As a result of the publication of the letter, whose existence it is
claimed was unknown to him, Count Czernin on April 15 resigned his
portfolio as Foreign Minister and Premier, and accepted appointment as a
Major General in the Austrian Army. He was succeeded by Baron Burian,
who was Minister of Foreign Affairs from Sept. 15, 1914, to Dec. 23,
1916, when he was succeeded by Count Czernin.
It was authoritatively announced that the letter was communicated to the
British, French, and Italian Premiers at a meeting which took place at
St. Jean de Maurienne, April 19, 1917, and unanimously judged as
insincere and intended to mask some subtle manoeuvre for stirring up
friction between the Allies.
The day before the letter was published Emperor Charles sent a telegram
to Emperor William, in which he said:
I accuse M. Clemenceau of piling up lies to escape the web of
lies in which he is involved, making the false assertion that I
in some manner recognized France's claim to Alsace-Lorraine as
just. I indignantly repel the assertion.
To this the German Emperor replied as follows:
Accept my heartiest thanks for the letter in which you repudiate
the assertion of the French Premier regarding your attitude
toward the French claims on Alsace-Lorraine as entirely baseless
and once again accentuate the solidarity of the interests which
exist between us and our empires. I hasten to tell you that in
my eyes there is no need whatever for such assurance on your
part, for I have not for a moment been in doubt. You have made
our cause your own; in like measure we stand for the rights of
your monarchy.
The heavy battles in these years clearly demonstrate this for
every one who will see. They have only drawn the bond closer.
Our enemies, who are unable to do anything against us in
honorable battle, do not recoil from the most sordid and lowest
means. We must put up with that, but all the more it is our duty
ruthlessly to grapple with and beat the enemy in all the war
theatres.
After the publication of the letter the Austrian Government announced
that it was "garbled" and intimated that portions of it were forged
before it reached Prince Sixtus. The German press accepted the letter as
genuine with caustic and hostile criticism. It was announced April 18
that the original letter of the Emperor was in the possession of Prince
Sixtus, who sent a copy of it to President Poincaré.