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UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 NorthZeeb Road, Atm Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 ETHNICITY AS A PROBLEM FOR GRAND STRATEGY: CONRAD VON HÔTZENDORF, NATIONALISM AND THE HABSBÜRG IMPERIAL ARMY AT WAR, 1914-1916 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Kelly McFall, M.A. The Ohio State University 1998 Dissertation Cortunittee: Approved by Professor Alan Beyerchen, Advisor Professor Geoffrey Parker Advi'éor Professor Ahmad Sikainga History Graduate Program UMI Number: 9834034 UMI Microform 9834034 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 ABSTRACT The image usually associated with the Habsburg army of the First World War is that painted in Jaroslav Hasek's famous novel The Good Soldier Schweik: a sloppy, undisciplined and comically inefficient fighting force. Perhaps as a result, few historians have studied the army and its role in the war in any depth. This is unfortunate, because the Habsburg Army and the Dual Monarchy as a whole offer an important example of the functioning of a multi-ethnic army and empire. This dissertation, based on research in the Kriegsarchiv in Vienna and guided by Dr. Alan Beyerchen, the chair of my dissertation committee, aims to discover how the commanders of the army understood the problems facing the army and the Monarchy, and how they attempted to solve them. One part of this investigation is a discussion of the grand strategy of the army during the war. What did the army's leaders believe they were fighting for? Why were they at war? How did they attempt to win the war? Given the apparent weaknesses of the Monarchy, how did they propose to fix the state? Why did the Monarchy lose the war? The complex issues inherent in a multi-ethnic army form the second basic theme of this dissertation. While the Habsburg army was officially anational but multi-ethnic, the situation in reality was much more complex. The prewar officer corps on the eve of the war resembled a caste or a guild more than a profession, and its primary loyalty was to the emperor rather than to an ethnic group or the state. The army, however, was struggling to deal with the inroads nationalism was making in the rank-and-file, in the reserve officers, and in society at large. How did "anational" officers understand the phenomenon of nationalism? How did they attempt to solve the problems nationalism posed to the prosecution of the war? How did they attempt to make a multi-ethnic army work in an environment that rejected a multi-cultural ethic? I argue in my dissertation that the distinctive culture of officership in the Habsburg army played a key role in the conduct of the war and in its efforts to deal with the challenges of a multi-ethnic army. The Weltanschauung of many of the officers, best displayed in its commander, Conrad von Hotzendorf, was an uneasy mix of social-Darwinism, an iii almost feudal sense of honor and status, and a faith in a centralized, anational state. Isolated from society, and trained since an early age in the spirit of a multi-ethnic state, the officer corps had a specific and inadequate understanding of nationalism. Fearing nationalism as the enemy of everything they believed, they saw in every problem evidence of the power and attractiveness of national sentiment. And, by the turn of the century, this seductive opponent was making inroads into even the army itself. Their solution was the reformation of the state along central, anational lines (following the example of what they saw as the only successful institution in the Monarchy, the army) . This also required, however, the strictest suppression of any expression of national sentiment within and outside of the army. This dissertation will shed light on the strategy and conduct of the First World War. More broadly, I aim to suggest ways to approach the study of multi-ethnic armies in general. The events of the past fifty years have created a number of states with multi-ethnic armies— India, Russia, Canada, etc. Consequently, it is important to understand the ways in which such institutions work and "feel." I do not believe that the Habsburg example will lead to specific iv "lessons" which can be applied to the present. I do hope, however, that it will suggest the types of questions that should be asked, and the types of issues that might prove important in understanding these bodies. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is a cliché to say that a dissertation could not be written without the help of many others, but it is nonetheless true. It is no less customary to offer thanks to those people who assisted in the many phases of a dissertation. That it is customary, however, does not diminish my gratitude towards those who have given me aid in the past five years. First and foremost, I would offer thanks to my two advisors. Dr. Williamson Murray gave me a sound foundation in the study of military history and guided the initial stages of the project. After Professor Murray's retirement. Dr. Alan Beyerchen agreed, with very little notice, to take me on as his student. Advising a student on a dissertation is a big commitment, but Dr. Beyerchen has given his time freely, offered sound advice, and guided me through all aspects of life as an ABD. To him I owe many thanks. Many professors and archivists have spent more time VI than they probably care to remember discussing my dissertation, guiding me through the research process, and especially through the mammoth collection of records, papers and manuscripts. All of the archivists at the Staatsarchiv in Vienna were extremely helpful, but I would like to single out Dr. Peter Broucek, Dr. Robert Rill, and Dr. Peter Jung. Special thanks go to Dr. Rudolf Jerabek, who, although in a separate department of the Staatsarchiv, sat patiently and listened to me talk for hours and hours. Outside of the archives. Dr. Manfried Rauchensteiner and Dr. Holger Herwig have listened to my ideas, given me useful advice, and guided my path. Dr. Gary Shanafelt gave me useful feedback and helpful guidance regarding the diplomatic affairs of the Monarchy. Last, but certainly not least. Dr. Geoffrey Parker and Dr. Ahmad Sikainga cheerfully agreed to serve on my dissertation committee and have offered careful critiques and useful bibliographic references. A number of friends at Ohio State and elsewhere have read portions of this project, Andrew Long, Geoffrey Megargee, Jeff Lewis, Amy Alrich, and others have read and commented on portions of my dissertation. My conversations with Alon Rachamimov during our time in the archives in vii Vienna helped me through the long Vienna winter and stimulated my interest in my research and in the Monarchy in general. Meredith Hindley pitched in with last minute help in tracking down sources on coalition warfare. Finally, Wilfried Gansterer in Vienna generously allowed me to camp in his small apartment in Vienna during the warmest month of the year as I returned for a second trip to the archives. As significant as all of these people have been, however, none have been as important to my completing my dissertation as my wife Laura, whose support and patience made this all possible. VIII VITA August 17, 1968 . Born-Holland, Michigan 1989 ................ B.A. History, Michigan State University 1992 ................ M.A. History, The Ohio State University 1989-present . .Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University PUBLICATIONS FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History IX TABLE OF CONTENTS Page A b s t r a c t ................................................ii Acknowledgments....................................... vi V i t a .................................................... ix Chapters Introduction ....................................... 1 1. A Monarchy (and an Army) under Siege ............. 28 1.1 The Culture of Officership in the Habsburg A r m y .................................32 1.2 Conrad von Hotzendorf and Prewar Reform . .50 1.3 C o n clusion ........................... ... 12 2. Relieving the T e n s i o n .............................. 75 2.1 The July C r i s i s .............................. 77 2.2 The Opening C a m p a i g n s ....................... 86 2.3 The Armeeoberkommando......................