16/10/1918 The People’s Manifesto: Emperor Karl’s desperate attempt to reform his empire #1918 Live

The Austro-Hungarian Empire is falling apart thanks to the strains of war and now defeat. Its territorial integrity is now under threat, with newly emergent proto-states of Yugoslavia and Poland seeking to detach territory from it. The Czechs too are on the brink of declaring their own independence, perhaps joining with their Slovak relations to create a Czechoslovakia, straddling the empire’s internal border between Austria and Hungary.

Germany and Austria-Hungary have sought an armistice from the Allies, though the negotiation process is proving more drawn out than might have been expected. Emperor Karl hopes that a swift achievement of a ceasefire will lessen the pressures that are tearing apart his Empire. Nevertheless, he realises that time is of the essence. The Empire is clearly in need of some kind of reform and today he announces plans to introduce a federal system for the Austrian part (he is not in…