Austria
Battle of Eckmühl 1809
Antoine de Marbot recounted an incident that demonstrated the properties of the two styles of cuirass, when at EckmĂĽhl in April 1809 French and Austrian cuirassiers crashed together, while the accompanying light cavalry drew off to the flanks to avoid being caught up in the fight. The cuirassiers advanced rapidly upon each other, and became one immense melĂ©e. Courage, tenacity…
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AUSTRIA 1848
Of the year 1848 the British historian Trevelyan remarked that it was the great turning point at which history failed to turn. Given the accumulation of tensions and conflicts since the Congress of Vienna, nationalistic passions, the miserable condition of the peasantry, entrepreneurs chafing under restrictions placed on them, intellectuals…
TOWARDS NATIONAL REVOLT INÂ AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
The Habsburg regime, in fact, was not especially oppressive – at least not by the standards of modern dictatorships. Its bureaucracy was generally honest and efficient. Moreover, Metternich used his considerable diplomatic influence to press mild reforms on the more benighted absolute rulers whose intransigence threatened to provoke violent opposition:…
METTERNICH’S SYSTEM
The same scale, from purely cultural to distinctly political nationalism, can be found among the nationalities of the Austrian Empire. Metternich, more than the emperors themselves, Francis I and after his death in 1835, Ferdinand I, who were rather weak and insignificant rulers, represented the idea of absolute government. He…
HABSBURG MILITARY MEDIOCRITY – H-WAR
 Why was the Habsburg army slower and less brilliant than its European rivals between 1649 and 1918? I am certainly no expert on this topic, having read only very generally on Austrian history, but in the interest of providing a basis of discussion, I’ll posit the following general ideas:…