Customer Reviews

The Austro-Hungarian Forces in World War I (2): 1916-18 (Men-at-Arms) (v. 2)

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I am writing this having a) had the book for some time now, and b) in response to the previous review.

I found the book particularly informative - especially after "Armies in the Balkans 1914-18" - and, some minor details apart - a reasonable review of the Habsburg armies in the first half of the First World War. Re. the uniform plates, I agree entirely that they are excellent and well worth the purchase price of the book alone.

However, although the previous reviewer highlights the, shall we say, negative spin of apparent lack of success of the kuk armee in 1914 and 1916 and, to a lesser extent 1915, the fact remains that - with German assistance admittedly - the Habsburg armies remained in the field in fighting order until almost the last. Indeed, given that Austro-Hungarian military spending pre 1914 was by far the lowest of the Great Powers (which includes Italy I am told) and that the German Empire was the great, powerful "new kid on the block" (from, bear in mind, 1871), the Habsburg armies' ability to survive deserves recognition. Given that the brash, new, powerful German Empire was outlived by the arthritic, "ramshackle" Austro- Hungarian state (held together by the army) for a mere matter of weeks in 1918, there must be a case for some recognition. PLUS, Imperial Russia knocked out of the war in 1917 in part due to the (admittedly) supporting role played by Austria-Hungary (NB not Austro-Hungary!). This is an old army worthy of attention. I for one think Peter Jung's book is generally well balanced and look forward to part two.

Dr Peter Jung, late of the Austrian War Archives, completed his second volume for Osprey on the Austro-Hungarian forces in the First World War. Together, these two volumes, while thin, shed much light on the heretofore-neglected Austro-Hungarian troops who played such a large role in the First World War.

Dr. Jung begins with an introduction concerning the new Austrian emperor and then provides a 7-page summary of major operations in 1916-1918. He then covers army reorganization in the last two years of the war, uniforms and equipment, and a 9-page section on specialist troops (storm troopers, mountain troops, searchlight troops, gas warfare, auto troops, armored cars, army aviation, naval troops, chaplains and female troops. A final section includes information on secondary fronts (the Orientkorps in Palestine and the Western front, which includes two very detailed orders of battle (AH units on Turkish fronts and AH troops on the Western Front in October 1918). The color plates consist of: Austrian senior leaders (Emperor Karl I, FM Conrad and Colonel-General Boroevic); specialist troops (dog handlers, dismounted cavalry, mountain troops); military chaplains (Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Protestant); naval troops; storm troops; aviators; ethnic troops (Albanian, Ukrainian); and odds-and-ends troops in late 1918. While the color plates are excellent, as usual, some of the choices (such as an entire plate on chaplains) are questionable and it would have been desirable to have at least one color plate of Austrian troops in action. Finally, the author's 2-page bibliography is very detailed and should prove very useful for any readers wishing to pursue further research on this topic. The only serious omissions in both volumes are the lack of any real discussion of Austrian tactical or operational level doctrine, and the lack of any first-person accounts.

There is a great deal of specialized information about the Austro-Hungarian army in both this volume and its predecessor, making them valuable commodities for anyone interested in a better understanding of the First World War. Given the constraints of the Osprey Men-at-Arms series, Dr. Jung made a commendable effort and these two volumes should be on the bookshelf of all serious students of the Great War.

The Osprey Men-at-Arms series recent volumes on various armies of the First World War, while brief, have helped to shed some light on the more neglected military forces that participated in that conflict. Dr. Peter Jung, who works at the Austrian War Archives, brings his professional knowledge to bear in the first of two volumes on the Austro-Hungarian army in the First World War. The first volume covers the period 1914-1916. Overall, this volume is decent but not great, while the color plates make this volume an essential purchase for any student of the First World War.

After a short introduction, Dr. Jung has a brief section on the organization of the Austro-Hungarian army, followed by eight pages on major operations in 1914-1916. A 26-page section on uniforms, equipment, the branches and volunteer units comprises the bulk of the volume. Most welcome is the author's inclusion of a map of corps districts in 1914, a detailed order of battle for August 1914, a chart of rank insignia, and lists of the infantry and cavalry regiments in 1914. These charts alone make this volume useful. As usual, the color plates are the main effort in this thin volume and these include: officers in 1914, infantry in 1914, cavalry in 1914, winter uniforms, mountain troops, specialist troops, foreign volunteers and Austrian troops serving in Gallipoli and Palestine. While the Austro-Hungarian Army may not have won many battles, they certainly had some of the most attractive uniforms of any combatant in the First World War.

