Austria-Hungary in World War I, 1914-1918 : the Home Front



In 1916 Emperor Franz Joseph (born in 1830, ruled since 1848) died. He was succeeded by his grandson Karl I. A few days earlier, prime minister KARL COUNT VON STÜRGKH was assassinated. After a short interlude, Emperor Charles, in an attempt to appease the Czech population element, appointed Czech nobleman HEINRICH GRAF VON CLAM-MARTINITZ prime minister; however, the attitude of the Czech population toward the war did not change.
The situation at home became worse, as the food rations allocated by food coupons were not always available; malnutrition often turned into famine. Tension between groups who identified with the war and groups who did not increased. The solidarity among German Austrian political parties given early in the war began to crumble in 1916, the assassination of prime minister von Stuerkgh being a significant event. After that, administrations changed frequently.
In 1918 Austria was physically exhausted; a last summer offensive on the Piave failed; in October Austrian troops retreated in Italy and Serbia, on November 3rd Armistice was signed.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Library of Congress, Country Studies : Austria
DOCUMENTS Centrals : Heads of State, scroll down for Austria, Sarajevo murders - Onset of War, Centrals celebrating alliances,
Alice Hamilton, At the War Capitals (1916), from How Did Women Peace Envoys Promote Peace by Touring European Capitals in 1915 ? at Binghamton, scroll down for Vienna
REFERENCE Article : Austria-Hungary, in : New International Year Book 1916 pp.68-73, 1918 pp.63-69 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on January 1st 2002, last revised on March 4th 2007

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