AUSTRIA-HUNGABY 356 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY otic, owing to the inability of the Gov- ernment to satisfy the claims of the va- rious racial elements that made up the Empire. There was a vast war weari- ness, and all that the majority of the population sorely wanted was peace and bread. Peace was sought by Count Czernm in a conciliatory and moderate speech that he delivered to the Vienna City Council, which was in effect a reply to an address of President Wilson on war aims. He defended the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which had been scathingly denounced by the American President, and declared himself to be in agreement with many of the latter's principles. A maladroit reference to peace discussions, which, he said, had occurred between France and Austria, on the initiative of the French Premier, Clemenceau, gave rise to one of the most sensational diplomatic inci- dents of the war. The charge was hotly denied by Clemenceau, who declared that the first step had been taken by Austria, and who, in the discussion that arose, produced a letter written by Emperor Charles himself to a relative by mar- riage, Prince Sixtus of Bourbon, in which he referred to "France's just claim regarding Alsace-Lorraine." The pub- lication of the letter produced great ten- sion between Berlin and Vienna and Charles was forced to make humiliating explanations before the breach between the governments was closed. Matters were made still worse by a great military disaster on the Italian front. The German drive in Picardy had been halted, and the dimmed prestige and morale of the Central Powers required a victory in other fields. The Austrian commanders were so confident that this would be achieved, that they had medals struck in advance, commemorating their imagined triumphal entry into Venice. They had an army of over 1,000,000 men, and they fully expected to repeat the victory of Caporetto over the sup- posedly disheartened Italian army. On June 15, they made an attack on a front of 97 miles, reaching from the Asiago Plateau to the sea. Their superiority in numbers gained them some initial ad- vantages, and by the 18th they had extended their line over the Montello Plateau to Casa Serena. On the 19th, however, the Italians assumed the initia- tive, and before long they were driving the invaders back in headlong retreat that soon became a rout. The elements were against the Austrians also, as heavy tempests had swelled the Piave at their back, and swept away the bridges over which they sought to make their escape. The carnage v^n^ ghastly. Men were drowned by thousands, while a storm of shot and shell harried the fugitives. The Austrian losses in killed, wounded and prisoners exceeded 100,000, and enormous quantities of guns, ammu- nition, and supplies were left in the hands of the victors. The battle prac- tically closed the campaign for that spring and summer. It was the most terrible disaster that had befallen the Austrian arms up to that time in the war. For the rest of the summer and early fall the opposing armies faced each other, recuperating from their efforts and reorganizing their forces for the last decisive battle. In the interim, Aus- tria, dismayed by her own situation, and the repeated defeats being inflicted upon the Germans, who were being steadily driven back in France and Belgium, was making frantic efforts to secure peace terms before she was utterly overcome in the field. The story of her "peace offen- sive" has been fully described in an- other part of this work. Her efforts, however, were fruitless, and the issue had to be decided by the arbitrament of arms. On Oct. 24, the Italians attacked in the Piave and Monte Grappa regions. For scarcely 24 hours, the Austrians resisted, and then their lines gave way everywhere. Soon all pretense of fighting vanished, and the retreat became a debacle. Whole regiments and brigades were captured. By Nov. 3 the Italians had captured 5,000 guns and over 300,000 pris- oners in one of the most overwhelming victories of modern times. On that date the Austrian commander applied for an armistice, which was granted, the terms going into effect on the following day. On Nov. 11, Emperor Charles, follow- ing the example of the Kaiser, abdi- cated and removed to the castle of Eck- hartsau, from which he afterward went into exile in Switzerland. Disintegration set in immediately. The Empire fell apart like a house of cards. There had never been a real bond of national feeling to hold together the conglomerate races that composed it. On Nov. 15 the Republic of Czecho-Slovakia was established, with Prague as its capital. It embraced the former Aus- trian crownlands of Bohemia, Silesia, and Moravia, together with part of Hungary The area was four times that of Belgium. Its economic resources were great, as before the war it had furnished 60 per cent, of Austrian iron and 83 per cent, of the coal of the Empire. Thomas G. Masaryk was chosen as its first Pres- ident, Nov. 19, and a loan of $7,000,000 was negotiated with the United States.
