Military Conditions
Surrounding Austria-Hungary
By: Dan Ciotlos
Austria-Hungary's Army/Military
Austria-Hungary had a total of three armies ("The Fatal Shot."):
- The Austrian
- The Hungarian
- "The Common Army" which consisted of both Austrians and Hungarians
![Picture](/uploads/2/6/8/4/26846648/4587243.png?250)
Picture Courtesy of Imperial War Museum, London in "The Fatal Shot" from Gale Virtual Reference Library
"Life-size model of a Austro-Hungarian Reiter (Trooper) of the 8th Uhlan (Lancer) Regiment in military costume" ("The Fatal Shot.").
There were ten languages spoken in the army. "The official one was German", however the officers needed to learn the soldiers' language to be able to communicate with them. This reflect the structure of Austria-Hungary which had "two separate monarchies ruled by one monarch" ("The Fatal Shot.").
![Picture](/uploads/2/6/8/4/26846648/3069309.png?382)
Chart Courtesy of Simon Peaple from the book named The Origins of the First and Second World Wars.
"The build-up of armies, 1900-14" (Peaple 47).
By examining this graph, it can be seen how from 1900 to 1914, the number of soldiers in Austria-Hungary's empire grew; however was still considerably inferior to countries such as Russia, Germany, and France.
![Picture](/uploads/2/6/8/4/26846648/6970189.png?523)
This table shows key features of Austria-Hungary's Military.
Its interesting to note how many soldiers Austria-Hungary had after Mobilization.
Other key factors relating to Austria-Hungary's military
- Spending on armaments in Austria-Hungary from 1872 to 1912 increased by over 150% (Rogers, Jo 25).
- Little money existed for the army from the government since "the government had to pay over three million civil servants to hold the empire together" (Darby 11).
- Austria Hungary by 1914 "was spending 6.1% of its national income on armaments" and from 1910 to 1914, Austria-Hungary "doubled its defense spending from £17.4 million to £36.4 million" (Peaple 47).
Austria-Hungary's Foreign Policy
Austria-Hungary followed a "foreign policy of containment in the Balkans" and Austria-Hungary was intent in filling the power vacuum left by the Ottoman decline (Roger, Jo 11).
Austria and Russia had in the Balkans territorial ambitions and signed the Murzstag Agreement in 1903 to ease the Balkan tension created between them, since it allowed the status quo to be maintained. However the balance ceased to exist when Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina (Peaple 28).
The Treaty of Berlin in 1878 gave Austria-Hungary "exclusive administration" of Bosnia-Herzegovina and later in 1908 annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina an example of their foreign policy ambitions (McDonough 5-14).
Austria and Russia had in the Balkans territorial ambitions and signed the Murzstag Agreement in 1903 to ease the Balkan tension created between them, since it allowed the status quo to be maintained. However the balance ceased to exist when Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina (Peaple 28).
The Treaty of Berlin in 1878 gave Austria-Hungary "exclusive administration" of Bosnia-Herzegovina and later in 1908 annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina an example of their foreign policy ambitions (McDonough 5-14).
Brief Introduction into their Alliances
The Austria-Hungarian empire created several alliance and agreements with other nations (Roger, Jo 13):
- Three Emperors' League in 1873, an alliance that ultimately failed with Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary
- The Dual Alliance in 1879, an alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary, which provided assistance in case of war with Russia (McDonough 4)
- The Triple Alliance in 1882, Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy, assistance if two (or more) powers attacked them
- Blank Cheque given from Germany to Austria-Hungary, giving unconditional support to Austria-Hungary (McDonough 16)
One key thing to know: Austria was the first on July 28, 1914 to declare war on Serbia (McDonough 17) by bombarding Belgrade, the Serbian capital (Peaple 80).