The Undermining of Austria-Hungary: The Battle for Hearts and Minds [Hardcover]

Mark Cornwall (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312231512 | ISBN-13: 978-0312231514 | Publication Date: September 2, 2000

This is a major new contribution to the historiography of the First World War. It examines the lively battle of ideas which helped destroy Austria-Hungary. It also assesses, for the first time, the weapon of "front propaganda" as used by and against the Empire on the Italian and Eastern Fronts. Based on material in eight languages, the work challenges accepted views about Britain's primacy in the field of propaganda, while casting fresh light on the creation of Yugoslavia and the viability of the Habsburg Empire in its last years.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a highly original work that fills a significant gap in our knowledge of the experience of the war."--Solomon Wank, Central European History

This is the best and most significant book on a topic related to the Austro-Hungarian armed forces...required reading for all scholars and students... American Historical Review

About the Author

Mark Cornwall is Senior Lecturer in European History at the University of Dundee.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 503 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (September 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312231512
• ISBN-13: 978-0312231514
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,785,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Army of Nations..., April 29, 2007

By 

Lohr E. Miller "quondam historian/academic" (the Deepest South, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Undermining of Austria-Hungary: The Battle for Hearts and Minds (Hardcover)

Mark Cornwall's "Undermining Austria-Hungary" looks at Allied efforts during the Great War to pry the various nationalities (Czechs, Serbs, Poles, Italians, etc.) that made up the Habsburg armies away from loyalty to the Monarchy and the Dynasty. Cornwall's research into Allied propaganda and long-obscured archives in Vienna and Budapest is excellent, and he shows both the long and largely unsuccessful (at least until mid-1918) attempts of the Allied governments and their pet "national" emigre groups to undermine the loyalty of the non-German soldiers of the Monarchy and the fear and anxiety of the Habsburg authorities over any signs of disaffection. The armies of the Monarchy were, despite later legend, remarkably resilient throughout the war, and held together far better than anyone thought. Cornwall shows, however, something my own doctoral thesis on the nationality politics of the imperial-and-royal armies before the war noted: the Monarchy's generals overreacted to any hint of national unrest, often (as with the Serbs of the Monarchy's Bosnian units in summer 1914) imagining disloyalty and creating unrest where none may have existed. Cornwall gives a remarkable picture of a lost army and looks at the links holding together the Monarchy's regiments. My one complaint is the price-- the publishers have priced the book out of reach for all but the most determined readers. Still-- this is a finely written book, wonderfully researched and presented, and of interest not just to scholars of the Monarchy, but to anyone interested in national loyalties and the fate of multinational or multi-ethnic states.