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R. Nejedlik: „In the War against Italy – On the Isonzo“, Propaganda postcard, 1915

Partner 
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
Copyright 
ÖNB Bildarchiv und Grafiksammlung

Verwendet bei

  • Story

    The War and its Consequences

    The First World War was the first ‘modern war’ – not only on the level of matériel (notably the new aeroplanes, tanks and U-boats) but also of personnel, because of the involvement of the whole of society. War began to acquire totalitarian traits.

    The war demonstrated the susceptibility of modern mass societies to nationalistic chauvinism and the glorification of force. The war rhetoric fell on receptive ears and at the beginning of the war the dominant mood was one of euphoria.

  • Chapter

    On the Isonzo

    Pessimism prevailed in the Habsburg Empire after the declaration of war by Italy. Many were convinced that the developments on the new Southwest Front would develop within a few weeks into a catastrophe. Chief of Staff Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf expected the enemy in the south to attack the Danube Monarchy area soon on account of its numerical superiority.

  • Chapter

    From ‘Powder Barrel’ to ‘Universal Conflagration’ – Narrative II

    The observer cannot but get the impression that in the struggle of the publicists for sales and attention it is the interpretation which comes up with the pithiest and most memorable labels for historical periods that finds favour.

    In treatises and reports about the First World War the same concepts and labels crop up time and time again. Many of them have been taken over from the period of the war itself or from the years immediately after it. They represent – in most cases unthinkingly – a point of view which does not do justice to the present state of historical research. At the same time they repeat a narrative which appears problematic from a present-day perspective.