The Habsburg Empire
Such a complex history — and the Habsburg kings, historians, and peoples would have it no other way. One could go back to the 11th Century and Radbot of Klettgau who built the Habsburg Castle in Switzerland. The family came to rule Austria in the 13th Century; it was a duchy within the Kingdom of Germany which was rolled into the Holy Roman Empire. You see how a thousand years of histories and millions of peoples from a dozen nationalities/ethnicities/geographies are involved. What we do remember is the end: World War One and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the merciless maelstrom of the 20th Century.
This selection scratches the surface, of course. I am drawn to the history and literature of the Empire because it had such grand concerns (half of modern Europe) and great writers (Banffy, Zweig, Musil, Freud, among many). It also had supremely romantic figures — Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of Hungary, Sissi, a Bavarian girl lifted to the heights of the imperium only to see the beginning of the end before her assassination in 1898, the longest serving Empress in Austrian history. All of History’s wheels-within-wheels seemed to operate in the Empire, all levels of art and science and literature and military tradition.
And we live with the shadows, the ruins, and the consequences of the Empire to these fraught days of the 21st Century.
The Austro-Hungarian Forces in World War I volume 2
The Austro-Hungarian Forces in World War I volume 2
The part played in the Great War by the armies of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy is little known to English-speakers, perhaps because 1918 saw the complete destruction of the Empire. Yet it was of great importance, providing nearly all Central Powers forces on the Italian front, huge numbers on the Russian front, the Balkans and even a contingent in Turkey and Palestine. This second volume describes this complex organisation from the accession of Emperor Karl I in November 1916, through the victory of Caporetto and failure of the Piave offensive, to the final Armistice. The text is supported by tables and insignia charts, and illustrated with rare photographs and colourful plates.
Dr PETER JUNG (1955-2003) obtained his Doctorate in History at the University of Vienna, and in 1981 began working for the Austrian State Archives/War Archives, where he subsequently became the head of three departments. He was a member of the Commission Autrichienne d'Histoire Militaire; and wrote a number of books and articles, including Die Feldverwendung der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Gendarmerie 1914/18 and L'ultimo Guerra degli Asburgo, Carso - Basso Isonzo - Trieste. The first part of this present study was published earlier this year as Men-at-Arms 392; Dr Jung died suddenly shortly after delivering this second book. Darko Pavlovic was born in 1959 and currently lives and works in Zagreb, Croatia. A trained architect, he now works as a full-time illustrator and writer, specialising in militaria. Darko has illustrated many books for Osprey Military since 1995: and has also written and illustrated titles for the Men-at-Arms series on the Austrian army of the 19th century.
Military re-organisations, 1916 Army & Navy air forces Naval troops Armoured troops Uniforms Representative campaigns - Russian front (Kerensky offensive), Balkans, Italian front (7th-12th battles of the Isonzo, Piave offensive), occupation of Ukraine Austro-Hungarian troops on the Western Front