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The Dual Monarchy: Austria-Hungary WWI AAR

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Jandorus

Jandorus

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Jun 30, 2013
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  • Hearts of Iron III Collection
THE DUAL MONARCHY
An Austro-Hungarian WWI After Action Report by Jandorus
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What's this? Austria-Hungary? That archaic multi-ethnic empire that has luckily been dissoluted at the end of the first world war? Surely that's not a playable nation? Luckily, thanks to The WWI Mod for Hearts of Iron, WWI buffs everywhere can now orchestrate the pointless slaughter that took place in the second decade of the last century. The first global war, in which democracies clashed, technology advanced at an amazing pace, empires were overthrown, and the borders of Europe were completely re-drawn will be the subject of my first AAR. As you might have guessed, I will be guiding Austria-Hungary through all the horrors of the beginning of the 20th century. In the AAR, I will try to intertwine in-game events with a historic narrative, and play the game accordingly. This does not mean I won't deviate from history, for example, I do not intend to let the Austro-Hungarian monarchy end.


I will be playing TFH with the latest version (0.9) of the WWI Mod.

House (Habsburg) rules:

-No couping major powers, overthrowing the Italian government would make the game less interesting, for example.
-Diversified production, the Austro-Hungarian Navy, as well as the airforce, need to be developed too. Which means I will not be able to focus solely on land force.
-Historic gameplay (diplomacy), I will try to play the international diplomatic game historically. Austria-Hungary will have to go to war after the July Crisis. Also, conquering neighbouring nations, the Balkans for example, in order to increase industrial potential, is not allowed. Influencing nations through diplomacy is absolutely fine, of course.



Suggestions and feedback would be very welcome.
Thanks for reading in advance!​
 
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Will you try to implement historical plans which didn't make it in the end? Ie, the creation of the baltic duchy?
 
Part I: Introductions

(May 1910-December 1910)





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Ah, Europe at the beginning of the 20th century! The continent is at peace, a European war seems impossible. The arts and sciences are flourishing, it is the time of manned flight and wireless telegraphy, electricity is making its way to more and more households, the possibilities for the future seem endless. Paris, Berlin, Vienna, London, Petrograd, Prague, Budapest and Rome are booming with energy. At the heart of this new Europe lie the German and Austro-Hungarian empires. Germany, united by Bismarck after the war of 1871 against France, is ruled by emperor Wilhelm II, in Austria-Hungary, the elderly emperor Franz Joseph of house Habsburg sits on the throne. Both countries may be empires in name, they are in fact constitutional monarchies with parliaments and elections. Austria-Hungary and Germany have been allied since the Dual Alliance of 1879, and had maintained the best of ties ever since. This alliance was expanded into the Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, which was still in effect in 1910. The Italians however, were dubious allies, and they had set their eyes on Austrian border provinces which had a significant Italian population.



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Franz Joseph // I Archduke Franz Ferdinand // La belle époque


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The Austrian-Hungarian dual monarchy was born out of the compromise of 1867. The Austrian empire, which was officially formed at the beginning of the 19th century out of lands that had been ruled by the Habsburgs for hundreds of years, only had a small Austrian population. The large Hungarian population of the Austrian empire had been dissatisfied with their position within the empire, and tried to regain the sovereignty during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. The revolution was put down, but tensions remained high. After the Austrian defeats in the Franco-Austrian war and the Prussian-Austrian war, the empire was on the verge of collapse. In order to safeguard the future of the empire, the kingdom of Hungary was granted internal independence. Hungary become a separate country, equal with the part of the empire that remained Austrian, but remaining loyal to the Austrian emperor, who was at the same time the king of Hungary. Thus the dual monarchy was born: two countries, or rather, an empire and a kingdom, combined in an empire. The empire of Austria and the kingdom of Hungary had their own politics, parliaments, ministries, they issued their own separate passports and had their own separate capitals (Vienna and Budapest). Austria-Hungary had only joint ministries which were responsible for the empire as a whole: the Imperial and Royal Ministry of the Exterior, the Imperial and Royal Ministry of War, and the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Finances (which in fact was only responsible for financing the joint "Common" army)


Austria-Hungary was the second largest country in Europe, best only by the Russian empire. It bordered Italy in the West, Russia and Rumania in the East, and the kingdom of Serbia in the south. Its borders with Italy, Rumania and Serbia consisted of hills, high mountains and deep valleys. The Hungarian heartlands featured low-lying plains, and the Danube river. Austria-Hungary had quite a long coast line, with its major shipping port being Trieste.