Dr. Jung does pack a fair amount of information into this 48-page format, but his coverage is sometimes uneven. The discussion of the organization of Austrian divisions is overly succinct; although he notes that the Austrian divisions had only 46 artillery pieces compared to 50-72 for everybody else, it is unclear what size weapons were in their divisional artillery (plus he notes that Austrians had six gun batteries, but 46 is not divisible by 6, so the organization is unclear). Dr. Jung also pretty much ignores the Austrian artillery contribution on the Western Front in 1914, but then gets rather blabby about the minor operations in Albania and Palestine. Nor is there any discussion of tactical or operational doctrines.

There's also an obvious bias in these pages - not unexpected from someone working in the Austrian archives - to sugarcoat some of the worst aspects of this misfortune-plagued army. Dr. Jung's description of the campaigns in Serbia and Galicia make it sound like the Austrians did pretty well and were only occasionally forced to give up some ground. The author admits that the 1916 Brusilov Offensive did some damage but downplays the fact that the Austrian army virtually disintegrated and were saved only by Russian mistakes and quick German reinforcements. There is also very little mention of tactical innovation or assistance from the Germans in this volume. Obviously, a 48-page account has to be concise and skim over much ground (although it seems that no uniform detail - however trivial - must be omitted), and Dr. Jung achieves the main objective of providing a summary of Austrian forces in 1914-1916.

i think this is a great account of the austro hungarian army in world war one
there is menchen of operations that most historians forget like how at the battle of krasnik
and battle of kamarov the austro hungarian army shattered the two russian armies that they met
what most historians failed to tell is that because the majority of the german army was
on the western front there was only a small german contiginant on the eastern front at this time in the year 1914
and that these two austrian victories had saved germany from a russian advance on berlin.
it also saved the dual monarchy from a russian advance into the hungarian plains what is intersting
is that dispite the major military disasters that befell the monarchy the fact that the austro hungarian army
proved to be remarkabley resilant even though sometimes german aid was helpful is amazing. some historians
critsize the austro hungarian army for its military disasters but it must be remembered that before the war
the austro hungarian army had the lowest military budget out of any of the great powers the fact that they
were able to stay in the war to the bitter end proves that this army is worth reading about
i just wish there were more info in these osprey books but for the money its well worth it
Richard K.

I first purchased the second volume (1916-1918) for the Austro-Hungarian forces during World War One, and just purchased the first volume (1914-1916). The late Peter Jung was an Austrian, and Darko Pavlovic is Croatian (both parts of the former Habsburg-Lothringen empire). The books are very nicely illustrated, and have interesting background information. For instance, the names of all 102 Army Infantry Regiments in 1914 are listed. Many regiments had foreign name sponsors, even located in countries of eventual enemies (a tragic development, but this shows how cosmopolitan the old Austrian Empire was). In 1916, the switch was made to adopt the Imperial German "coal shuttle" helmet (to reduce head injuries in the trenches), which evolved into the World War Two German helmet in 1935. The East German helmet of 1956 to 1990 was also derived from the 1935 and 1942 models. The modern helmets used in the USA and the EU mimick the German design, which provides greater side protection.

The Austro-Hungarian Forces in World War I (2) Osprey publication just touches on highlights of the kuk is well written and researched. I enjoyed the photos from the archives and from the authors collection. Nice rank, insignia as well as unit organization charts. I spent a decade in Central Europe studying militaria, visiting actual kuk WWI battle sites, studying kuk unit forces and visiting actual kuk fortifications throughout the old empire. I specialize in military aviation in the First War, I disagree on several of the dates in the very brief aviation section of the book but other then that, excellent work.

This volume looks at Austro-Hungarian forces during the second half of the Great War. During this period the colorful distinctions of the Austro-Hungarian army were going by the wayside, replaced by the very german-looking field green standard uniform. This book provides illustrations of the uniforms as they became more "common." A very good reference and an interesting book in its own right.

A concise coverage of a subject normally ignored in the literature ordinarily available to me. Osprey is always good. I was fortunate that Amazon found a reasonable price from a reliable seller. I'm a happy customer.

This Men at Arms series has been a huge help with my short story writing - mostly because I'm a visual person and the illustrations within are fantastic. My only complaint is how impersonal these books are - I wish there were more about the soldiers themselves (i.e. letters home, heroic stories, etc). The book sort of dehumanizes Austrian soldiers by solely discussing their tactics and weaponry. It needs more personality...

Is short but does go over the general state of equipment of the Astro-Hungarian military at the end of the war, particularly the uniforms.