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The Austro-Hungarian Army and the First World War

The Austro-Hungarian Army and the First World War

The Austro-Hungarian Army and the First World War

Graydon A. Tunstall, University of South Florida
September 2021
Paperback
9780521181242
$36.99
USD
Paperback
USD
Hardback

    This is a definitive account of the Austro-Hungarian Royal and Imperial Army during the First World War. Graydon A. Tunstall shows how Austria-Hungary entered the war woefully unprepared for the ordeal it would endure. When the war commenced, the Habsburg Army proved grossly under strengthen relative to trained officers and manpower, possessing obsolete weapons and equipment, and with the vast majority of its troops proved inadequately trained for modern warfare. Well over one million Habsburg troops mobilized creating an enormous logistical challenge of forging an army from the diverse cultures, languages, economic and educational backgrounds of the Empire's peoples. Graydon A. Tunstall shows how the army suffered from poor strategic direction and outdated tactics and facing a two-front offensive against both Russia and Serbia. He charts the army's performance on the battlefields of Galicia, Serbia, Romania, the Middle East and Italy through to its ultimate collapse in 1918.

    • A revisionist account of the Habsburg Army during World War I which challenges established myths
    • Integrates military, diplomatic, ethnic, economic, political, and strategic factors to show why and how the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy collapsed
    • Draws on extensive new archival research

    Awards

    Co-winner of the Norman B. Tomlinson, Jr. Prize, World War One Historical Association

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    Reviews & endorsements

    'Instead of focusing on an individual front, campaign or battle, Tunstall deals with the travails of the Austro-Hungarian army on every front in which it fought, and across the entire course of the war. Steeped in archival research and measured in its judgements, Tunstall's work is indispensable for both students of the Great War and the Austro-Hungarian army.' Richard L. DiNardo, author of Breakthrough: The Gorlice-Tarnow Campaign, 1915

    'This is a superb analysis of a still underappreciated aspect of the First World War by an eminent historian of the Habsburg military. Crisp analysis of both the military and the home fronts give the work breathtaking depth. Tunstall rights many of the still prevalent myths and misconceptions of Conrad and his paladins 1914-1918.' Holger H. Herwig, author of The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918

    'The Austro-Hungarian Army and the First World War, a volume in the Cambridge series 'Armies of the Great War', which received a NYMAS Special Award, is a very useful book for anyone interested in the Great War.' A. A. Nofi, StrategyPage

    'The Austro-Hungarian Army and the First World War is a good opportunity to gain an overview of these fronts which are not forgotten in Western European publications, but are often marginally treated, and the armies deployed there.' Wolfgang Etschmann, International Journal of Military History and Historiography

    '… a very useful book for anyone interested in the Great War.' A. A. Nofi, The NYMAS Review

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    Product details

    September 2021
    Hardback
    9780521199346
    410 pages
    235 × 160 × 35 mm
    0.86kg
    Temporarily unavailable - available from TBC

    Table of Contents

    • Introduction
    • 1. The Austria-Hungarian Army
    • 2. July 1914 Crisis
    • 3. Galicia, August-September, 1914
    • 4. Serbian campaigns 1914
    • 5. Galicia, October-December, 1914
    • 6. 1915
    • 7. 1916
    • 8. 1917
    • 9. 1918
    • 10. November 1918 and results.
      Author
    • Graydon A. Tunstall , University of South Florida

      Graydon A. Tunstall was formerly Professor of History at the University of South Florida. His previous publications include Planning for War Against Russia and Serbia: Austro-Hungarian and German Military Strategies, 1871-1914 (1993), Blood on the Snow: The Carpathian Winter War of 1915 (2010) and Written in Blood: The Battles for Fortress Przemyśl in WWI (2016).