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The dual monarchy was the third most populated country (51 million inhabitants) in Europe, after Germany and Russia. About 500,000 Austrian-Hungarian men could be recruited into the army by 1910, which was significantly less than its Russian neighbour. 55% of the population lived in the Austrian lands, while 45% lived in the kingdom of Hungary. However, the 51 million souls of the empire were not all Austrians and Hungarians. The empire was also home to Czech, Slovaks, Slovenians, Italians, Poles, Ukrainians, Rumanians, Serbians, Bosnians and Croats. There were 8 official languages in the empire. The compromise of 1867 might have given the Hungarians their autonomy, there were many more nationalities in the empire who didn't have theirs, and they were particularly suppressed by the Hungarian elite. The multi-ethnicitiy of the empire was a severe burden on the imperial administration. However, most people were content with the Habsburg monarchy, and the general consensus was that all the different nationalities were better off being united in the large Austro-Hungarian empire, than to be left to fend for themselves and turn on each other. On a side note, Austria-Hungary also had a fairly large Jewish populations, and it was the only country in Europe were Jews formed a regular part of the officer corps. The different cultures and ethnicities in the empire were definitely a set-back, but not a life threatening problem for the continuity of the Habsburg monarchy. In fact, the heir to the throne, archduke Franz Ferdinand, was a proponent of further emancipation of the minorities within the empire.

The Austrian-Hungarian economy was still largely agricultural, but Czechoslovakia was highly industrialised, with a renowned automobile and arms industry. The empire had an industrial capacity of 69, though only 63 IC was available under the current economic laws. Austria-Hungary was a neutral country, so most industrial capacity went into the production of consumer goods. What spare IC was left was spend on finishing the SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand semi-dreadnought, and upgrading the weaponry of the Common Army, which was in dire need of modernisation.

In May 1910, inspector of the armed forces archduke Franz Ferdinand decide to finally sack the commander of the Austrian-Hungarian Comman Army von Ahnenburg, and give his function to field marshal Conrad von Hötzendorf, who at that time was already head of the Imperial General Staff in Vienna. The Imperial General Staff felt that it was time for a complete re-evaluation of the army's and navy's strategic goals and ambitions. Over the course of the first two weeks of May, talks were held between the Ministry of War, the General Staff, inspector of the armed forces Franz Ferdinand, the Ministry of Armament and the departments of Navy and the Army at the imperial Hofburg palace. After some very confusing few days, during which much time was spent figuring out who had authority over whom, and whether the delegates would speak German or Hungarian during the meetings, the following overview of the joint armed forces was presented:


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Common Army

71 Infantry brigades
36 Artillery brigades
19 Cavalry regiments
12 Mountain infantry brigades
18 Landwehr (militia/reserve) brigades
2 Imperial Life Guard brigades
5 engineer brigades

Austro-Hungarian Navy

11 pre-dreadnought battleships
3 armoured cruisers
11 protected cruisers
3 destroyer squadrons
1 coastal submarine flotilla
1 transport flotilla


