I’m used to seeing war memorials in the UK commemorating the lives of those who died during the First World War, but it feels different looking at the Austrian equivalent. The difference is ultimately because Austria lost the war, so families of the dead had no consolation that at least their loved ones hadn’t died in vain.
The translation of the text reads:
“They gave everything
they could give,
their soul to God, their homeland
their blood and life.
Past are toil, hardship,
death and battle…
It is accomplished!”
I’m not actually sure how cheery that messaging is, it would have been hard to explain to families in Austria what exactly had been accomplished given that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had collapsed in 1918.
WORLD WAR 1914–1918
Anton Ehart, Territorial Rifleman
Born 8 December 1891 – Died 4 September 1914 in Galicia
Rudolf Geiger, Imperial Rifleman
Born 8 December 1894 – Died 7 September 1914 in Galicia
Franz Grobner, Imperial Rifleman
Born 8 January 1895 – Died 6 September 1914 in Galicia
Rudolf Schwenk, Senior Rifleman
Born 8 January 1895 – Died 6 September 1914 in Galicia
Alfons Lins, Imperial Rifleman
Born 18 February 1897 – Died 7 June 1915 in Budapest
Engelbert Schaltner, Imperial Engineer
Born 3 December 1887 – Died 14 July 1915 in Galicia
Adolf Wald, Imperial Rifleman
Born 2 April 1891 – Died 16 July 1915 in Russia
Josef Trawa, Imperial Rifleman
Born 13 December 1890 – Died 28 July 1915 in Italy
Josef Alois Tragl, Imperial Rifleman
Born 13 June 1892 – Died 14 May 1916 in Italy
Albert Martl, Imperial Rifleman
Born 26 March 1895 – Died 10 June 1916 in Russia
Siegfried Tschofen, Territorial Rifleman
Born 6 February 1896 – Died 21 May 1917 in Italy
Franz Ladner, Imperial Rifleman
Born 23 December 1894 – Died 7 October 1917 in Italy
Martin Thalhammer, Territorial Rifleman
Born 4 September 1883 – Died 15 October 1918 in Montkuk (likely Montcuq or another wartime location)
Josef Schmid, Territorial Rifleman
Born 7 March 1890 – Died 26 October 1918 in South Tyrol
Josef Zangerl, Imperial Rifleman
Born 15 February 1892 – Died 13 October 1918 in Innsbruck
Hermann Walch, Imperial Rifleman
Missing since 1918 in Galicia
Johann Zangerl, Territorial Rifleman
Missing since 1918 in Galicia
I’m sure that it exists, but I can’t find any Austrian list of war dead to find out more about any of these individuals. Around 1.2 to 1.5 million members of the Austrian military lost their lives in the conflict, compared to around 880,000 members of the armed forces from the UK and colonies.
The country of Austria found itself no longer part of an empire, with Vienna now being an oversized capital with considerably less power than it had. The population had to decide whether to throw their hats in with Germany or try and go for it independently, all whilst dealing with a badly damaged economy and infrastructure.