The well-respected historian Manfried Rauchensteiner analyses the outbreak of World War I, Emperor Franz Joseph's role in the conflict, and how the various nationalities of the Habsburg Monarchy reacted to the disintegration of this 640-yearold empire in 1918. After Archduke Franz Ferdinand"s assassination in Sarajevo in 1914, war was inevitable. Emperor Franz Joseph intended it, and everyone in Vienna expected it. How the war began and how Austria-Hungary managed to avoid capitulation only weeks later with the help of German troops reads like a thriller. Manfried Rauchensteiner"s book is based on decades of research and is a fascinating read to the very end, even though the final outcome, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy, is already known. Originally published in German in 2013 by Böhlau, this standard work is now available in English.

Manfried Rauchensteiner ist Historiker, Universitätsprofessor und Autor zahlreicher Bücher, darunter das Standardwerk "Der Erste Weltkrieg und das Ende der Habsburgermonarchie 1914¿1918". Er lebt und arbeitet in Wien.

1 On the Eve
The Ballhausplatz and the Deficit of War (16 ) - The Powder Keg (21 ) - The Socialisation of Violence (33) - Poor State, Wealthy Businesses (43)
2 Two Million Men for the War
The 'entire armed force' (51 ) - Dual Alliance and Triple Alliance (62 ) - The Military Accords (67 ) - Pre-emptive War: Yes or No? (77)
3 Bloody Sundays
The Assassination (83 ) - The Shock (87 ) - The July Crisis (90)
4 Unleashing the War
Franz Joseph I (120 ) - The Calm before the Storm (123 ) - The 'Skir-mish' near Temes-Kubin (127 ) - Salvation through War (136 ) - The First Shot (141 ) - An Empire Mobilises (144)
5 'Thank God, this is the Great War!'
Deployment in Echelons and Packets (159 ) - Archduke 'Fritzl' Goes to the Front (175 ) - The Mounted Engagement at Jaroslawice (180 ) - The Initial Campaigns (183)
6 Adjusting to a Longer War
The War Economy Dominates Everyday Life (200 ) - Wounded, Sick and Dead (215 ) - The Home Front Becomes a Fortress (219 ) - Official Announcements (223 ) - The Death of General Wodniansky (226)
7 The End of the Euphoria
The Fortress on the San (242 ) - Fleet in Being (260 ) - In the Shadow of the Gallows (264 ) - Belgrade and the Failure in the Balkans (272)
8 The First Winter of the War
On the War's Objectives (286 ) - Death in the Carpathians (297 ) - Gorlice - Tarnów (311)
9 Under Surveillance
Of Heroes and Cowards (320 ) - The Prague 'House Regiment' (344)
10 'The King of Italy has declared war on Me'
'Sacro egoismo' (364 ) - The Treaty of London (370 ) - The Final Offer (375)
11 The Third Front
The Pre-emption (388 ) - On the Isonzo and in the Sette Comuni (392 ) - The War of Attrition (405)
12 Factory War and Domestic Front, 1915
Being a Soldier and the Burden of Work (422 ) - The Army High Command and Domestic Policy (426 ) - Soldier Games ? (434 ) - The Attempt to Topple Stürgkh (437)
13 Summer Battle and 'Autumn Swine'
On the Priority of the Theatres of War (443 ) - The 'Black-Yellow' Offensive (450 ) - The Fourth Offensive against Serbia (460)
14 War Aims and Central Europe
The Salonika Problem (471 ) - Winter War in Russia and Montenegro (475 ) - The Central Powers and Central Europe (479 ) - The Vision of Peace with Victory (487)
15 South Tyrol: The End of an Illusion (I)
The Easter Demands (500 ) - The 'Punitive Expedition' is Prepared (504 ) - The Attack (515)
16 Lutsk:The End of an Illusion (II)
The Brusilov Offensive (523 ) - The Hindenburg Front (533 ) - Poison Gas (541 ) - The 'Joint Supreme War Command' (545)
17 How is a War Financed ?
The Search for the Nervus Rerum (557 ) - The War Bonds (565 ) - The Raging of the Banknote Presses (578)
18 The Nameless
The Peace Campaign of the Central Powers (590 ) - Hohenzollern against Habsburg (593 ) - On the Convention of the Austrian Parliament (599 ) - Count Karl Stürgkh (1859-1916) (603)
19 The Death of the Old Emperor
Obituary for the Father Figure (615 ) - The Geriatric Circle (622 ) - The Military Chancellery of His Majesty (628 ) - The Heir to the Throne (633 ) - The Will (636)
20 Emperor Karl
The Master's New Servants (645 ) - The Hindenburg Programme (651 ) - From Koerber to Clam-Martinic (653 ) - Famine and Coronation (657)
21 The Writing on the Wall
The Victory over Romania (667 ) - Steps towards Peace (669 ) - The Unrestricted Submarine War (675 ) - The Conrad Crisis (684)
22 The Consequences of the Russian February Revolution
Strategic Harmony (693 ) - The Fall of the Tsar (695 ) - Peace without Annexations and Contributions (700 ) - Workers of the world, unite ! (705 ) - The Reopening of the Reichsrat (709)
23 Summer 1917
Clam-Martinic Faces Defeat (715 ) - The System Eats its Own Children (722 ) - The Military Administration in the Occupied Territories (729 )
- Tisza's Fall (738)
24 Kerensky Offensive and Peace Efforts
The Naval Victory in the Strait of Otranto (745 ) - The 'Hand of the Child' (749 ) - The Czech Legion (753) - A German General on the Danube Monarchy (760 ) - Peace Feelers (764)
25 The Pyrrhic Victory: The Breakthrough Battle of Flitsch-Tolmein
The Fortress Syndrome (771 ) - Operation 'Loyalty to Arms' (777 ) - War against the USA (798)
26 Camps
Strangers in the Homeland (806) - ) - The Internees (819 ) - On Ivans, Serbs and Wops (822 ) - Siberian Clarity (833 ) - Italy (841)
27 Peace Feelers in the Shadow of Brest-Litovsk
The Russian October Revolution (847 ) - New Discussions in Switzerland (851 ) - Poland Again (854 ) - The Turn of the Year, 1918 (856 ) - The Negotiations in Brest (863 ) - Wilson's Fourteen Points (866)
28 The Inner Front
The January Strikes (871 ) - Continuation in Brest (875 ) - The 'Bread Peace' (880 ) - Mutiny (885)
29 The June Battle in Veneto
The 'Parma Conspiracy' (897 ) - The Collapse of the Armaments Industry (906 ) - The Idea for a Final Offensive (910 ) - The Alliance of Arms (913 ) - The Attack (917)
30 An Empire Resigns
Brigadier von Bolzano is Missing (929 ) - Four Million Heroes (936 ) - The Army Disintegrates (944)
31 The Twilight Empire
The Judgement of Austria-Hungary's Final Offensive (957 ) - The Penultimate Cabinet of Habsburg Austria (961 ) - The Radicals Set the Agenda (964 ) - Austro-Hungarian Troops on the Western Front (968 ) - D'Annunzio over Vienna (971 ) - The Sinking of the Szent István (975 ) - Front and Hinterland (978)
32 The War becomes History
The Emperor's Manifesto (987 ) - The Dissolution Begins (992 ) - The Attack by the Allies (998 ) - The Armistice of Villa Giusti (1002 ) - The Last Army Supreme Commander (1006 ) - Te Deum Laudamus (1008)
Epilogue
Afterword
Acknowledgements and Dedication
Notes
Selected Printed Sources and Literature
Index of People and Places