of the ball-room. It was only a year later, on returning from the annual holiday, that people began to notice that prices had gone up. The explanation was simple enough. The army, after the unsuccessful mobilisation which had revealed all kinds of deficiencies, began to make numerous demands. The guns they had tested during the very frequent frontier skirmishes whose history has never been written were useless. Much of the ammunition was counterfeit. Stories of corruption touching even the highest officials were current. Some great personages were dismissed without the customary decoration, the Emperor plainly saying that he would show no mercy to those who had betrayed their country. The excuse that they had no idea that a war was perhaps pending did not palliate their crime in the eyes of the aged Emperor, who is a soldier par excellence in all that concerns discipline and order.

The discovery of many lacunae and “discrepancies” in the service made Austria-Hungary herself chary of going to war. When the chance of a compromise came she was ready to take it. This was the easier for her, as Germany, who was prepared for a world-war in the month of October, absolutely refused to back Austria-Hungary in an adventurous policy in December. The reason was plain. Germany and her Emperor had believed all the reports they had received of Austria’s readiness; it was only when they saw how the mobilisation hung fire, and realised how unwilling her men—especially those belonging to the subject races—were to fight, that they saw they had been deceived, not intentionally, but by the difference between what the Austrians believed and the actual state of affairs. Kaiser Wilhelm began to see for the first time that he could not take the Emperor’s word for things; not that the aged man had the faintest intent to deceive him, but simply that he lived in a world created by his courtiers, and existed in the atmosphere prevalent at Courts a century ago. His councillors, old men like himself, never told the Emperor anything unpleasant. If they believed that he did not wish to hear it, the truth was carefully concealed. It is doubtful whether the Emperor ever knew of the discontent in the ranks of the army.

Kaiser Wilhelm had but small difficulty in holding back the politicians who sat in Vienna and appreciated his arguments. Modern wars, said the Kaiser, cannot be waged without munitions and money. Austria-Hungary had numbers of men, but her munitions were of ancient pattern; her guns were not fit for active service. Wealth she possessed in plenty, as Austria-Hungary is a rich country, but it was not realised. It was all invested in lands, machinery, and other plant. Her subjects were not accustomed to direct taxation to any extent. The military party could not grasp these arguments.

A great nation ought not to stoop to negotiate, it said. Why should they hesitate when their army was over two millions strong?

It is a curious fact that during the negotiations no one mentioned the really salient point in so many words, nor asked, “By what right had Germany, through Austria, arrogated to herself the power to disturb the peace of Europe and to steal a march upon her neighbours in the night?” Neither country has ever advanced a reason to excuse this action. The first cause was doubtless Kaiser Wilhelm. In the plenitude of his arrogance, which made him consider himself beyond all human laws, he regarded the rights and wishes of others as entirely negligible quantities where the greatness of the German Empire, which meant his greatness, was concerned. Every German child was taught that Germany should be supreme over all. In the schools they learnt that nothing, not even truth or justice, could be allowed to interfere with Germany’s commercial progress. The young men who stole into Italy or Bohemia as clerks and took copies of the names of customers for the use of their countrymen, were not considered thieves in the usual sense. They were simply German patriots; men who had been reared from childhood to consider that the old standards had fallen, and a new German philosophy had taken its place. This teaching had one object, and one only, the aggrandisement of Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm was at the head of this movement. He regarded the other nations as effete and degenerate. They had no right to block the way of the Prussians, who were a reincarnation of the Goths of old, and who would sweep everything before them. Prussians of high standing were not backward in expounding this theory. The other German races murmured at the “unscrupulousness” of the Prussian. They felt that men of this character were dangerous, and that they ought not to be entrusted with the supreme command in the Empire. Austria-Hungary, meanwhile, chafed at the bit that she was beginning to feel. After all the delicate questions had been settled and the terms of the agreement arranged, her statesmen sighed and said: “This has been a mistake, we ought to have gone to war.”

Statesmen saw that they had placed themselves too unreservedly in Germany’s hands. Peace, too, had been preserved by unusual means. When things had reached a very critical stage, the aged Emperor Francis Joseph stemmed the current that was carrying the country towards war. He let it be known that he objected to the peace being broken. He wished to end his days in tranquillity. Such respect was felt for the Emperor that this was sufficient to turn the scale in favour of peace. Austrian statesmen, however, were encouraged in an irresponsible feeling that they might go to great lengths in threatening war without being called upon to back up their threats by action. The Austro-Hungarian supreme War Lord could save the situation by a word. Germany could prevent things reaching a climax if the Emperor’s petition for peace were not sufficient.

These ideas were radically wrong. The Emperor tacitly undertook not to break the peace again when he made his appeal. It is certain that he never intended to do so. But this should have hampered his statesmen. It did not. Instead of feeling that the Emperor’s pledge to Europe laid a responsibility upon them, they, on the contrary, felt that their acts were always liable to be disavowed by the monarch, and that they were not forced to show the same caution as they would if their decisions were final. In the same way, they failed to realise that Germany would inevitably demand compensation for her protection. The noblemen who held the helm in Vienna were not a match for the calculating business men who were pursuing a “real” policy at Berlin, and who had little to do with ideals.

CHAPTER X
PRINCE EGON FÜRSTENBERG AND COUNT TCHIRSKY.
HOW THE KAISER “WORKED” VIENNA

Kaiser Wilhelm had the good sense to keep away from Vienna during the time of the annexation crisis. Very few knew the extent of his influence in the Austrian capital, nor had they any idea how it was exercised. The Kaiser was always well informed of everything that was happening in Austria, and obtained his knowledge by attaching personages like Max Egon Fürstenberg to his person. The Kaiser never selected a friend except for the advancement of his own ends. Prince Max, who had the position of a reigning sovereign, without the work or responsibilities that were formerly attached to the title and possessions, had the entrée to all the most exclusive houses in Germany and Austria-Hungary. Here he shared State secrets that it was given only to very few to know. Kaiser Wilhelm was quick to see the advantage of attaching such a man to his side. The Prince was flattered by the monarch’s notice, and never thought that casual remarks that he let fall were treasured up by his Royal host. The German Kaiser and the Prince even speculated in stocks and shares together, financed companies, and indulged in business that was quite legitimate for the wealthy Prince, who could afford to lose heavily, but very dangerous for a monarch whose purse was always exhausted.

Prince Max, who is easy-going and good-humoured, cared little for his failures, but Kaiser Wilhelm lost prestige with his people through his financial transactions. Prince Max was very irresponsible in many ways. Like many other Austrians, he failed to see that his country was on the edge of a volcano. Things had always settled themselves before, and they would again, he thought. It is doubtful whether he realised that he was a mere tool in the hands of the Kaiser, and even if he did so, his sardonic contempt of life made him indifferent to the unpatriotic rôle that he was playing in giving away his country’s secrets to her worst enemy. Intelligent and well-versed in the traditions of his family that has produced so many famous men, it is probable that Prince Max could have saved Austria from falling into the hands of the Germans had he realised what was happening. Unfortunately, he was too much occupied in pursuing the latest craze of the moment to think of serious matters. Under his charming manners he possessed a certain acumen, but was inclined to think the Germans were guided by the same motives as he was himself. The over-civilised, over-polished man of the world fell an easy prey to the cold, calculating monarch on the other side of the frontier.