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Der Erste Weltkrieg: Und Das Ende Der Habsburgermonarchie 1914-1918
Nach der Ermordung des Erzherzogs Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo stand fest, dass es Krieg geben wurde. Kaiser Franz Joseph wollte es und in Wien rechnete man durchaus mit der Moglichkeit eines grossen Kriegs. Wie der Krieg entfesselt wurde und bereits Wochen spater Osterreich-Ungarn nur deshalb nicht zur Aufgabe gezwungen war, weil es immer wieder deutsche Truppenhilfe bekam, hat bis heute nichts an Dramatik verloren. Zwei Monate vor seinem Tod verzichtete der osterreichische Kaiser auf einen Teil seiner Souveranitat und willigte in eine gemeinsame oberste Kriegsleitung unter der Fuhrung des deutschen Kaisers ein. Der Nachfolger Franz Josephs, Kaiser Karl, konnte das nie mehr ruckgangig machen. Auch ein Teil der Volker Osterreich-Ungarns furchtete die deutsche Dominanz. Schliesslich konnten nicht einmal die militarischen Erfolge 1917 den Zerfall der Habsburgermonarchie verhindern. Das Buch beruht auf jahrzehntelangen Forschungen und bleibt bis zur letzten Seite fesselnd, obwohl man das Ende kennt. Viele Zusammenhange werden aber erst jetzt klar. Rauchensteiner sieht den Ersten Weltkrieg als Zeitenwende. Ob er die "Urkatastrophe" des 20. Jahrhunderts war, muss der Leser entscheiden.
- GenresHistoryWorld War I
1222 pages, Hardcover
First published November 15, 2013
About the author
Manfried Rauchensteiner
21 books4 followersManfried Rauchensteiner is professor of Austrian history at the University of Vienna and was until 2005 director of Vienna's Museum of Military History.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 7, 2022
I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did. I have had a keen interest in the Habsburg Empire for a while now, and when I first heard of this book, with its enormous girth, and the pedigree of the author...well, I ordered a copy, and despite the hefty price tag, began to tuck into it.
Just because a book about a subject you adore is huge, does not necessarily correlate to said book being very good.
That said, this book was not awful. It was not poorly written, nor was it overly academic in the sense that the author was talking down to you. But it was hefty not because the author inundated you with details about the main narrative arc, but rather took you on a dozen rabbit hole adventures, per chapter, and seemed to, at times, forget what it was he was originally discussing.
Take the chapter on the opening of the Italian Front in 1915, titled "The Third Front". Herr Rauchensteiner spent the first four or five pages discussing bare outline of the Italian opening offensives, and the desperate fighting along the Isonzo...and then spent several times that on side discourses, utterly tangential to the main narrative, and only ever gave the briefest outline of the course of the, admittedly numerous, Battles of the Isonzo.
And every single chapter was like that. It was labeled as a military history, well, sort of. It's more of a political history, and a geostrategic history than a military history, as the main topic is supposed to be the Great War, and yet said war only makes brief appearances for the occasional snippet, and even then is viewed entirely from the height of the General Staff Headquarters, not a field commanders eyes view.
Far more time is spent on cultural, social, political, and administrative issues than anything else. Which is entirely fine, and sometimes those discussions were illuminating, and enjoyable, but a narrative of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces in the Great War, which was what I wanted, this is really not.
There are some good points made here, certainly. For one the Austro-Hungarian forces were not as decrepit or as incompetent as Geoffrey Wawro paints them as being in his works, and they were more of a proactive participant in the War than either your typical American, British, or German, historian is willing to admit. And despite the multiplicity of ethnicities, the morale of the armed forces held up far better, for far longer than has usually been showcased.
And there are other points that make this book a worthwhile reference work, especially if you yourself had any thoughts as to writing your own work on, say, the Eastern Front of the Great War. But unfortunately, I just didn't find it an enjoyable read.
Just because a book about a subject you adore is huge, does not necessarily correlate to said book being very good.
