Page:Diplomacy and the War (Andrassy 1921).djvu/134

 When I saw that in the autumn of 1914 nothing was done in this direction, I began to feel very restive. During December I called upon Berchtold in order to communicate my anxiety to him. I saw that the Minister for Foreign Affairs had already considered this question a good deal, and that he came close to agreeing with my point of view. I got the impression that he intended to gain time without making Italy bitter or running the risk of making her distrust us. Our General Staff was of the opinion that a decision could be enforced within eight months at the outside. Berchtold proceeded to allow a great deal of this time to elapse without making our relations with Italy any worse. But then he was also of the opinion that a decision would have to be arrived at shortly.

On January 11 I was again with Berchtold, and cautioned him to take a decision. The Minister for Foreign Affairs informed me that since our last discussion a decided step in the right direction could be noted, because the Italian Ambassador, Avarna, had notified officially for the first time the Italian demand for Austrian territory. I received the impression that Berchtold shared my opinion and recognized the necessity of a friendly agreement. He asked me what relationship existed between Tisza and myself, and whether I believed that I could influence him. I replied thereupon that I had supported Tisza since the outbreak of the war, but that the political situation was never touched upon in our conversation, whereupon Berchtold begged me to call upon the Vienna