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The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire

Online ISBN:
9781400889969
Print ISBN:
9780691196442
Publisher:
Princeton University Press
Book

The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire

A. Wess Mitchell
A. Wess Mitchell
Center for European Policy Analysis
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Published online:
21 May 2020
Published in print:
1 October 2019
Online ISBN:
9781400889969
Print ISBN:
9780691196442
Publisher:
Princeton University Press

Abstract

The Empire of Habsburg Austria faced more enemies than any other European great power. Flanked on four sides by rivals, it possessed few of the advantages that explain successful empires. Yet somehow Austria endured, outlasting Ottoman sieges, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon. This book tells the story of how this cash-strapped, polyglot empire survived for centuries in Europe’s most dangerous neighborhood without succumbing to the pressures of multisided warfare. It shows how the Habsburgs played the long game in geopolitics, corralling friend and foe alike into voluntarily managing the empire’s lengthy frontiers and extending a benign hegemony across the turbulent lands of middle Europe. The book offers lessons on how to navigate a messy geopolitical map, stand firm without the advantage of military predominance, and prevail against multiple rivals.

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