The Fall of the Habsburg Armies - Graydon Tunstall
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2024
- Over one million Habsburg troops were mobilized in WWI, creating a logistical challenge of integrating diverse cultures and languages, educational backgrounds and provisioning of supplies needed for modern warfare. In this Empires at War exhibition program, Dr. Graydon Tunstall will chart the Austro-Hungarian Royal and Imperial Army’s ultimate collapse in 1918, showing how Austria-Hungary entered the war woefully unprepared for the ordeal it would endure. Dr. Tunstall will speak on how the army suffered from poor training, strategic direction and outdated tactics while facing a two-front offensive against both Russia and Serbia, following the army's performance on the battlefields of Galicia, Serbia, Romania, the Middle East and Italy through to its ultimate collapse in 1918.
For more information about the National WWI Museum and Memorial visit theworldwar.org
I’m Hungarian,my father went to the II world war,was missing for 7 years before returned back from Siberia .
Holy shit was he ok when he got back
That is such a toll on a man
His will to live was very strong he must have loved you all very much ❤glad he made it hope he was ok
It’s a crime that this channel only has 18 thousand subscribers
12:48 "...soldiers had to dig up graves to get uniforms.. if there was a regimental showing for Archduke Karl..."
I've heard this claim, though perhaps not so generalized, before. The speaker makes it sound like a regular procedure, but is it based on multiple sources over multiple instances? Well... if uniforms were in such short supply it seems unlikely that the dead would be buried in presentable clothing. So I'm dubious.
Naming all the countries that today have parts formerly being part of Austria-Hungary he has missed:
Italy, Bosnia-Hercegowina, Montenegro and Ucraine!
After this teaching, one may read "A History of the Habsburg Empire, 1526-1918", Robert A. Kann, 1980, in order to decontaminate oneself.
So excited to get this book. Austria-Hungary is a very neglected country in terms of understanding how it worked and its history. The Dual Monarchy was a very interesting concept and attempt at ruling a multi ethnic empire. I also recall at one point there was a United States of Austria on the table as well.
I am surprised there are no complaints in these comments from Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish that the speaker refers to the blockade of the Central Powers by the British navy as 'the English blockade', although perhaps that is how Austrians and Germans at the time tended to refer to it.
This is awesome thanks guys
just ordered the book thanks
I was born in what was back then a part of this Empire, that is Galicia, small town called Żywiec. It is quite funny that nowadays many people in this part of Poland treat these times in history as something like a Golden Age. Emperor Franz Joseph is still a very popular figure in Cracow (Kraków). People tend to forget that Galicia was a very poor part of this empire.
Crazy I made a video about i have roots from Silesia but czech Silesia and imam hrvatski krv. Look at Aurel Popovici. And at me I tlak about it Galicia hahaha. Russyn people and ruthenian those 2 Slavic tribes like Styrian štajersko mi smo slavenski. Heide brate maby we will see us
reuslt of good propaganda, beacause if you ask why Franz joseph was popular most people can't answer, and in many apsects Prussian and German partitions were better than Galicia
Paweł Rodak
Same in (whole of) Croatia
@@ukaszkusion2873 Catholic propaganda at that, as K&K was a Catholic Empire, on which the Catholic Church has focused most of it's efforts for over 200 years, aiming for the incorporation of the Slavs, which could only be possible with further Catholic proselytism of the Orthodox Slav masses, and the perfect vessel for that goal would be K&K Empire.
Here in Croatia, people have the same feeling about K&K, even though people were literally serfs without any rights and lived in a backwater of the Empire. Again, Catholic court propaganda.
i think the strangest part is that two entirely different and distinct areas of europe decided to name themselves “galicia”
Well, Princip was a serb working together with Croats and Muslims in Young Bosnia against the dual monarchy and it's imperial ambitions over the Balkan.
Croats were probably the most loyal people in that Empire. Also Bosnia was majority Orthodox.
