Ottokar Czernin

Count von Czernin recommended that Vienna should offer the withdrawal of Siebenbürgen (now Transylvania) and parts of Bukovina in order to persuade Romania to prolong their neutrality, but the plan was strongly opposed by the Hungarian government.[11] While he reluctantly agreed with the necessity of resuming unrestricted submarine warfare in February 1917, he expended much effort that year unsuccessfully trying to persuade German political and military leaders of the need for a peace by compromise.[12] At a conference between Germany and Austria-Hungary on 17–18 March 1917 on the goals of the war, he suggested inter alia the cession of territory of the Central Powers to arrange a fast peace with the Entente.[13] On 12 April, he drafted a memorandum with a gloomy prognostication of Austria-Hungary's war situation that was transmitted through Emperor Karl I to Matthias Erzberger, a member of the German Reichstag, outlining the reasons why the Dual Monarchy could not survive another winter of fighting.The so-called bread peace did not solve the Dual Monarchy's food supply problem, but it did earn Count von Czernin the loathing of Austrian Poles, who also had claimed Chełm.[16] He reached the highlight of his career by subsequently signing peace treaties with Russia on 3 March and with Romania on 7 May and was considered the leading diplomat of the Central Powers.Emperor Karl I, using his brother-in-law Prince Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma as his intermediary, had secretly assured French President Poincaré by a letter dated 24 March 1917 that he would support France's "just demand" for the return of Alsace-Lorraine.When French Premier Clemenceau published the letter a year later Count von Czernin, feeling himself betrayed by Emperor Karl I and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, tendered his resignation on 14 April 1918.
Count von Czernin at Laxenburg in 1918
Von Czernin in his ambassadorial uniform. Portrait by Friedrich Miess
Imperial Foreign Minister of Austria-HungaryIstván Freiherr Burián von RajeczDimokurAustria-HungaryCzech RepublicViennaAustriaAustro-HungarianWorld War IDymokuryGermanHouse of CzerninKinsky von Wchinitz und TettauHeřmanův MěstecCharles-Ferdinand UniversityPragueAustro-Hungarian foreign serviceThe HagueFranz FerdinandCount TiszaRomaniaCarol IBrătianuTransylvaniaBukovinaLaxenburgKarl IBaron Burián von Rajeczunrestricted submarine warfareCentral PowersAlsace–LorraineBelgiumFriedrich MiessMatthias ErzbergerReichstagBolshevik seizure of powerAustro-Hungarian strike of January 1918WilsonFourteen Pointspeace treatyUkrainian People's RepublicChełmwith Russiawith RomaniaSixtus AffairPrince Sixtus of Bourbon-ParmaPoincaréClemenceauCount von BerchtoldSalzkammergutGrand Cross of the Order of Saint StephenKnight of the Order of the Golden Fleeceworld revolutionChristopher LeeAmericanThe Young Indiana Jones ChroniclesWikisourceWayback MachineVienna Conference (August 1, 1917)Vienna Conference (October 22, 1917)Vienna Conference (March 16, 1917)Encyclopædia BritannicaProject GutenbergInternet Archive20th Century Press ArchivesStephan Freiherr Burián von Rajecz