Page:Diplomacy and the War (Andrassy 1921).djvu/261

 would be to convince the Entente that we intended to abandon the German alliance in future and that we were anxious to adopt an entirely new policy.

Several Austro-Polish and Hungarian politicians as well as myself received the news in Berne on October 17 that the Emperor had issued a manifesto in which he ordered the federation of Austria. This news was like the explosion of a bomb in its effect upon us. I asked myself a thousand questions. How was it possible to solve all the problems that arose through the manifesto during the war? How could the frontiers, the constitution, and the relation of the federal states to Hungary and Croatia be settled peaceably? Would this new formation not degenerate into a fight of everyone against everyone? During the war the lion's share of the battles fell to the Germans and the Hungarians in Austria. How could there be any hope of maintaining a fighting efficiency up to the conclusion of peace if those very elements which were directing the war were in danger of being beaten by a majority within the Monarchy? I was well aware that our dualism would not emerge from the European war untouched. In case of victory I would myself have been a supporter of Trialism with Poland. At an early period I had recognized the necessity of a solution of the Croatian problem, and, on the other hand, I never entertained any doubt that, in case of a defeat, federation would be inevitable for Austria, and that the Monarchy would have to be reorganized upon a new basis, adapted to the new relation between the powers. I also knew,