And Serbia had no imperial ambitions and had the intention to hold purely democratic referenda in the different areas of their new state of course.. . Be realisic: the fact that Serbia acted as imperialistic as Austria-Hungary and did not care about the other nationalities and their rights for self-determination caused the future problems of later Yugoslavia and yes, it was a main cause for the wars in the 1990's.
@@schusterlehrling you are right
The fate of the Austro-Hungarian Army on the Italian Front was sealed in June 1918 when it failed to break through the Italian lines along the Piave. After that it was only a matter of time before it collapsed.They were hoping for a second caporetto that never took place.
Gonna buy your book!
wow fabulous story telling; thank you I understand i little more about industrialization vs country living conditions in different parts of (Central) Europe. much Gratitude from a Canadian.
Thank you for continuing to put these awesome lectures up!!!
Serbia was not part of the austro-hungarian empire...
24:52 - he meant January 23rd 1915, I believe, not January 1923.
Im Phi Alpha Theta c/o 2015!! This is the first lecture ive heard by Dr. Tunstall
My grandmother came from a poor village called Velka Tornya just north of Bratslavia
Correction for the Romanian front: though defeated in 1916, the Romanian army reorganized and continued the fight in 1917, winning the summer campaign of that year, with the Central Powers failing to take Romania out of the war. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans however got very lucky with the Russian revolutions, especially the October Revolution which ultimately took Russia out of the war (leaving Romania alone on the whole front which forced it to sign a peace treaty in May 1918). Had the revolutions failed or never happened, the war would've likely ended sooner as the troops of the Central Powers would've still been locked on both the Russian and Romanian fronts.
The Romanian army was rescued by the Russian army and kept in battle by the Russian army.
If you describe the revolution and the collapse of the Russian army as "lucky", you cannot count on similar problems in the hinterland of Germany and Austria. In the case of every great fighting state, it is true that the hinterland withstood the war less than the army, and the reason for the disintegration of the army was its inadequate supply of food and munitions. And one way to break up the hinterland is through revolution. There were revolutions in Germany, Austria and Hungary as well.
True that Romania remained in the war, strongly defending Moldavia despite losing Wallachia, until chaotic Russian exit forced Romania to quit by separate peace.
That peace (Treaty of Bucharest, achieved in stages in early 1918) was less harsh than it could have been because the Central Powers needed Romania's food and help with the already captured oil. To get more food fast and reduce chaos, the Central Powers gave Russian Bessarabia, which of course had a mostly Romanian population (today it is Moldova), to Romania. Indeed for the Allies the main point of motivating Romania to attack Transylvania in 1916 was to end Romanian food exports, traded for industrial technology, to the blockaded, hungry Central Powers.
So the Central Powers didn't really care about triumphantly beating Romania and were willing to treat it relatively gently in exchange for food immediately. But ironically, this treaty with Romania helped defeat the Central Powers by causing a key disagreement.
In this treaty, Bulgaria was supposed to get Dobruja, the coastal part of Romania. To Bulgaria, this seemed only logical, but in a negative surprise to Bulgaria, Germany suddenly would not allow this. This arrogance by Germany helped motivate Bulgaria to start looking for a separate exit from the war. The reason is clear: Bulgaria already had conquered all the land that Bulgaria felt belonged to it or was home to people regarded as Bulgarian, such as Macedonia to Lake Ohrid for example. Despite this success, Bulgaria couldn't exit the war, because this was not Balkan War 3, it was World War 1. This caused a big problem for public opinion on which Bulgaria's war effort of course relied (just like every other country), as the suffering Bulgarian people were asked then to keep fighting and dying only for Germany, as Bulgaria had nothing more possible to gain. Sacrificing lives and resources to expand Bulgaria to what Bulgarians then regarded as its correct borders, made sense to Bulgarians. Once that expansion was complete, and all Bulgarians finally were in Greater Bulgaria, dying only for Germany did not make marginal sense. For Bulgaria, more war could produce no conceivable new gain.
