Austria
French Military 1850-80 Part I
Napoleon III Takes Power That year revolutions ignited by economic distress swept Europe. Paris, that powder keg of revolutionary passions, erupted in February. King Louis-Philippe, despised for his cautious and inglorious foreign policy, abdicated and fled to England. The Second Republic was proclaimed by Paris radicals, but France became embroiled in internal troubles. Such was the need felt in the…
Most Recent
Battle of Torgau
Frederick the Great greets General Zieten after the Battle of Torgau. The fighting began in Silesia when an Austrian corps under General Loudon defeated a Prussian corps at Landeshut on 23 June 1760. The Austrians heavily outnumbered the Prussians, 34,000 men to 11,000. The Prussians were easily defeated, losing 10,000…
Austro-German alliance
The final phase of the Austro-German alliance began in the wake of the Dual Monarchy’s annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was highlighted by cordial exchanges-beginning in 1908-09 and lasting to the spring of 1914-between Conrad and the new German chief of the General Staff, the Younger Moltke. The two…
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…
The Austrian Army of 1805
Lieutenant-General Kienmayer commanded the advance guard of Doctorov’s first column at Austerlitz. He was also the Austrian Chief of Staff and as such had been largely responsible for drawing up the Allied plan of battle, taking the leading role at the briefing of Austrian and Russian generals late on 1…
Hohenfriedeberg – Bayreuth Dragoons
The accounts of Hohenfriedeberg I’ve read suggest that the Austrian infantry had already been roughly handled by the Prussian artillery before the Bayreuth dragoons charged into legend. 🙂 One passage spoke of “men crowding a hundred deep behind the colors.” An exaggeration, perhaps, but I think it’s clear that the…
War of the Austrian Succession, 1740–1748
George II at the Battle of Dettingen. George II, who was born in 1683, was king of Britain from 1727 to 1760 as a member of the Hanoverian line. He was brought up to a military life and military affairs were his major interest. He regulated his day with the…