Page:Diplomacy and the War (Andrassy 1921).djvu/198

 first-class material. These mistakes could be felt in the whole of the organism of the State. The long reign of Francis Joseph was not favourable to the development of such talent as existed. This ruler loved the punctual, assiduous bureaucrat, whereas he was rather shy of men who possessed profundity of thought and who were endowed with great gifts. In fact, one might almost say that he was afraid of the last-mentioned type. The so-called asses' ladder was the normal means of promotion during his reign. Influence, birth, and bureaucratic talent sometimes succeeded in obtaining preferential treatment; but genius and real power hardly ever succeeded in so doing. The spirit of bureaucracy lay heavily upon everything, and mediocrity stood the best chance of promotion. Francis Ferdinand, on the other hand, sought to discover talent and showed sound insight in many cases. Unfortunately, however, it happened very often that the personalities chosen by him combined talent with a tendency to intrigue. Baron Conrad, who was his right-hand man in military questions, possessed decided talent, an individualistic character, was by no means an intriguer or a flatterer, but he was not endowed with a great knowledge of men, nor did he possess the ability to make an end of the rule of mediocrity and intrigue in his immediate surroundings. The General Staff remained a special body within the body of the army. There was an absence of that healthy interchange between it and the troops, that organic cohesion which existed, for