When the British, Greeks, French, and Serbs broke through in Macedonia in September 1918, this was the real reason the Bulgarians no longer were motivated to fight with full effort and were readily willing to sign an armistice. Weird as it seems, to Bulgarians, the war was won but could not be ended because the three allies Bulgaria needed to help win the war were not themselves finished fighting but indeed inescapably, and in contrast to Bulgaria locally, were losing elsewhere. The new Bulgaria sized hole in the Central Powers' Balkan lines ended the war in a matter of weeks as the now defenseless Turks quit, the peoples of Austria-Hungary started to declare independence and secede, and the hopelessly outnumbered, now unsupported Germans fled.
Romania tore up the treaty and re-entered the war on November 10, invading Transylvania again, this time successfully with borders that remain today.
Don't forget, both Romania and Serbia were completly & brutally backward agricultural and rural balkan style countries combined with traditionally backward colonial-level "infrastrucutre". They belonged culturally to the Orthodox (aka semi-Asian) eastern civilization. They started the 20th century without industrialization , without serious urbanization, and the majority of their adult male population couldn't read & write before the WW1.So it was not a wonder, that Romania lost the WW1 with record speed. In WW1 history, the shortest period frontline was the Romanian, Romanians were able to wage war only for a half year, 70% of the terrioty of Romania was occupied with 9 of the 10 biggest cities, including Bucharest, the capital city was captured within 4 months. Then Romania call for armistice in the theatry of Bucharest. Romanian army suffered the highest casualty ratio during the history of WW1 (every third enlisted Romanian soldiers died on the battlefields during WW1, it is also the WW1 record) Romania being the only Entente country which signed the armistice with Central powers, despite the Entente forbid the capitulation for its members. Unlike Romanians, the Serbian government did not sign the treaty of Central Powers, they rather fled with their army and chose the exile on the Island of Corfu.
@@Brian----- I can feel the upbeatness in your comment 😉
@@chriswanger284 that's why the Romanians knocked out the Hungarians and Austrians and they were one of the main oil producers in the world at that time and those 'illiterate peasants' occupied Hungary in 1919.
Barely any mention of the three invasions into Serbia campaigns, out of which first two ended up in total failures against a smaller and less equipped armies, out of which the first one, Battle of Cer, marked the first allied victory in the Great War.
Perhaps not the most crucial pieces of information when it comes to explaining The Fall of the Habsburg Armies in WW1, but certainly worth a mention. Unless it stands out from the rest of the narrative (ill equipped AH army, poor training, unaffordable losses of the professional armies, etc, like it wasn't far superior in numbers, training and equipment than depleted and much smaller armies of Serbia which they were facing)
Apart from the fact that while the Austro-Hungarian military command made many mistakes and the Serbian military leadership was at the height of the situation, the supremacy of the Austro-Hungarian armies traveled to Galicia. In addition, they tried to attack with a strategically flawed plan that ended in an envelopable failure.
Because of these things, it is really not the most important thing about the Serbian campaign and the failure of it that would explain the fall of the Hasburg army. The Hasburg army was able to resist Russian forces as planned, just as it was able to defeat the Serbian army, but the two together were never feasible.
I stopped listening at ‘Serbian agitation and insubordination’ as if Serbia was at fault for a war completely started by Austria
In the first and second invasian, the AH empire send only Romanian troops against Serbia. And in the third invasian, they send Serbian troops. Its so funny, that Serbian troops moral in the sky to fight against Serbia, because of the 1903 years event.
Serbian army was well equipped and entrenched. It was said it was well prepared for the war and in particular had great "modern" cannons.
