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Books > History > World history > From 1900 > First World War
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Military Diplomacy in the Dual Alliance - German Military Attache Reporting from Vienna, 1879-1914 (Hardcover)
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Military Diplomacy in the Dual Alliance - German Military Attache Reporting from Vienna, 1879-1914 (Hardcover)
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This 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 French-six
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 presents recently re-discovered
documentary evidence that the German general staff and Germany's
political leadership had known of the Austrian army's weaknesses
for decades before the war. The book also reveals a new perspective
of Bismarck's diplomacy beginning shortly after he engineered the
Dual Alliance between the two countries in 1879. It demonstrates
that as early as 1882 Bismarck became aware that the Austrian army
was far weaker than assumed when he concluded the alliance. It was
primarily his concern about Austria's weakness that spurred
Bismarck's energetic diplomacy, seeking alliances and
understandings with other countries in the region, and which became
the main consideration that guided his foreign policy from then on.
For if Austria suffered a defeat, Germany would find itself alone
between two dangerous powers: France and Russia. The consequences
of his policies resulted in peace down to his departure in 1890.
His successors, for a variety of reasons addressed in the book,
were not as careful, ignored Austria's weaknesses despite the
warnings of the military attaches, and permitted Austria to become
involved in a war. The result was tragically foreseeable.
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