THE ANATOMY OF AUSTRIAN SEA POWER, 1904-1914

The Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Navy ceased to exist in November 1918 after the breakup of the Monarchy. In the course of the almost 200 years of its existence, the Austrian Navy developed through many ups and downs into one of the world's major navies by the eve of World War I. At that time the Austrian fleet occupied, in terms of material, eighth place among world navies and sixth among European navies. However in regard to the quality of education, training, discipline and morale of officers and men, the Austrian Navy was surely one of the foremost navies of the day.;This study has 25 chapters. The first chapter describes in some detail the geographical position, political system and industrial potential of the Dual Monarchy, that is, the elements upon which development of her sea power depended. The second chapter provides a survey of Austrian naval history from 1719 to 1904, with emphasis upon events which took place after 1866. The third chapter describes the main outlines of the Monarchy's foreign policy as these pertained to its mariaspects. The following 13 chapters describe in considerable detail the conduct of Austrian naval policy in all its aspects, between the spring of 1904 and the summer of 1914. Then chapters XVII-XIX describe the organization, ships, armament and equipment, coastal defense and personnel of the Austrian Navy in July 1914. The chapters XX-XXIV provide a detailed description and critical analysis of Austrian naval strategy, tactical doctrine, war plans and mobilization systems. Chapter XXIV continues the description of events and Austrian military moves during the July 1914 crisis, and ends with the first actions in the Adriatic. Finally, the Epilogue gives a brief description of Austrian naval operations during the First World War and ends with the dissolution of the Navy in November 1918 and the subsequent disposal of Austrian warships by the Versailles Peace Conference in the fall of 1919.;Although there was a relatively large number of books, monographs and articles on the Austrian Navy published after 1918, most of them dealt with the First World War or are popular works. The objective of this study is to present a comprehensive study of Austrian sea power in the last decade preceding 1914. All too often the only history of naval operations are described without providing a detailed analysis of how the one's navy was built and trained, what the strategic and tactical doctrine was, or how naval war planning was conducted, in the years before the first shots were fired in anger. The seeds of victory or defeat of any fleet were always sown in peacetime.