imitation of our unhappy occupation of Silesia, and would have led us only once more into difficulties with Germany. The mere idea of a protectorate was an insult to the Poles, because this attitude seemed as if the Polish nation, with her tremendous historical past, needed a guardian, and this notion was in itself insulting.
The idea that Poland as an independent State should enter into an alliance with Austria-Hungary found favour with the King-Emperor Francis Joseph as well as his successor Karl. None the less, we did not take a serious step in this direction. Our leading statesmen were unable to view the situation clearly for a long time. Tisza was decidedly against this plan. When I told him for the first time that I was a supporter of this solution, he expressed the greatest surprise. "Surely you do not wish to risk the principle of the Dual Monarchy," he said, "you, the son of the man who created the idea, and you, who have always been a faithful supporter of this system."
He thought that Hungarian interests might be endangered because in certain questions Austria and Poland could combine and thereby obtain a majority vote against Hungary. He was in favour of winning Poland for the Monarchy, but he wanted to join this country to Austria much in the manner in which Croatia was tied to us. In order to establish the balance between Austria and Hungary, he wanted to bring Dalmatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina under the Hungarian crown. All my arguments in favour of the