@@gaborjuracsik4847 Please Let's dispel the ridiculous but stubborn and misleading wide-spread political war propaganda myth about the "David-Goliath style struggle" in the WWI Serbian frontline:
Despite the A-H forces were NOT ABLE to provide NUMERICAL SUPERIORITY on the Serbian front - because of the much larger and much demanding Russian and later Italian fronts (Please! Check the numbers of Serbian soldiers one-by-one in their actual battles against the units of the A-H Empire), From 1915 the Serbian army produced a ridiculously high military death ratio per enlisted soldiers, and Serbs became the record holder in the ratio of the dead soldiers per enlisted soldiers in the WW1 history. However, even with the minimal German support for A-H Empire, Serbs could create NUMERICAL EQUALITY against the A-H-German combo on the battlefields (again: please check the numbers of the actual battles!). Because of the lack of soldiers in A-H- army units due to the more important Russian front and the increasing numerical superiority of the Serb army in the early months of 1915, the A-H Empire had to turn to Germany to send some small German army units, but the gamechanger was the new strategic plan of General August von Mackensen. The confused Serbian general stuff had no idea against Mackensen's new style of army movement and his encirclement strategies worked like a charm, they proved to be fast and very effective. Serbian army fell from one trap to another, and due to the mismanagement of the Serbian leadership who piled error upon error, the Serbian losses became unsustainable.An important notice: The Austro-German combined army of 1915 has never united as one single army with the Bulgarian army groups , they fought in geographically separate territories on the Serbian front.
Despite Serbia always successfully provided at least the numerical equality against her Austro-German opponents during all of their battles, it lost the war within one year, their defeat led to the complete occupation of Serbia in the autumn of 1915. Serbian soldiers fell like paper soldiers during 1915, which was the black year of the Serbian army, practically the backbone of the Serbian army was broken. The Serbian armies were constantly withdrawing from Serbian territory to avoid encirclement manoeuvres, and the dwindling military morale caused by the mind-boggling ratio of loss of men. Serbia recruited 760.000 soldiers during WW1, but only 260.000 survived the WW1, which also means that Serbia produced the highest KIA ratio during WW1. 1915 was the last year when A-H and Serbian soldiers met on the battlefields.
Near the end of 1915, in a massive rescue operation involving more than 1,000 trips made by Italian, French and British steamers, 260,000 Serb soldiers and the Serbian government were transported to the island of Corfu, where they waited for the chance of the victory of the western Allied Powers to reclaim their country. The Serbian army couldn't return to the empty military evacuated Serbian territory from the Saloniki front until the end of WW1. Serbs could return to their evacuated (military empty) country following the footsteps/shadow of the French army, but only after the A-H Monarchy dissolved.
A meme answer to the question "had AU had any competent generals" is: Yes, they had two of them: Boroević AND Cadorna ;)
So, the "code" was broken and for years the " coalition" couldn't figure it out AND the Autro- Hungary Army couldn't have taken any advantage of such merit, losing people ( most civilians) and battles , one after another for two or three more years?! History is really a good enjoyable story ( despite the blood and sacrifice of the many).
I come from the Galician part of the Empire as a Ukrainian, despite being the poorest in the Empire our loyalty was unwavered and the Habsburg’s were great Monarchs who kept the Empire together and central z Europe united, and some like Vasyl Von Habsburg even adopted our culture and cause to free Ukrainians in Russia.
Vasyl was the selected king of the new Ukranian state, which include the Ukranian half of Galicia also, not just the Russian ukrans. But sadly, only 1 day lived thos country. The red army defeat is very quickly.
Really another one? There was Karl Albrecht who was in Poland and was in the Concentration Camps.
would love to have a proper made map of this!
With all its problems as described in this talk, the wonder is not that Austria Hungary collapsed, but that it survived for so long.
I wonder how important it was in holding the Empire together that although they spoke different languages, most (not all) of its peoples were Roman Catholic?
Perhaps the foundation of the Austrian Empire was part of the problem.
The German Empire was forged in battle and was, essentially, a continuance of the Prussian Empire.
The Austria Empire and its successor was formed much-more-peacefully through marriages and politics…
It really makes one wonder why on earth Austria-Hungary wanted this war so bad, one they could never win. It was beyond selfish to be so warmongering as it unleashed devastation in Europe, fragmented the Middle East for the next century to come, involved so much of the world that a pandemic would ensue afterwards and then cause an even deadlier world war a whole generation later. It's unbelievable. One on the only good things to come out of this horror was the League of Nations and then the UN later on to prevent these kind of dangerous ententes so that such a mega disaster could never happen again.
