Chapter 45:
The so-called freezing three feet is not a day’s cold, and the so-called Thousand Miles Dike collapsed in an ant’s nest. On the surface, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is also a large European country with 650,000 square kilometers of land and a population of 50 million before the war! Why is it so broiler? So much so that the Austro-Hungarian Empire cancelled the titles of some honorary troops during the war. The reason is simple, it's too embarrassing to play!
As the saying goes, success and victory are not achieved overnight. There is a reason why a weak chicken that looks so good can become a weak chicken! The sad reminder of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not caused by a single factor, because no factor in the world has such a powerful effect!
Speaking of the tragedy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, anyone who has a little understanding of history will talk about the tragic ethnic issue in Austria-Hungary. Taking the outbreak of World War I in 1914 as an example, there were 11 ethnic groups whose population accounted for more than 3% of the total population. The two most important ethnic groups, Germans and Hungarians, accounted for 23% and 21% respectively! Even if the population of these two so-called dominant nations is in their own country, they account for less than half of the total population!
Then 12% Czechs and 11% Poles. The Czechs are better, they are old subjects of the Habsburg royal family, and the Polish participation in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the product of the three divisions of Poland that year! Serbs and Slovenians together account for 9% of the total population. These people are the same ethnic group as the Russians. Coupled with Serbia’s agitation, the tendency to secession is becoming more and more serious. Where did Grand Duke Ferdinand go in history? What happened then, everyone understands! Therefore, the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire is a mess of nationality!
The problem of the nation naturally affects the problem of the army. After all, the army is also made up of people! No nation can be trusted as the main nation in the military. How to strengthen the internal control of the army while ensuring the size of the army has become a problem that Emperor Fritz must face.
Therefore, the Austro-Hungarian Empire divides its forces into two types, one is the Imperial National Defense Forces, and the other is a local force. The former is the elite and mobile forces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, serving as the pillar of external operations and internal suppression. Most of their commanders are chosen from among the nobles, starting from the command level to ensure allegiance to the royal family. This force is the most trusted force of the Austrian Emperor.
As for this army that was regarded as elite, reliable and vigorously trained by the Austrian Emperor, it was still messed up by ethnic issues. According to regulations, this army was divided into two types according to the common language, namely the Austrian regiment and the Hungarian regiment. This method of using spoken language to distinguish between troops is unprecedented!
But don’t forget, neither of these two ethnic groups has half the number of people! The Czechs, Poles, Ukrainians, Slavs, Magyars you recruited from all over the world all have their own languages! Coupled with the rampant dialects of all parties. As a result, even if a certain language is used as the standard language, the commanding troops cannot be effectively commanded. At that time, the level of education was very limited, especially for the troops that were temporary signs of army expansion after the beginning of the war. You can count on giving peasants who just put down their hoes and cannot speak the language. How effective is it?
On the contrary, the local troops are at least much better in terms of language and ethnicity. At least everyone is from the same place and the language is the same. Even before joining the army, they looked up and saw their heads down. The relationship is very good, the so-called father and son soldiers, but the performance is better.
In addition to the most basic command issues, as the scale of the war continues to erupt, various national thoughts and other issues have been inspired by the cruel war and have been amplified! The Imperial Defense Forces, which had originally been high hopes, encountered various serious problems as the war progressed. The previous settings and preventive measures proved to be useless!
Aristocratic officers are still reliable, but as experienced aristocratic officers continue to sacrifice during the war, it is difficult to say whether the new officers are reliable, how much affection they have for the empire, and the imperial soldiers who enjoy higher treatment are also reliable at first. But those who supplement the middle and lower classes of various ethnic groups are completely and reliable. Why was Brushinov's offensive successful? It has a great relationship with many national soldiers who are weak in resistance and surrender without a fight! It is not that the Russians are too fierce, but that Austria-Hungary is too watery!
Similarly, when the imperial defense forces did not perform well, the local garrison guarding the homeland did well in defensive operations, such as the Tyrolean marksman. When the Italians suddenly declared war, this force was almost impossible to The measurement delayed the attack of the Italian troops, and was awarded the title of Royal Archer by the Austro-Hungarian government. However, this unit is also indifferent to the battles in other battlefields while defending its own hometown. They are not even willing to support friendly forces in adjacent theaters if they are not fooled by the commander!
So the Austro-Hungarian Empire with such an army dared to fight a world war, and the traveler had to admire the confidence and arrogance of the old Fritz! It is not easy for a unit without national cohesion, no common beliefs, all kinds of divisions and ethnic ideological trends to persist for 4 years!
In addition to the human problem, the equipment problem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is also very serious. Take the time of war as an example, look at the ratio of the number of troops and artillery in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and you can know what level the Austro-Hungarian troops are! Let alone the Western Front, the elite troops of Britain, France and Germany gathered. Using these troops to compare the Austrian-Hungarian troops is bullying it! In terms of the Eastern Front, the Austro-Hungarian troops are not even as good as Russia!
At the beginning of the Eastern Front, the German Eighth Army under the command of Plitvice had a total of 4 armies and several independent division-level units, with a total strength of 16 divisions, 200,000 people, and 1044 artillery pieces. (The number of heavy artillery is less, and there are only 156 artillery in total.) An average of 65 artillery pieces in a division ~ www.wuxiaspot.com ~ The Russians gathered 6 group armies, with a total of 52 infantry divisions and 21 cavalry divisions. 3203 artillery, an average of 43 artillery in each division. Among them, the strongest Second Army has 14 divisions and 702 artillery.
Okay, let's start looking at the Austro-Hungarian Army now! On the surface, Austria-Hungary is also a big country, but its posture is quite scary! Lined up with 4 group armies, 35.5 divisions of infantry and 11 divisions of cavalry, the total force is also 850,000! However, the most important artillery supporting firepower has 1,728 artillery! There are only 37 artillery pieces per division! Moreover, a large number of old-style artillery is still flooded in such a unit.
Then the two sides collided for the first time in Galicia. At the station line between 320 and 400 kilometers, the forces of 5 Russian armies and 1 detachment opposed the forces of 4 Austro-Hungarian army groups and 1 reserve army. During the months of fighting, the Austro-Hungarian troops lost 400,000, and 100,000 of them were captured! Russia lost 230,000. It seemed that Germany, France, and Britain had poor equipment and poor quality of troops. Russia finally found confidence in the Austro-Hungarian Empire! You know, these troops were the most elite troops of Austria-Hungary! (This data comes from Maozi data, but after comparing other data, it feels similar.)
was so scared at first, and then even more scared! The artillery inventory is pitiful. When Italy entered the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire even had to use a 65mm bronze gun that was made without knowing when... Because of this, Ruprecht believes that the arms market of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is still promising...
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