The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918 (Modern Wars)

ISBN: 0340573481

Author: Herwig, Holger H.

Condition: New

The Great War toppled four empires, cost the world 24 million lives, andsowed some of the seeds of another worldwide conflagration 20 yearslater. Yet, until now, there has been no comprehensive treatment of howGermany and Austria-Hungary - two of the key belligerents - conductedthe war and what defeat meant to them.How did theHohenzollern and Habsburg empires conceive of and conduct 'total war'?What impact did the prolonged fighting have on their societies? Drawingon his own archival research over the past decade, Holger Herwiganalyses why Vienna opted for war in 1914 and why Berlin took thecalculated risk to back that decision.The war plans andmilitary campaigns on both Eastern and Western fronts are examined indetail and key battles, some of the bloodiest and most wasteful inmilitary history, are narrated and analysed.On the homefront, the mobilization of the civilian populations behind the wareffort had profound social consequences. The militarization of the keywar-related industries led to an industrial women's labour forceemerging in both countries, deeply affecting the role of women inGermanic society.''The great seminal catastrophe of thetwentieth century', as American statesman George F Kennan described thewar, has had no shortage of accounts seen chiefly from Alliedperspectives. In using Vienna and Berlin as his vantage points, Herwighas comprehensively shown for the first time the other side of thatprodigiously wasteful conflict.