It is not my ambition to write even the most cursory history of the Austrian army, but only to collect such stray individual experiences as seem to me best calculated, when pieced together, to give a fairly coherent portrait of the present-day Austrian officer, both on and off duty.

Yet, without a glance backwards, the portrait would be incomplete. In order rightly to reproduce the Austrian officer of to-day, it is necessary to say a few words about his moral ancestor: the Austrian officer of yesterday—and of the day before—from whom many qualities and some defects have been transmitted.

The first thing then to be said about him is that he is not necessarily a German. He may just as likely be a Hungarian, a Czech, an Italian, a Croatian, or belong to one of half a dozen other nationalities; for in her army, more than in any other form of her life, does Austria's composite character find expression, In a well-known army history this character is excellently rendered,—the army of the seventeenth century being under discussion.