To me, the book is a godsend, as it opened up new perspectives on any number of topics.
I found the plethora of details fascinating the French adage "the good lord is in the detail" has never been more true than here. We are used to thinking of the Austro-Hungarian empire as backwards, repressive, and mired in bureaucratic apathy (think Metternich, Kafka, Musil.), but the picture that emerges from the pages of this book is quite different, far more nuanced and often going against common conception. Self-determination meant that those who formed minorities became subjected to more constraints than under the Hapsburg and their more tolerant policies whereas individuals could choose what language school they attended, suddenly the choice was made for them by the government which had a nationalistic agenda. In the case of the Austro-Hungarian empire, many individuals were better off under the rule of a universal distant bureaucracy than of smaller, ethnically biased governments. I was most struck by the negative side of nationalism and 'self-determination'. Though he does not speak German like a native (no reason he should), he pronounces names and other words in a comprehensible and non-distorting way, something I highly appreciate. What does Michael Page bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book? It constantly presents details that add up to a new understanding of the Habsburg Empire. What made the experience of listening to The Habsburg Empire the most enjoyable? Its lessons remain no less important today. The empire's creative solutions to governing its many lands and peoples - as well as the intractable problems it could not solve - left an enduring imprint on its successor states in Central Europe. Nationalists developed distinctive ideas about cultural difference in the context of imperial institutions, yet all of them claimed the Habsburg state as their empire. A rising standard of living throughout the empire deepened the legitimacy of Habsburg rule, as citizens learned to use the empire's administrative machinery to their local advantage.
By supporting new schools, law courts, and railroads along with scientific and artistic advances, the Habsburg monarchs sought to anchor their authority in the cultures and economies of Central Europe. Rejecting fragmented histories of nations in the making, this bold revision surveys the shared institutions that bridged difference and distance to bring stability and meaning to the far-flung empire. Judson shows why the Habsburg Empire mattered so much, for so long, to millions of Central Europeans.
In a panoramic and pioneering reappraisal, Pieter M.
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