The Decline and Fall of the Habsburg Empire, 1815-1918 [Hardcover]

A new and revised edition of Alan Skeds groundbreaking book which examines how the Habsburg Empire survived the revolutionary turmoil of 1848.

The Year of Revolutions', saw the whole of Europe convulsed in turmoil and revolt. Yet the Habsburg Empire survived. As state after state succumbed to the violent winds of change that were sweeping the continent. How did the Habsburg Empire survive? How was the army able hold together while the rest of the empire collapsed in civil war, and how was it able to seize the political initiative In this new edition, Alan Sked reflects on the changed understanding of the period which resulted from the first appearance of this book, and widens the discussion to look at the Habsburg Empire alongside the decline of the Russian and German Empires, arguing that it is possible to understand their decline from a broad European perspective, as opposed to the overly narrow focus of recent explanations. Alan Sked makes us look at familiar events with new eyes in this radical, vigorously written classic which is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of nineteenth-century Europe.

List of Maps
Acknowledgement
Preface to the Second Edition
Introduction
I Metternich and his System, 1815-48
Metternich and his critics
Metternich and his defenders
Metternich and domestic policy
Metternich: a verdict
2 1848: the Causes
The secret societies
A police state?
The liberal opposition
A revolt of the nobility?
Economic growth in Metternich's Austria
The economic and social background to 1848
The fall ofMetternich and the outbreak of revolution
3 The Failure of the Revolutions of 1848
The pattern of revolution
The Revolution in Hungary
The Revolution in Lombardy-Venetia
Dis