Some thoughts about the Vienna Court...

In my reading of the 'near end' of the Habsburg 'empire' there were at least 4 factions vieing for control of the Imperial Court.

The Empress' was generally neutral, wiht a mind to using less absolutist means to gaining control, or at least influence, in the European courts outside Vienna. She would rather have used marriages (in the Feudal tradition) and open alliances rather than the, relatively newer, written treaties.

The Hawks were ready to fight -> seemingly all the time to gain their ends.

The Doves held sway over much of the populace and they also tended to support the Empress in 'slower' (read older) diplomatic methods.

The Absolutists, a bit of a mixed bag really, but primarily concerned with maintaining the supremacy of the Catholic faith and in keeping the 'monarchic' rule in power. This small and politically nebulous group could switch from Hawks to Empress to Dove's factions as fast as a battaltion can load and fire.

I say all this to point out the difficulty in having a 'single' entity 'speaking' for Austria, quite often the Historical Austria was speaking out of three sides of its collective mouth at the same time!

This means that we...all of the posting contributors to Österreich Über Alles, whom may have some current active interest in the story(ies) unfolding should feel free to place some of their thoughts and action plans into being here on Österreich Über Alles -> if only so that the others can either bugger it up, ignore it, join in with it and really mess things up, or start on a pathway of their own!