Some elements of your question have been considered in earlier answers here. While you're waiting for fresh contributions, you might like to review some or all of them; collectively they pose some interesting questions about the thesis of Austro-Hungarian decline:

I've been reading about World War 1, it seems as if the Austro-Hungarian army exhibited a truly unbelievable degree of incompetence. Was it really that bad? Would the outcome of the war have likely been substantially different if they were simply moderately competent?, with u/k_hopz

Was Austria-Hungary in decline pre-WW1?, also with u/k_hopz

Was Austria-Hungary considered a powerful country on the eve of WW1, was it seen as comparable to France, Great Britain of Russia?, with, you guessed it, u/k_hopz