On Vienna and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire

This is quite a good book on a rarely examined subject—the “homefront” of the Habsburg Empire (and specifically Vienna) during World War I. Although ethnic issues had been a problem in Habsburg territory since at least the mid-19th century, Healy argues that they exploded during the First World War, eventually leading to the collapse of the Habsburg Empire. Ultimately, Healy argues that war shortages pushed German-Austrians to frame non-German-Austrians as “outsiders” who were a threat. Food scarcity, unemployment, and more all contributed to the framing of residents of the Habsburg Empire (who were not from Vienna itself) as enemies in themselves who had to be removed from the community. After the war, this did come to fruition, with the expulsion of all who were not domiciled in Vienna or were not permanent residents before August 1914.