Here we are now thinking that UN is a joke
The only good thing to come of the war is global governance by unelected bureaucrats? If I had to point to something positive, I would say the accelerated advancement of the technologies that provide us with the amazing things that we have today.
Over one million indian troops were mobilized in WWI by british, creating a logistical challenge of integrating diverse cultures and languages, educational backgrounds and provisioning of supplies needed for modern warfare. In this Empires at War exhibition program, Dr. Graydon Tunstall will chart the Austro-Hungarian Royal and Imperial Army’s ultimate collapse in 1918, showing how Austria-Hungary entered the war woefully unprepared for the ordeal it would endure. Dr. Tunstall will speak on how the army suffered from poor training, strategic direction and outdated tactics while facing a two-front offensive against both Russia and Serbia, following the army's performance on the battlefields of Galicia, Serbia, Romania, the Middle East and Italy through to its ultimate collapse in 1918. indian troops were the reasons of british success... best wishes aijaz Pakistan
Its amazing the dual monarchy ever existed. How did they ever coexist? Just look at how they treat one another in the comments.
This video, while informative, contains quite a number of inaccurancies.
Why give a lecture if when you get to specific details you simply say, “refer to my book”. Meaning buy my book.
Talking of pletora of Austro-hungarian nationalities and mentioning general Borovic as having most distinguished service, yet then to not say his nationality is less then ideal. But there's google thankfully. Otherwise great presentation!
The man only talks about his book
I never knew there is a Salzburg in Siebenbürgen...
if anyone is interested in the state of the Austro-Hungarian empire leading up to the
beginning of WW1, I would highly recommend Christopher Clark's "The Sleepwalkers",
and any of his many lectures on the subject, both on this channel and others.
His book goes into *great* detail on the many and various machinations that led to the
start of that catastrophe.
02:04 You left out North Bukovina, (Chernovitz), now a part of Ukraine.
ONE AND A HALF MINUTE THE TITLE SHOWS: HAPSBURG ! Don´t seems to be very serious.... Hahahaha
i ordered the book
Gee. The comment about the Russians being superior to the US Army in 2022 didn't age well.
At the end of the Italian War 1918 the Austrian Army were in a victorious position, but run out of ammunition and the hungarian Soldiers stopped fighting and went home, so the austrian soldiers also stopped and didn´t want to die any longer for the empire. So the war wos lost 1918....
Yes and not, in october 1918 the army was on the river Piave, but the politicians and the chief of staff waited too long for a separate armistice, so when the italian army started to attack the imperial position the first line was solid but because of what you said there were no second line or third as was at the beginning of the war, so the italian army after the breakthrought start to run easily in the country. The first line died for the empire even the slovenian, the croatian and the bosniac who were afraid of an italian domination.
Italian war? You mean Caporetto but that was 1917 ?
Austrians asked the Germans to send divisions down to help them: after the Basovica plateaus victory of the Italians during the 11th Isonzo battle Austria was essentially defeated by the Italians, they needed help from Germany and they got it. As soon as they advanced and the Germans left they simply lost every battle especially on the Piave River battle of June 1918
Then they collapsed at battle of Vittorio Veneto
What are you talking about??
@@lucabartolucci919 And the political disintegration of the Empire already started during that Italian campain.
I am Švabo and imam češki I slavenski krv. The United States of Greater-Austria. Aurel Popovici and Erzherzog Franz-Ferdinand wanted it. I am Austrijan and I love the old real Austrija not just the red white red German part
If you haven't noticed by now, empires are anomaly of human society. It is beneficial for people when they collapse. Standing by for next one to go.
wow i like this
Thank you very much!
The emperor should have listened to Conrad's urgent advice much sooner. In 1914 everything was too late - so Conrad himself was inevitably at the end of his wisdom.
You mean to attac his partner Italy without reason? Totally wrong man at this place, even been sacked by Franz Ferdinand!
