Austria
Seven Years’ Wars – Political Overview
Count Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz (1711-1794) The idea of an Austrian alliance with France had been first outlined by Count Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz (1711-1794) in March 1749. Kaunitz had been the Austrian representative at Aachen the previous year, and his experience of being undermined by secret Anglo-French talks convinced him that Britain was unreliable and that Austria must seek…
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WHITE MOUNTAIN CAMPAIGN
The Habsburg Offensive Ferdinand’s offensive involved six separate armies. Bucquoy left Dampierre to hold Vienna with over 5,000 men against Bethlen, and advanced from Krems with 21,500 to eject Anhalt from his foothold in Lower Austria. Maximilian placed 8,600 men to guard his frontier with the Upper Palatinate, and accompanied…
The Battle of White Mountain
The coming battle was the first major action of the war and proved to be the most decisive. Anhalt’s position was relatively strong. The White Mountain ridge, taking its name from chalk and gravel pits, ran north-east to south-west for about 2km, rising about 60 metres from the surrounding area.…
Austro-Hungarian Submarines
Austro-Hungarian Submarines in WWI (Maritime Series) Paperback – August 19, 2016 by Jiří Novák The Austro- Hungarian navy was comparatively late in ordering submarines, their first not being launched until 1908. Initially they were known simply by a number in Roman style, and later the U designator was added but…
Ferdinand’s Army
The structure of Ferdinand’s army: Wallenstein In theory, Ferdinand, as Kaiser, had at his beck and call a Reichsarmee but this concept was not worth the paper on which it was written. The German princes who made up the patchwork of the Holy Roman Empire had long had local forces…
Imperialist versus Rebel – Thirty Years’ War
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia The Battle of Stadtlohn was fought on 6 August 1623 between the armies of Christian of Brunswick and of the Catholic League during the Thirty Years’ War. The League’s forces were led by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly. Such an army…
A DYNASTY SAVED
5 June 1619 and the ‘Kaiserliche Armee’ The ‘Kaiserliche Armee’ (Emperor’s army) was a name that stuck to the Habsburg forces until their dissolution in 1918. It was a title fashioned in the extraordinary crisis of June 1619. Before that moment no one had thought of the Habsburgs’ troops as…