That said, this book was not awful. It was not poorly written, nor was it overly academic in the sense that the author was talking down to you. But it was hefty not because the author inundated you with details about the main narrative arc, but rather took you on a dozen rabbit hole adventures, per chapter, and seemed to, at times, forget what it was he was originally discussing.
Take the chapter on the opening of the Italian Front in 1915, titled "The Third Front". Herr Rauchensteiner spent the first four or five pages discussing bare outline of the Italian opening offensives, and the desperate fighting along the Isonzo...and then spent several times that on side discourses, utterly tangential to the main narrative, and only ever gave the briefest outline of the course of the, admittedly numerous, Battles of the Isonzo.
And every single chapter was like that. It was labeled as a military history, well, sort of. It's more of a political history, and a geostrategic history than a military history, as the main topic is supposed to be the Great War, and yet said war only makes brief appearances for the occasional snippet, and even then is viewed entirely from the height of the General Staff Headquarters, not a field commanders eyes view.
Far more time is spent on cultural, social, political, and administrative issues than anything else. Which is entirely fine, and sometimes those discussions were illuminating, and enjoyable, but a narrative of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces in the Great War, which was what I wanted, this is really not.
There are some good points made here, certainly. For one the Austro-Hungarian forces were not as decrepit or as incompetent as Geoffrey Wawro paints them as being in his works, and they were more of a proactive participant in the War than either your typical American, British, or German, historian is willing to admit. And despite the multiplicity of ethnicities, the morale of the armed forces held up far better, for far longer than has usually been showcased.
And there are other points that make this book a worthwhile reference work, especially if you yourself had any thoughts as to writing your own work on, say, the Eastern Front of the Great War. But unfortunately, I just didn't find it an enjoyable read.
May 6, 2018
A great book about the first World War from the perspective of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy. Rauchensteiner describes in great detail how chaotic the organization of the monarchy was.
November 29, 2022
This is a very long, very academic, but, very thorough history of Austria Hungary in the First World War. It covers the political and cultural impact of the conflict very well; the military side is ok, but this is NOT a military history. The author covers many aspects of the crumbling dynasty, including the lack of food and raw materials that doomed Austria-Hungary to defeat.
Also, a few interesting points on the English translation. While this book was originally published in German (the author is an Austrian professor), the translations sometimes leaves one to wonder. By far, most of the translation is ok. But occasionally you get an ipso novum line that is just none sense. Maybe 5 times in the book in total. More interestingly, when Americans are quoted, the translation didn’t occur and the quote is in German! Luckily, I have Google Translate on my phone, so, I can translate that way. This happens about 6 times in the book.
Did I learn something from the book? Yes, it’s clear that the author has determined that Emperor Franz Joseph was the main guy wanting war in 1914, but, he was not in any way capable of guiding his people to see this though successfully. The A-H army was a mess, badly led, and strategically incompetent. The men were as good as in any army, but the leadership completely failed them.
In the end, what did these guys in was all the various nationalities that were under the A-H banner; the Poles, Hungarians, Serbs, Czechs, Slovenians, Montenegrin’s, Italians, Galicians, and finally the Germans all had their own vision of what the future had in mind. And it didn’t include being in a big nation all mixed up. No multicultural mingling here. And that is the lesson this book provides to the future. Can a truly multicultural society exist? The Austrians Hungarians tried it, but it didn’t work out.
Also, a few interesting points on the English translation. While this book was originally published in German (the author is an Austrian professor), the translations sometimes leaves one to wonder. By far, most of the translation is ok. But occasionally you get an ipso novum line that is just none sense. Maybe 5 times in the book in total. More interestingly, when Americans are quoted, the translation didn’t occur and the quote is in German! Luckily, I have Google Translate on my phone, so, I can translate that way. This happens about 6 times in the book.