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All departments of the armed forces were in agreement that the most likely enemies Austria-Hungary would be facing in a future war would be the Russian Empire, Serbia and Rumania. Austrian-Hungarian lands covered territories with large Serbian (Bosnia-Herzegovina) and Rumanian (Transylvania) populations, which Serbia and Rumania were eager to incorporate. These two small kingdoms posed to threat for the Austro-Hungarian army, but should they be supported by Russia, then Austria-Hungary would not be able to field enough forces to hold the entire front line at once. The Austro-Hungarian army would need at least two additional field armies to fight a war with Rumania, Serbia and Russia simultaneously. These armies would consist of three army corps each, with four infantry divisions each, with two infantry and one artillery brigade in each infantry division. Each corps would also have to field one cavalry brigade. It was decided that the first army would be raised by 1913, and the second army would be ready by 1915. The Austro-Hungarian navy in turn, was in need of modern dreadnoughts. The admiralty indicated that it had already had prepared construction plans for a class of dreadnoughts. The decision was made to lay down two of these "Tegetthoff class" battleships, which would both be completed in 1913. The problem was that there was not enough industrial capacity available to the Ministry of War for the construction of two battleships, while also equipping and training 12 divisions at a time. Franz Ferdinand, a proponent of Naval expansion, decided to go start with the construction of the SMS Zristi and SMS Viribus Unitis, which would take over two years to complete, and start raising the new army division as soon as more IC was made available. Von Hötzendorf was furious that the interests of the Navy were placed above that of the army, and begged the emperor himself to intervene, Franz Joseph did not, however, care much for military expansion in the general sense, and strongly disliked von Hötzendorf on a personal level, and did not take action. At the end of the meetings, an anonymous unpaid intern burst into the room and started rambling about the military potential of aeroplanes, but he was promptly removed from the premises. Von Hötzendorf set himself to reorganising the command structure of the Kaiserliches and Köningliches Armee (K.u.K. Armee), and thinking of new ways to start the construction of his divisions earlier.


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Construction on the Tegetthoff-class dreadnoughts has started. The Austro-Hungarian economy is a very pacifist one, with over 50% of our production going into consumer goods. Although the armed forces were in dire need of more modern rifles, field guns, machine guns, telephones, binoculars, fancy feathery hats and more elaborate ceremonial dresses, upgrading our existing forces will be of low priority the next two years


Next update: Looking at the international situation, foreign events, diplomacy, a reorganised K.u.K. Armee, advancing through the years​
 
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Jandorus said:
Knightofhonnor Thank you! I hope I won't disappoint (that much)!

Baltasar The Baltic Duchy was a very interesting concept, though frankly I don't know how it's included in the mod, and will probably not make it to the
Baltic States from Galicia
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As far as I know, the mod currently has no support for any a-historical happenings. I found that out the hard way when, as Bulgarian in the 2nd Balkan War, I crushed Romania and Greece, was about to finish Serbia, and was holding against Turkey, when suddenly the war ended and I had apparently lost. Same for when I did win as Austria Hungary, there was just the normal HOI surrender event that caused the entire coastline of France to become Austrian and the center to become German. So yeah, any a-historical stuff will have to be done by yourself, until the team decides to put something in the mod for Central Powers wins.
 
VonMudra said:
As far as I know, the mod currently has no support for any a-historical happenings. I found that out the hard way when, as Bulgarian in the 2nd Balkan War, I crushed Romania and Greece, was about to finish Serbia, and was holding against Turkey, when suddenly the war ended and I had apparently lost. Same for when I did win as Austria Hungary, there was just the normal HOI surrender event that caused the entire coastline of France to become Austrian and the center to become German. So yeah, any a-historical stuff will have to be done by yourself, until the team decides to put something in the mod for Central Powers wins.
Click to expand...


An Austrian French coastline? Hmmmm, interesting.
 
subbed!
 
No idea what you mean by lack of a-historical options. You'll get all the historical land you get from killing Russia, Germany gets the Baltic, you get the Ukraine. Should be one for Romania as well. And for defeating France and GB the Germans can claim a nice slice of colonial pie plus French land.

Anyway, good luck lad, this mighty Tsar of Russia hopes you fail :D.
 

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May 1910.

Conrad von Hötzendorf, commander of the Imperial General Staff had been receiving the most disturbing reports from Hungarian custom officers. Divisions of the Russian army were said to be strategically locating to positions along the Austro-Hungarian border with Russia. This only strengthened von Hötzendorf’s feelings that a war with Russia within the next few years would become inevitable. Still frustrated over the postponed production on the badly needed army divisions. von Hötzendorf ordered one of his aides to dial the Austro-Hungarian minister of intelligence.

