Publisher's Synopsis
In this text, Bridge examines the role of the Hapsburg monarchy in the European states system from the apogee of the Monarchy's position as a great power after the Vienna settlement of 1815 to its demise at the end of the First World War. He analyzes the decision-making process in the monarchy, the collapse of its position in Italy and Germany in the middle years of the century, and the various devices by which the statesmen of the monarchy strove to manipuate or adjust to the changing international situation, culminating in the fatal decision of 1914 to stake everything on war in alliance with Germany.;Based on a wide variety of material from Austrian, British, French and German archives, this book is supplemented by maps and translations of key diplomatic documents of the period.
