A Mad Catastrophe

The Outbreak of World War I and the Collapse of the Habsburg Empire

By: Geoffrey Wawro

Narrated by: Geoffrey Wawro

The Austro-Hungarian army that marched east and south to confront the Russians and Serbs in the opening campaigns of World War I had a glorious past but a pitiful present. Speaking a mystifying array of languages and lugging outdated weapons, the Austrian troops were hopelessly unprepared for the industrialized warfare that would shortly consume Europe. As prizewinning historian Geoffrey Wawro explains in A Mad Catastrophe, the doomed Austrian conscripts were an unfortunate microcosm of the Austro-Hungarian Empire itself - both equally ripe for destruction.

After the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914, Germany goaded the Empire into a war with Russia and Serbia. With the Germans massing their forces in the west to engage the French and the British, everything - the course of the war and the fate of empires and alliances from Constantinople to London - hinged on the Habsburgs’ ability to crush Serbia and keep the Russians at bay. However, Austria-Hungary had been rotting from within for years, hollowed out by repression, cynicism, and corruption at the highest levels. Commanded by a dying emperor, Franz Joseph I, and a querulous celebrity general, Conrad von Hötzendorf, the Austro-Hungarians managed to bungle everything: their ultimatum to the Serbs, their declarations of war, their mobilization, and the pivotal battles in Galicia and Serbia. By the end of 1914, the Habsburg army lay in ruins and the outcome of the war seemed all but decided.

Drawing on deep archival research, Wawro charts the decline of the Empire before the war and reconstructs the great battles in the east and the Balkans in thrilling and tragic detail. A Mad Catastrophe is a riveting account of a neglected face of World War I, revealing how a once-mighty empire collapsed in the trenches of Serbia and the Eastern Front, changing the course of European history.

©2014 Geoffrey Wawro (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Osterreich? Osterwrong!

Ok, so that was a cheesy headline, but that's all I could think of!

This is a really fascinating book delving into the final death knell of the Austrian Empire, with an emphasis on its disastrous performance in the first 1-2 years of The Great War. The author is the narrator, so you can clearly hear his own incredulity and disgust with just how unprepared this formerly great empire was for the war, the complete disregard for its citizens in pursing this war, and the separation from reality its military and political leaders had from the disaster that was unfolding on the ground. This is a kind of "Guns of August" of the Austrian front, detailing just how wrong everything was going for the Austrians in the first part of the war, and how this was a result of bad policy and eventually foretold the destruction of this empire. It's mind boggling, with the benefit of hindsight, at just how pathetic the Austrians were: under-powered and numerically less artillery, officers not speaking the same language as their men, Napoleonic war techniques of charging headlong into machine guns and artillery, terrible troop morale and a high command that could not make up their mind about what to do, except to "stress the offensive". Given the numbers of men involved, it's horrible, sad stuff.

My only (minor) quibbles is that sometimes the author will repeat himself, in particular when assailing the Austrian Chief of Staff, Conrad, but Conrad really is just ridiculous and horrible, so I can accept that. I would have loved to hear a bit more about the decay of the Empire prior to the war. It seems that when they lose the German confederation in the Austrian Prussian War, that is when they go from a German-centric Empire with other non-German holdings to being a minority in their own empire. This to me is really the beginning of the end.

Austrian Madness revealed

It is indeed fascinating to read/listen to the Austrian Empires madness in even thinking of war,when they were so unprepared.Vanity of vanities,vanity of vanities personified.If you are a history buff,listen to this.

A masterful look at the origins of World War I

An excellent analysis of the origins of World War I and Austria's shockingly incompetent conduct of the war in the early years. Two minus stars for the author's reading of his own work, he has passion but lacks the polish of a professional narrator.

Great story teller

Loved it and had a hard time putting it down. Thank you so much J.W.

Excellent

Outstanding book. Information that has not been available in English. I have learned a lot. Coherent, Excellent writing and narration. Highly recommended