“LISTEN OSKAR” von Hötzendorf bellowed
“SEND MORE SECRET AGENTS TO PETROGRAD AND MOSCOW AND SET THEM TO WORK ON EXPOSING THE THREAT OF RUSSIA TO OUR EMPIRE”
“I take you are still frustrated over not getting your divisions?”
"YES. VERY MUCH SO”
“And now you want our neutrality to lower in order to pass more war-economy like laws?”
“PRECISELY”
“Can do old chap.”
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Conrad von Hötzendorf was known to be a man with a short temper, very stubborn about his militaristic views and in favour of an aggressive Austro-Hungarian foreign policy. His views about necessary wars with Russia and Serbia are in stark contrast to the many love letters he wrote to Virginia Reininghaus, the wife of a Viennese industrialist with whom he had an affair.​



September 1910

Von Hötzendorf was statisfied. The army had been reorganised into four main field armies, covering four military districts, and one army reserve corps containing most of the Austro-Hungarian landwehr.

The I Armee, under the command of David von Rhonfeld, was positioned along the southern border with Serbia, Montenegro and the Ottoman empire.
The demoted von Ahnenburg’s II Armee was stationed in Hungary and Czechoslovakia as a strategic reserve force, to be transferred to whichever front would need reinforcements.
The III Armee, commanded by von Vares, consisted mainly of mountain troops, paired with a couple of landwehr divisions and stood in the Alps. The thinking being that the border with the Italian allies wouldn’t need to be heavily defended, so landwehr divisions would suffice to fill the ranks.
The IV Armee under von Albori would defend the border with Russian Ukraine and Poland. Since this border was so long and manned by many Russian soldiers, the to be constructed V Armee was to be deployed along this border too.

Each of these armies was made up of three army corps, which all consisted 3-4 infantry divisions, and 1-2 cavalry divisions. The only exception being the III Armee, which only fielded two army corps, and didn’t have any cavalry forces. The empire’s cavalry divisions had been reorganised so that they now all contained three cavalry regiments.

The Common Army now also fielded a single corps of reserve landwehr units, which was stationed in Vienna. Also directly attached to the high command was the Imperial Guard’s division in Vienna, and several landwehr units guarding the main Austro-Hungarian ports.


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The emperor inspecting a battalion of Imperial Guards, Vienna 1910.
Notice the flamboyant headwear, indicating the presence of the most fashionable fighting men in the world​

The department of the Navy had also made some changes. Most of the Austro-Hungarian fleet was redeployed to its home base in Trieste, where it somehow wasn’t stationed before. The main battle force of the Austro-Hungarian navy consisted of the 1. 2. 3. and 4. Linienschiffschwadron containing the navy’s pre-dreadnought battleships, along with some escorts. Many of these ships were nearing the end of their lives and had become obsolete, they would be replaced by the new dreadnoughts. These ships were stationed at Trieste, as was the 1. Kreuzerdivision, which contained the bulk of the navy’s protected cruisers, and the Transportschwadron. The 2. Kreuzerdivision had been moved to the harbour of Split, which was closer to the straits of Otranto, the Austro-Hungarian passageway to the mediterranean. The 2. Kreuzerdivison contained the Navy’s most modern and fastest armoured and protected cruisers. In the event of a war, this fleet would be able to move quickly into the mediterranean and start raiding commerce lanes, before the straits could be blockaded by a foreign power. The sole Austro-Hungarian submarine squadron was also moved to Split.



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Austro-Hungarian battlefleet divisions stationed in the harbour of Trieste




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Austro-Hungarian submarines and the armoured cruiser SMS Kaiser Karl VI, assigned to 2. Kreuzerdivision in Split harbour, 1910.​
 
those subs seem very fragile to me...
 
Nice AAR! I like the double monarchy in the WW1 mod so I'll follow this for sure!
 
