For God and kaiser
Subtitle: the Imperial Austrian Army, 1619-1918
By: Richard Bassett
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 591
ISBN-13: 9780300178586
Subjects: Military History; Austria; Austria. Armee; History
Description: Among the finest examples of deeply researched and colorfully written military history, Richard Bassett's For God and Kaiser is a major account of the Habsburg army told for the first time in English. Bassett shows how the Imperial Austrian Army, time and again, was a decisive factor in the story of Europe, the balance of international power, and the defense of Christendom. Moreover it was the first pan-European army made up of different nationalities and faiths, counting among its soldiers not only Christians but also Muslims and Jews. Bassett tours some of the most important campaigns and battles in modern European military history, from the seventeenth century through World War I. He details technical and social developments that coincided with the army's story and provides fascinating portraits of the great military leaders as well as noteworthy figures of lesser renown. Departing from conventional assessments of the Habsburg army as ineffective, outdated, and repeatedly inadequate, the author argues that it was a uniquely cohesive and formidable fighting force, in many respects one of the glories of the old Europe.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 250-254) and index.
Table of contents: title: I. The Habsburg Connection; title: The Kaiser's Cuirassiers: a dynasty saved; title: For God and Emperor: the relief of Vienna; title: "The noble knight": Prince Eugene and the War of the Spanish Succession; title: "Our blood and life": the great empress; title: Austria Resurgent: Theresian military reforms; title: Mater Castrorum; title: The Army and the Josephinian Enlightenment; title: II. Revolution and Reaction; title: The Army and the French Revolution; title: From Marengo to Austerlitz: the Second and Third Coalition Wars; title: Shattering the Myth: Aspern and Essling; title: Clash of Titans: Wagram; title: From Znaim to Leipzig; title: Biedermeier, Vormarz and Radetzky; title: From Magenta and Solferino to the Duppel and Oeversee; title: The Austro-Prussian War: Koniggratz 1866; title: Victories in the South: Custozza and Lissa 1866; title: III. Imperial and Royal; title: k. (u.) k.: the "new army" and the Bosnian Insurgency; title: Towards a Twentieth Century Navy: the siege at Pekin; title: The Evidenzburo and Colonel Redl: the k. (u.) k. Army on the eve of catastrophe; title: The Military Road to Sarajevo; title: The Army and the July Crisis; title: Austria-Hungary's Last War: 1914; title: 1915-1916: Bayonets in the Dolomites; title: 1916-1918: The End of the Old Army; title: Finis Austriae?; title: Aftermath.