This guy knows very little about current events. His assessment of the quality of the Russian military has proven to be completely wrong, as was his prediction that Russia would not attack Ukraine. The US Army also has not been shrinking - between 1995 and today, it's averaged to about 500,000 active duty personnel, and today stands at 485,000 active duty personnel. These assessments of the US military being weak are honestly right out of a propagandist's playbook, and makes me cautious about the quality of Graydon's research.
Habsburg not Hapsburg
May the Habsburgs reign triumphantly until Our Blessed Lord returns
Wickham Steed of the London Times who was in Austria-Hungary at the time stated that the assassination of Archiduke Franz Ferdinand was orchestrated by Austria-Hungarian intelligence. He was not liked by the royalty for various reasons. If the Austrians were so ill equipped why did Ludendorff have to get 302 millimeter howitzers from them inorder to reduce the Belgian fortresses? Good lecture.
I think the takeaway, politically speaking, is that nations made of mixed ethnic groups, with very different religions and cultures, ultimately fail.
all states ultimately fail. Austria was a multicultural state from 1477-1919. That was an excellent run.
You probably hate the idea, hence that's your key takeaway.
Well, ALL nations "ultimately fail."
Hmm...yes . As the Swedes, Danes and ( shortly ) Germans are slowly realising . Too late alas.!
Ironically - former Habsburg countries like Hungary , Poland
and Slovakia have made sure they
DON'T repeat that mistake !
@@2msvalkyrie529 all of those countries are weaker than the Nordic countries and Germany and are much more likely to collapse politically as a result of the latent instability caused by their repressive behaviours
Dr. Tunstall's claim that Romania was defeated in six weeks isn't correct: the country fought for over a year, surrendering only after the Bolshevik Revolution resulted in the country being surrounded. Romania recovered after the late 1918 defeats of the Central Powers, quickly mobilizing, and penetrating into Transylvania.
As an effective player in the Great War Romania lasted about 6 weeks. Almost all their territory was rapidly overrun weeks after they joined the war. Some Romanian troops fought on under the Russians but as a nation at war Romania was 95% defeated in 6 weeks.
What people forget is that it was Catholicism and the Habsburg family that united this empire. Croats and Slovenes were Catholic and did not want to have anything to do with Serbs or Russians. Poles and Jews were able to maintain their identity in a way they could never in the Russian or German empire, because for the Habsburgs cultural identity mattered little. The component nations of the Habsburg realm were in a direction of civil equality before the war. Franz Ferdinand was so dangerous to the Serbs, because he was very much in favour of federating the state. It was Catholicism and loyalty to the Habsburgs that mattered. If it has not been for the war and the loss of legitimacy trough defeats and hunger, this Empire would still be here today and honestly the Balkans and central Europe would have been better for it.
What's a Hapsburg?
A prominent underbite
1:02:20 "Our army could not stand up to the Russian army." That didn't age well. Russia's army can't even beat Ukraine. They'd fall apart at the first trace of battle against the American Army.
Very ignorant comment and severe lack of understanding shown by you
Guy just selling his books 😢poor students. Like his suggestions on the upcoming Russia-Ukraine war. Just ask him why was hungarians honved was "going home"!
False. Russia didn't declare war on Austria-Hungary. Look it up.
I bought the book,I also have all his other books, he has no concept of strategy and geography, hardly uses any Russian or Serbian sources.
I wish that the books were better!
After the coup of 1903 and the slaughter of the serbian royal family, Serbia was basically a country run by terrorists. The top terrorist was named Dragutin Dimitrijević. With others, he personally hacked the dead bodies of the King and Queen with swords before throwing them into a manure pile. Dimitrijević had a dream of a balkan empire ruled over by Serbs and was willing to sacrifice anything to get it. If royality or the government got in his way, they died. He organized terrorism and ultimately political murder in Austria-Hungary. He and his organization were untouchable by the government on paper in Serbia which led to war in 1914.
For their own reasons, Britain and France then orchestrated an international propaganda campaign that said all sorts of people in Austria Hungary - most of whom were not Serbs - were begging to be ruled by the Serbs. Dimitrijević was incredibly happy as Serbia shed blood and progressively lost and more and more as the war went on.
In 1917, there were secret peace talks between France and Austria-Hungary. One of Austria-Hungary's conditions was the literal head of Dimitrijević and his lieutenants. And so they were arrested in occupied Greece and shot as a gesture of good faith in the talks.
The peace talks ultimately failed. Austria-Hungary lost the war. And Dimitrijević's dream of a Serbian Empire in the Balkans was accomplished. Everyone was forced into Yugoslavia if they wanted to be a part of it or not. Then it took almost 90 years of violence to undo that terrible mistake.
Very shallow and biased reasoning! Who are the terrorists, the ones oppressing Serbs in the Empire, or the ones trying to free themselves?
By your definition all the American revolutionaries would be terrorists!
Cope
sorry - I do not agree with it
1. the army stood to the empirte until November 1918
2. it was Austrian artillery that bailed out the Germans in 1914 in Liege - not vastly know, but I have the documents from my grandfather, who was a commander of a 30,5 Skoda gun
3. by the end of 1917 Austria reached all its war goals ( Russia defeated, italy defeated)
4. splitting up the empire, was a plan of the allies 1918, fueling nationsl insurrection
5. Serbia was a king murdering counrtry of pig herders (see Christopher Clarke)
6. the Kaisjäger battillions stood fast the whole war
7. my grandfather was part of all 11 Isonzo battles under the command of FZM Boroevic
8. thanks to mr Porsche (yes the guy from the cars) the 30,5 artillery became mobile
stop bashing the imperial army
this museum uses this scholar to discuss the empire and he has a very anti-imperial perspective, it makes these lectures almost unwatchable. I wish they would get experts from the countries that were part of the empire to discuss their perspective.
In the time and territory of Habsburg monarchy if you see some man on the streets that have mustaches he is Austrian - Hungarian citizen or it's a Serb ! Mustach was a symbol of a free man and Serbia was one of rare countries that hasn't be under Austro Hungarian empire control ! 🥸🇷🇸😎
Please Let's dispel the ridiculous but stubborn and misleading wide-spread political war propaganda myth about the "David-Goliath style struggle" in the WWI Serbian frontline:
Despite the A-H forces were NOT ABLE to provide NUMERICAL SUPERIORITY on the Serbian front - because of the much larger and much demanding Russian and later Italian fronts (Please! Check the numbers of Serbian soldiers one-by-one in their actual battles against the units of the A-H Empire), From 1915 the Serbian army produced a ridiculously high military death ratio per enlisted soldiers, and Serbs became the record holder in the ratio of the dead soldiers per enlisted soldiers in the WW1 history. However, even with the minimal German support for A-H Empire, Serbs could create NUMERICAL EQUALITY against the A-H-German combo on the battlefields (again: please check the numbers of the actual battles!). Because of the lack of soldiers in A-H- army units due to the more important Russian front and the increasing numerical superiority of the Serb army in the early months of 1915, the A-H Empire had to turn to Germany to send some small German army units, but the gamechanger was the new strategic plan of General August von Mackensen. The confused Serbian general stuff had no idea against Mackensen's new style of army movement and his encirclement strategies worked like a charm, they proved to be fast and very effective. Serbian army fell from one trap to another, and due to the mismanagement of the Serbian leadership who piled error upon error, the Serbian losses became unsustainable.An important notice: The Austro-German combined army of 1915 has never united as one single army with the Bulgarian army groups , they fought in geographically separate territories on the Serbian front.
Despite Serbia always successfully provided at least the numerical equality against her Austro-German opponents during all of their battles, it lost the war within one year, their defeat led to the complete occupation of Serbia in the autumn of 1915. Serbian soldiers fell like paper soldiers during 1915, which was the black year of the Serbian army, practically the backbone of the Serbian army was broken. The Serbian armies were constantly withdrawing from Serbian territory to avoid encirclement manoeuvres, and the dwindling military morale caused by the mind-boggling ratio of loss of men. Serbia recruited 760.000 soldiers during WW1, but only 260.000 survived the WW1, which also means that Serbia produced the highest KIA ratio during WW1. 1915 was the last year when A-H and Serbian soldiers met on the battlefields.