Imperial War Ministry.
The 9th of January, 1911

Von Hötzendorf enjoyed life more the past few days. Austrian-Hungarian neutrality was dropping like something quite heavy which fell from a great height. The demand of consumer goods had already been lowered, the production of two cavalry units had started, and the economy had entered full mobilisation. The IC of the nation had been increased to 80. He signed the order for the construction of four new infantry divisions with a smile on his face. Also, Conrad had taken up gardening.

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"Supplies? You mean the army requests munitions in peacetime? Maybe they shouldn't fire their rifles as much then!" - anonymous official at the Ministry of Production



Imperial Foreign Ministry.
The 12th of January, 1911
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Imperial Foreign Ministry, Vienna​

Heinrich, had worked through the night. The new year had started, and his boss, the Imperial Foreign Minister count von Aehrenthal had stayed up late, formulating the foreign policy for the coming years in his office at the Ballhausplatz. The clerk looked at the document which von Aahrenthal had dictated to him in his typewriter in front of him. It read:

Revision Of The Imperial Foreign Policies

-Regarding the Triple Alliance

The interest of the kingdom of Italy are not the interests of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The territorial claims Italy has laid on Austrian lands are an outrage. In our policies, we shall not regard Italy as faithful ally anymore, but will keep up the facade of the Triple Alliance. The German ambassador and German Foreign Ministry have been informed on this, and are in agreement. Germany and Austria-Hungary will attempt to remove Italy from the alliance. The remaining two of alliance will be called the Central Powers henceforth, since Austria-Hungary and Germany lie at the centre of Europe.

-Regarding the Balkan Peninsula

Austro-Hungarian imperial ambitions should be directed to the balkans. Maintaining a balance of power between the Balkan states is vital to the safety of the empire. Our direct neighbour and enemy, Russia, has been influencing the kingdoms of Serbia and Rumania to such an extent, that they should be regarded as puppet states of the Russian empire. It should also be assumed both Serbia and Rumania wish to incorporate Austro-Hungarian provinces into their countries. This should will be allowed. In order to maintain a balance of power with Russia-Serbia-Rumania, the other two Balkan kingdoms of Bulgaria and Greece will be carefully guided towards favourable relations with Austria-Hungary by using our diplomatic influence. In due time, Greece and Bulgaria should be persuaded to enter an alliance with the Central Powers. Since Germany has also been working on more favourable ties with the declining Ottoman empire, we shall try to get the Turks to join the Central Powers as well. The Balance of power between Russia-Serbia-Rumania and the Central Powers will then be in favour of us, pitting 5 countries against 3.
Of further note in the Balkans is the creation of an Albanian state. The Albanian people has been vying for independence from the Ottomans. For some reason, the Austrian-Hungarian foreign ministry has decided to support this cause. Every empire needs to seek the establishment of independent states on the territory of a foreign power.


-Summary of foreign events of 1910

The Four Powers Consortium was signed on 29 May
South Africa gained its independence from Great-Britain on 2 June
Throughout the year, several uprisings took place in Ottoman Albania.
Japan formally annexed its vassal state Korea on 22 August
King Manuel II of Portugal has been deposed, and a republican government now holds power in Lissabon, 5 October

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The Situation in the Balkans as of january 1911

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The Germans have begun exerting influence on Bulgaria, Greece and the Ottoman Empire. This was done at the request of the Austro-Hungarian Foreign ministry. This was one of many examples of Austro-Hungarian superiority over their German counterparts.​
 
the sick man of Europe... it's a pity the mod is os hard coded and Bulgaria cann't really win
 
guillec87 said:
the sick man of Europe... it's a pity the mod is os hard coded and Bulgaria cann't really win
Click to expand...

What I know is that Ottomans get kicked down in laws horribly because of Albania getting spawned. Hopefully it'll be fixed in the next version, as I've already reported that :)

Maybe Bulgaria cannot really win, but all the contested provinces involved in the Second Balkan War are... garbage. Really, there is no use of having them ;)
 
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