The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire - by A Wess Mitchell

Book Synopsis

The Habsburg Empire's grand strategy for outmaneuvering and outlasting stronger rivals in a complicated geopolitical world

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. A. Wess Mitchell 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. He 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 Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire offers lessons on how to navigate a messy geopolitical map, stand firm without the advantage of military predominance, and prevail against multiple rivals.

From the Back Cover

"An extremely important and well-researched book. It represents a major contribution to the study of the Habsburg Empire and statecraft more broadly."--Eliot A. Cohen, author of The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force

"Outstanding. Mitchell shows how the wily strategic efforts of the Austrian Habsburgs across a range of threatened frontiers offer sound lessons for any power."--Geoffrey Wawro, author of A Mad Catastrophe: The Outbreak of World War I and the Collapse of the Habsburg Empire

Review Quotes

"The story of the Habsburg Empire, which shaped key episodes of European history for several centuries, is one of endurance and finesse. A gripping and insightful work that yields lessons for statecraft in our own time."--Henry A. Kissinger

"A compelling and long-overdue analysis."--Richard Bassett, author of For God and Kaiser: The Imperial Austrian Army, 1619-1918

"A stimulating and fascinating book that deserves to be discussed in detail. . . . The fun of Mitchell's book is that it is possible to open it on almost every page and tell students: 'Discuss.' That is no mean achievement."--Lothar Hoebelt, H-Net Reviews

"Mitchell's emphasis on geography harkens back to the great histories of Mommsen, Gibbon, and Braudel, and the great geopolitical works of Mackinder, Spykman, and Mahan."--Francis P. Sempa, Russell Kirk Center

"This graceful account of Habsburg diplomacy . . . explains how the empire survived so long."--Andrew Moravcsik, Foreign Affairs

About the Author

A. Wess Mitchell is a leading foreign policy expert who formerly served as US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. His books include The Unquiet Frontier: Rising Rivals, Vulnerable Allies, and the Crisis of American Power (Princeton).