Near the end of 1915, in a massive rescue operation involving more than 1,000 trips made by Italian, French and British steamers, 260,000 Serb soldiers and the Serbian government were transported to the island of Corfu, where they waited for the chance of the victory of the western Allied Powers to reclaim their country. The Serbian army couldn't return to the empty military evacuated Serbian territory from the Saloniki front until the end of WW1. Serbs could return to their evacuated (military empty) country following the footsteps/shadow of the French army, but only after the A-H Monarchy dissolved.
Do you use the names of toponyms given to them by the occupiers or given to them by the domicile population in Poland, the Czech Republic and elsewhere? You know, it is insulting for Slovenian and Croatian places to use the names given by the Italian occupiers. So Soča, etc.
It is also interesting not to mention the best AH General Svetozar Borojevic, Called "The Lion of the Soca"
He mentioned him while answering the questions (as the one competent AU general) , talked about his great defense in Soča and Kras, his offer to Karl of sending troops to Vienna in November 1918. to restore the monarchy, and his later fate of being treated as a traitor in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, thus dying alone in Vienna.
Professor completely forgot to mention the road to Austria Hungary collapse. Berlin congres of 1878 Austria Hungary got a protectorate of Bosnia Hercegovina & annexed it on 1908. That led to "Customs war" & further to assassination of Archduke in Sarajevo. Why Austria Hungary garbed this 100% South Slav, predominantly Serb (in 1914) territory ? Because of the Imperialism that professor forgot to mention completely. What a shame. Behind this kind of teaching is poorly hidden racism that "Europeans" have towards the people of Balkan peninsula in general. Its high time to treat that.
"Why Austria Hungary garbed this 100% South Slav, predominantly Serb (in 1914) territory ? " Those territory was a major Serbian minority, but doesnt Serbian, and why? Because their old territory. One of the ten kingdoms. If you dont know, what is the 10 kongdoms, then go back to middle ages. The leader was Hungary, and the minors were: Slavonia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Sebia, Wallachia, Moldavia, Galicia, Lodomeria.
Imperialism is the explanation for everything according to communist historiography. But what is the reality? The reality is that both the Austria-Hungary and Russia were areas of interest in the Balkans. For this reason, Austria annexed Bosnia, although the Hungarian Parliament was not happy about it.
What has this got to do with killing Archduke? The fact that the Serbian and Russian leadership, which cherished Yugoslav dreams, wanted to break up the monarchy. A strong Serb-led Yugoslav state would have ensured Russian hegemony in the region.
The fact that someone does not look at things according to communist propaganda is not "poorly hidden racism that" Europeans "have towards the people of the Balkans", but an objective view of history. You, too, should have such a view of history, if not centuries of incitement to hatred is more important to you than reality.
Exactly - this guy peddling rubbish
Do people, such as yourself, ever feel exhausted from assigning "racism" to every single inequity that has ever existed? Nothing is more reductive and simplistic. This childish tactic takes multi-varied issues with multiple layers and boils them all down into one toxic, burnt out buzzword. The average normal person (whom has not been fully indoctrinated into this type of childlike thinking) just tune your point out the moment they see "RaCiSm".
When EVERYTHING is RaCiSt nothing is racist.
That racism was largely driven by the sheer numbers of Slavs in the East. Often overlooked in the history of the Great Wars is the depth of the paranoia in the states bordering Slav states. To the Germans this was an immediate threat, perhaps equivalent to the feelings the English likely would have had if there were say 150 million Scots in Scotland.
Remember too the influence of bad interpretations of Darwin which dominated what then generally amounted to the educated classes, going down into the middle class. England and France never cared too much about the numbers of Slavs in Eastern Europe, though they were entirely happy to help worry the Germans and such with their alliances with the East.