Did I learn something from the book? Yes, it’s clear that the author has determined that Emperor Franz Joseph was the main guy wanting war in 1914, but, he was not in any way capable of guiding his people to see this though successfully. The A-H army was a mess, badly led, and strategically incompetent. The men were as good as in any army, but the leadership completely failed them.
In the end, what did these guys in was all the various nationalities that were under the A-H banner; the Poles, Hungarians, Serbs, Czechs, Slovenians, Montenegrin’s, Italians, Galicians, and finally the Germans all had their own vision of what the future had in mind. And it didn’t include being in a big nation all mixed up. No multicultural mingling here. And that is the lesson this book provides to the future. Can a truly multicultural society exist? The Austrians Hungarians tried it, but it didn’t work out.
December 28, 2021
The book is very flowery and VERY thick. While I do sometimes like that, I award this book one star, not so much because of the book itself but the horrible man who wrote it. I was unfortunate enough to have him as a lecturer (where he forced us all to buy his books, as he does with his students every year, and we were pressured into spending a fortune on them) and he is the most self-congratulating and self-important human being I have ever had the displeasure of having to put up with. He wasn't there to teach us anything about history, but for us to buy his massive books and then delight in the fact that we don't all know them by heart. Ghastly.
December 24, 2020
This book is a masterpiece! Must read for anybody coming from the successor states of Austria-Hungary!
Big thank you to the author for his knowledge and perseverance through decades of research and for clearing any historical fog that might have clouded my judgment about the WW1 prior to reading this book.
Contains shocking elements throughout and trying to picture and to feel the suffering of my ancestors helped me push through the final weeks of my physically very hard work that I did while reading the book.
The book inspired me to google a lot of connected historical events and to embark on a family tree research that is in it's infancy but I still managed to find two guys with my last name being POW'ed in the WW1 and I feel excited by the things I might yet uncover about my family living in the Habsburg Monarchy.
The level of dedication by the author is unbelievable!
Thank you Mr. Rauchensteiner, your book infuenced me in a way I thought was impossible.
I will visit your former museum (and some others) with the next generation of my family once this epidemics offensive leaves the battlefield...
Big thank you to the author for his knowledge and perseverance through decades of research and for clearing any historical fog that might have clouded my judgment about the WW1 prior to reading this book.
Contains shocking elements throughout and trying to picture and to feel the suffering of my ancestors helped me push through the final weeks of my physically very hard work that I did while reading the book.
The book inspired me to google a lot of connected historical events and to embark on a family tree research that is in it's infancy but I still managed to find two guys with my last name being POW'ed in the WW1 and I feel excited by the things I might yet uncover about my family living in the Habsburg Monarchy.
The level of dedication by the author is unbelievable!
Thank you Mr. Rauchensteiner, your book infuenced me in a way I thought was impossible.
I will visit your former museum (and some others) with the next generation of my family once this epidemics offensive leaves the battlefield...
October 14, 2016
So ein 1200 Seiten Sachbuchwälzer (zwar auf ebook, aber trotzdem) braucht seine Zeit und viel Geduld. Einzelne Schlachten und Manöver werden von Rauchensteiner dermaßen detailliert und genau geschildert, dass man manchmal quasi erfährt was General X. vor der Offensive zum Morgenkaffee frühstückte und wie er sich dabei fühlte. Aber gerade diesen vielen Details zeichnen ein erschreckend genaues Bild des WK1 aus k.u.k.-Sicht und man ist mehrmals schockiert, wie fahrlässig, chaotisch und idiotisch häufig agiert wurde und wie leichtfertig dieses wunderbare Konstrukt der Donaumonarchie, als eine Art Riesenschweiz bzw. Vorläufer der Vereinigten Staaten von Europa, in den Abgrund getrieben wurde.
June 30, 2017
Celkový přehled účasti R-U ve válce, ne z českého pohledu. Že vlastně válka by pro něj byla smrtící i v případě vítězství Centrálních mocností, protože pak by se stalo jen vazalem Německé říše.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews