Soon after his appointment to the Archiepiscopal See (1892) the Archbishop of Olomouc Theodor Kohn (1845–1915) sought to economically consolidate his diocese, which also meant trying to ensure that no-one "carried out illegal business activities" on the archbishop's land. Kohn was involved in several legal disputes over property, and one particularly famous dispute with a farmer called Dubják, who utilized anticlerical circles to attack the church and its representatives, lasted several years. Other events put further pressure on Archbishop Kohn, and his case was even debated in the Austrian Parliament (April 1903). The only person to "back" Kohn in the press was Josef Svatopluk Machar. The case of Archbishop Kohn was utilized to great effect in anticlerical campaigns (e.g. in newspaper articles and the pamphlet "the tyranny of Archbishop Kohn and the nature of clericalism"). All of these factors eventually contributed to the resignation of Theodor Kohn from the Archiepiscopal See in Olomouc (1904).
The Austro-Prussian War (1866) marked a new development in the European power struggle. While Prussia demonstrated that it was one of the strongest powers, Austria's defeat revealed the problems in its internal-political as well as international position. Italy exploited Austria's weakness to make territorial gains. In his reports, the nuncio in Vienna mentioned some important issues: the ongoing national controversies within the monarchy, the danger from German communities wishing to join with Germany, and the spectre of a European war. In many cases his concerns would become reality.