Description
Book SynopsisThis book challenges current thinking about the outbreak of World War I and the course of German foreign policy since Bismarck's chancellorship. In 1914, Germany's opening offensives against France were to be accompanied by a simultaneous offensive by her ally, Austria-Hungary, against Russia. The Austrian offensive was intended to hold the Russians until Germany defeated the Frenchsix weeks, no more. Then, the German army would turn east to support the Austrians. The Austrian offensive was a catastrophic failure. After only days of fighting Russia, Germany was obliged to send troops to support Austria lest she capitulate while most of the German army was still in France. The Austrian army's severe deficiencies were a constant drain on the German effort throughout the war.After the war, German memoirists and historians claimed that the German leadership had been unaware of these deficiencies before the war broke out.These claims have been accepted by historians down to today. The book
Trade ReviewTim Hadley has a valuable perspective on the military lead-up to the war in 1914. . . scholars in the field as well as others interested in Austro-German relations will welcome Military Diplomacy in the Dual Alliance as an important contribution to our understanding of one aspect of the Great War's origins. * The Historian *
The role of military attachés has been a greatly neglected subject for research, Alfred Vagts’ classic overview having been published as long ago as 1967. Fortunately, this is now changing. Timothy Hadley gives us a welcome and detailed analysis of the work of German military attachés in Vienna set in the context of wider European military diplomacy and intelligence gathering. Based on a formidable range of primary sources, it is a sobering assessment of how much the Germans knew—and chose to ignore—about Austro-Hungarian military capabilities, not least in the July Crisis of 1914. -- Ian Beckett, University of Kent
Exhaustively researched and clearly written, this monograph presents a detailed account of the comprehensive information German attaches in Austria Hungary provided on the Habsburg army’s institutional and cultural shortcomings—and of the ignoring of that information in Berlin. It makes a correspondingly persuasive case that frank communication and focused financial assistance could have significantly improved Habsburg military effectiveness before 1914. -- Dennis Showalter, Colorado College
Hadley's account, based on a rich trawl in both archival and secondary sources, perceptively analyzes the bewildering confusion inherent in the ultimately fatal Dual Alliance of the German and Austro-Hungarian empires. Berlin's decision to rely militarily on Vienna, dissected here in clear detail, is simply astounding. -- Lamar Cecil, Washington and Lee University
Table of ContentsChapter 1: Military Attachés in Europe 1879–1914: Counting Soldiers, Building Alliances Chapter 2: The German Military Attaché Appendix Chapter 3: Sensitive Reporting Topics Chapter 4: Military Diplomacy and Regional Security Chapter 5: Dysfunctional Allies: The German Mission on the Eastern Front Chapter 6: Conclusion
