Page 272 - Il 1919. Un’Italia vittoriosa e provata in un’Europa in trasformazione. Problematiche e prospettive - Atti 11-12 novembre 2019

270 Il 1919. Un’Italia vittoriosa e provata in un’Europa in trasformazione

30 October as the independent – at least for the time being – successor state of
the Habsburg Monarchy and then on 12 November being proclaimed a republic,
as well as a part of Germany, a preoccupation with the problem of national de-
fence, would not only have been a principal but also a vital matter since the bor-
ders of the young republic could not be considered secure. The successor states
were trying to create a fait accompli by troop deployments and the occupation
of territories which according to the criteria of the right of the Danube Monar-
chy’s nations to self-determination would have been a part of German-Austria.
2
The first considerations regarding the creation of armed forces for (the Republic
of), German-Austria can be dated to the final phase of the First World War. When
the German-speaking representatives of the Imperial Council met in the Her-
rengasse in Vienna on 21 October 1918, they already defined the first broad lines
for the future administration of a state that was yet to be founded. A few days
later, the first corresponding – provisional but still binding – guidelines for the
constitution and the administration were defined as well. So-called State Offices
were to replace the old ministries, led by secretaries and undersecretaries of state.
The State Military Office, newly created for all matters military, was led by Josef
Mayer of the German-National Party and two adjunctive undersecretaries of
state: Dr. Julius Deutsch (Social Democratic Workers’ Party) and Dr. Erwin Waihs
(Christian Social Party). Although the matter of an independent army, especially
its creation, organization, and alignment, had to be of a high priority immediately
after the foundation of the State Office, one must not forget that at the same
time the Austro-Hungarian Army was still afield and at war. The Allied great of-
fensive on the Italian front, launched on 24 October with enormous quantities
of troops and materiel, met an already weakened and completely undersupplied
Imperial and Royal Army which to everyone’s surprise – including its own Army
3
High Command – repulsed the first assault wave of Allied troops. Nevertheless,
separatist aspirations and several already published declarations of independence
of single nationalities and crown lands, respectively, affected the frontline troops.
Under enemy pressure and because of the internal political situation, the old

2 Karl Glaubauf; Die Volkswehr 1918 – 1920 und die Gründung der Republik. Österreichische
Militärgeschichte, Sonderband 1993 – Folge 1, Vienna 1993, p. 22 ff.
3 Österreich-Ungarns letzter Krieg, Hrsg. Österreichisches Bundesministerium für Landesver-
teidigung und Österreichisches Kriegsarchiv, 7 Bde, Vienna 1930-1937, Band VII, p. 598 ff.