For God and Kaiser: The Imperial Austrian Army, 1619-1918

633 Pages·2015·6.31 MB·English

by  Richard Bassett

FOR GOD AND KAISER
i
ii
F G
OR OD
and
K
AISER
the imperial austrian army
from  to 
richard bassett
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
iii
Copyright © 2015 Richard Bassett
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and
except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publishers.
For information about this and other Yale University Press publications, please contact:
U.S. Office: [email protected] www.yalebooks.com
Europe Office: [email protected] www.yalebooks.co.uk
Typeset in Minion Pro by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd
Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bassett, Richard.
For God and Kaiser : the Imperial Austrian Army, 1619–1918/Richard Bassett.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-300-17858-6 (cl : alk. paper)
1. Austria. Armee—History. 2. Austria—History, Military. I. Title.
UA672.B37 2015
355.009436'0903—dc 3
2014047021
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
iv
For Gottfried Pils (Akad.Maler)
v
vi
All the peoples of the monarchy have found a common home in the army.
For that reason it has been enabled to accomplish so much.
The Emperor Charles I, 24 October 1918
vii
viii
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction 1
Part 1 The Habsburg Connection
1 The Kaiser’s Cuirassiers: A Dynasty Saved 11
2 For God and Emperor: The Relief of Vienna 38
3 ‘The noble knight’: Prince Eugene and the War of the
Spanish Succession 56
4 ‘Our Blood and Life’: The Great Empress 83
5 Austria Resurgent: Theresian Military Reforms 110
6 Mater Castrorum 137
7 The Army and the Josephinian Enlightenment 164
Part 2 Revolution and Reaction
8 The Army and the French Revolution 185
9 From Marengo to Austerlitz: The Second and Third
Coalition Wars 211
10 Shattering the Myth: Aspern and Essling 242
ix