Elisabeth Haid’s research while affiliated with University of Vienna and other places

The mobilization of the Galician home front was of particular importance for the Habsburg monarchy because of the strategic importance of this province during the First World War. The aim of this article is to take a closer look at the diverse political measures of the Habsburg political and military authorities in Galicia, which were often inconsistent with one another. It deals with propaganda as well as with oppressive measures and discriminatory policy towards certain nationalities. It argues that the political situation in Galicia, which was a national trouble spot in the decades before the First World War, as well as the fact that the province was a war zone, influenced these measures. Moreover, the article demonstrates the contribution of Galician protagonists both to the propagandistic mobilization for war and to the acts of violence. The article argues that the mobilization of the Galician home front was a failure. The propaganda efforts contrasted strongly with the brutal measures of the Austro-Hungarian army and with the growing national conflicts in Galicia. Instead of strengthening a sense of community in view of the common enemy, the war rather alienated the different Galician population groups from each other, but also from the Austrian state.