Synopses & Reviews
Despite the renewed interest in the First World War, the opening campaigns that decided the course of the global conflict remain under-examined; this is especially true for the Battle for Galicia in August 1914. Not only was Galicia, a historical region located in today's southern Poland and western Ukraine, the site of the bloodiest battle of the conflict, but the impulses that precipitated the engagement and the unprecedented carnage that resulted also effectively doomed the Austria-Hungarian Empire just six weeks into the war.
In The Fall of the Double Eagle, John R. Schindler draws on extensive archival research, memoirs, and diverse secondary sources in a dozen languages to explain how Austria-Hungary, despite military weakness and the inevitable consequences, consciously chose war in 1914. Through close examination of the Austro-Hungarian military, especially its elite General Staff, Schindler shows how even a war Vienna would likely lose appeared a preferable option to the “foul peace” the top generals loathed. The study considers how the polyglot empire was outgunned and unable to subdue Serbia, resulting in a humiliating defeat that generals sought to cover up. Worse was to come, when Austro-Hungarian divisions launched an offensive into Russian Poland in hopes of defeating the numerically superior enemy. By the time the Russians were halted at the gates of Cracow, over 400,000 Austro-Hungarian troops had been lost in just three weeks, a figure equal to the prewar standing army and a loss from which the empire would never recover. While Austria-Hungary's ultimate defeat and dissolution was postponed until the autumn of 1918, its fate was preordained in in the late summer of 1914 on the plains and hills of Galicia.
Review
andldquo;Among the recent books on the Great Warandrsquo;s long-neglected Eastern Front, this stands with the best. . . . Schindlerandrsquo;s comprehensive research and measured judgment combine in an admirably balanced account of the disaster that foreshadowed the end of the Habsburg Empire.andrdquo;andmdash;Dennis Showalter, professor of history at Colorado College and author of Hitlerandrsquo;s Panzers: The Lightning Attacks that Revolutionized Warfareand#160;and#160;and#160;
Review
andldquo;As both an academic and practitioner of intelligence and war, John Schindler is uniquely equipped to tell the fascinating story of Austria-Hungaryandrsquo;s equivalent to the Battles of Marne and Tannenbergandmdash;with the roles reversed. With a great deal of detail and even greater empathy, Schindler brings both the heroism and blunders of the Dual Monarchyandrsquo;s doomed war effort to life. Both amateur World War I enthusiasts and specialists are forever in his debt for restoring the Battle of Galicia to its proper place.andrdquo;andmdash;Avi Woolf, English editor of MIDA.org.il and blogger for the
Times of Israel and#160;and#160;and#160;
Review
andldquo;This excellent account of Austria-Hungaryandrsquo;s fateful role at the outset of the First World War highlights the insoluble dilemma of a two-front war against Serbia and Russia. The military proved unable to cope and suffered terrible losses from which it never recovered. John Schindler has done a superb job in reconstructing one of the least known military debacles of a century ago.andrdquo;andmdash;Gyandouml;rgy Schandouml;pflin, member of the European Parliament for Hungary and author of Politics, Illusions, Fallacies
Review
andldquo;Schindler has written a most exciting account not just of the Galician campaign of 1914 but of its significance for the collapse of Austria-Hungary during the First World War. . . . The unfolding tragedy of a million lives lost by 1918 due to military incompetence (not the nationality question) makes heartbreaking reading. Yet the reader comes away from this book astonished by the bravery of millions of men of a dozen nationalities, all betrayed by an ignorance of strategy, tactics and logistics at the very top of the imperial army.andrdquo;andmdash;Alan Sked, professor of international history at the London School of Economics and author of Radetzky: Imperial Victor and Military Geniusand#160;and#160;and#160;
Synopsis
" A] must-read for students of history and historians alike."--Washington Book Review
Although southern Poland and western Ukraine are not often thought of in terms of decisive battles in World War I, the impulses that precipitated the battle for Galicia in August 1914--and the unprecedented carnage that resulted--effectively doomed the Austro-Hungarian Empire just six weeks into the war.
In Fall of the Double Eagle, John R. Schindler explains how Austria-Hungary, despite military weakness and the foreseeable ill consequences, consciously chose war in that fateful summer of 1914. Through close examination of the Austro-Hungarian military, especially its elite general staff, Schindler shows how even a war that Vienna would likely lose appeared preferable to the "foul peace" the senior generals loathed. After Serbia outgunned the polyglot empire in a humiliating defeat, and the offensive into Russian Poland ended in the massacre of more than four hundred thousand Austro-Hungarians in just three weeks, the empire never recovered. While Austria-Hungary's ultimate defeat and dissolution were postponed until the autumn of 1918, the late summer of 1914 on the plains and hills of Galicia sealed its fate.
Synopsis
Although southern Poland and western Ukraine are not often thought of in terms of decisive battles in World War I, the impulses that precipitated the Battle for Galicia in August 1914andmdash;and the unprecedented carnage that resultedandmdash;effectively doomed the Austro-Hungarian Empire just six weeks into the war.
In Fall of the Double Eagle, John R. Schindler explains how Austria-Hungary, despite military weakness and the foreseeable ill consequences, consciously chose war in that fateful summer of 1914. Through close examination of the Austro-Hungarian military, especially its elite general staff, Schindler shows how even a war that Vienna would likely lose appeared preferable to the andldquo;foul peaceandrdquo; the senior generals loathed. After Serbia outgunned the polyglot empire in a humiliating defeat, and the offensive into Russian Poland ended in the massacre of more than four hundred thousand Austro-Hungarians in just three weeks, the empire never recovered. While Austria-Hungaryandrsquo;s ultimate defeat and dissolution were postponed until the autumn of 1918, the late summer of 1914 on the plains and hills of Galicia sealed its fate.
About the Author
John R. Schindler is a strategist, military historian, and security consultant whose work focuses on strategy, intelligence, and terrorism. Previously he was an intelligence analyst with the National Security Agency and a professor at the U.S. Naval War College. He is the author of Isonzo: The Forgotten Sacrifice of the Great War and Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qaandrsquo;ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad and the coauthor of The Terrorist Perspectives Project: Strategic and Operational Views of Al-Qaida and Associated Movements.