A Mad Catastrophe

出版者:Basic Books

作者:Geoffrey Wawro

页数:472

出版时间:2014-4-29

价格:GBP 19.99

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9780465028351

具体描述

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 Speaking a mystifying array of languages and lugging outdated weapons, the Austrian troops were hopelessly unprepared for the industrialized warfare that would shortly consume Europe.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.

作者简介

Geoffrey Wawro studied at Brown and Yale and is Professor of History and Director of the Military History Center at the University of North Texas. The author of five books, including Quicksand and The Franco-Prussian War, Wawro lives in Dallas, Texas.

读后感

写一战的文章多是以代表正义的战胜方协约国视角的讴歌。能以战败方邪恶同盟轴心国视角的反思的就很少了，尤其是以战败方实力较弱的奥匈哈布斯堡王朝视角的就更少了。 此书后面十多个章节的各战役看得头疼，可能还是我对战争的兴趣和涉猎不够吧。 但是此书前两章节对于当时欧洲...  

弗朗茨•约瑟夫一世大概到死都没能想通：我只不过是想要面子，为什么，到最后，连里子都丢了？顺带还坑了一群“小伙伴”。 第一次世界大战为何发生？这种讨论已经很多。不过，将之与奥匈帝国的解体联系在一起，从《哈布斯堡的灭亡》的角度来展开论述，尤其是分析“...  

說來有趣，哈布斯堡王朝的奧匈帝國是大戰導火線的一線主角，但通常也是被忽略的最兇的一個。當然啦，其實者不難理解，只配跟義大利搶最弱“列強”的國家，本來就只比路人甲好一點，大戰說穿了其實都只是拿巴爾幹當藉口，就算沒這檔鳥事英法德俄早晚都會找事情自己幹一架先。但...  

看完书，觉得奥匈帝国真是渣，烂到根了 和企业一样，不是一天倒闭的，是慢慢的烂到骨头上，有一天突然倒下了，期间虽然是外人看得到的烂，但其本身而不自知。 对于企业来说相应如此，虽然一个错误不会让企业倒下，但他就像病菌在内部滋长，不知觉发生变化，改变就是潜移默化而...  

用户评价

有点没读懂啊！看到中文版找来读的，这不是奥匈帝国的一战史吗？我还以为会讲整个哈布斯堡王朝的脉络和历史呢。感觉好多细节，淹没了阅读快感，在作者笔下，似乎奥匈帝国的王室、官员，都是蠢货。呃，可能是因为没看懂吧。

有点没读懂啊！看到中文版找来读的，这不是奥匈帝国的一战史吗？我还以为会讲整个哈布斯堡王朝的脉络和历史呢。感觉好多细节，淹没了阅读快感，在作者笔下，似乎奥匈帝国的王室、官员，都是蠢货。呃，可能是因为没看懂吧。

有点没读懂啊！看到中文版找来读的，这不是奥匈帝国的一战史吗？我还以为会讲整个哈布斯堡王朝的脉络和历史呢。感觉好多细节，淹没了阅读快感，在作者笔下，似乎奥匈帝国的王室、官员，都是蠢货。呃，可能是因为没看懂吧。

有点没读懂啊！看到中文版找来读的，这不是奥匈帝国的一战史吗？我还以为会讲整个哈布斯堡王朝的脉络和历史呢。感觉好多细节，淹没了阅读快感，在作者笔下，似乎奥匈帝国的王室、官员，都是蠢货。呃，可能是因为没看懂吧。

有点没读懂啊！看到中文版找来读的，这不是奥匈帝国的一战史吗？我还以为会讲整个哈布斯堡王朝的脉络和历史呢。感觉好多细节，淹没了阅读快感，在作者笔下，似乎奥匈帝国的王室、官员，都是蠢货。呃，可能是因为没看懂吧。