“The world was still in order.” — Joseph Roth, Radetzky March
Part One: The Rise of the Trotta Family
The novel opens with the Battle of Solferino in 1859, where a young Slovenian infantry lieutenant, Joseph Trotta, saves the life of Emperor Franz Joseph I. For his bravery, he is ennobled as “Joseph Trotta von Sipolje.” However, disillusioned by the glorification of war, he later resigns his commission and forbids his son, Franz, from pursuing a military career.
Franz von Trotta instead becomes a district administrator in Moravia, embodying dutiful but rigid Habsburg bureaucracy. His son, Carl Joseph, is raised in privilege but feels the weight of his grandfather’s heroic legacy. The Radetzky March, a military anthem, becomes a recurring motif, symbolizing both imperial pride and inevitable decline.
Part Two: Carl Joseph’s Military Service
Carl Joseph joins the cavalry, stationed in a remote Galician garrison. He struggles with loneliness and the expectations of his family name. A doomed affair with the wife of a fellow officer, Frau von Taussig, ends in scandal. His gambling debts and alcoholism worsen, and he is transferred to the infantry.
Stationed near the Russian border, Carl Joseph witnesses the decay of the empire—corruption, ethnic tensions, and bureaucratic inertia. His only solace is his friendship with Dr. Demant, a Jewish regimental doctor, whose tragic death in a duel foreshadows the collapse of the old order.
Part Three: The Fall of the Trottas
After his father’s death, Carl Joseph inherits the family estate but mismanages it. The outbreak of World War I finds him leading a poorly supplied unit. He dies senselessly while fetching water for his men, a far cry from his grandfather’s heroism.
Meanwhile, Emperor Franz Joseph, now aged and detached, symbolizes the empire’s fading glory. The novel ends with the old monarch’s death, mirroring the demise of the Trotta family and the Austro-Hungarian Empire itself.
Key Ideas
- The decline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a backdrop for personal and familial disintegration.
- The futility of heroism and duty in a decaying political system.
- Generational conflict and the burden of legacy.
- The Radetzky March as a symbol of nostalgia and inevitable collapse.
- The impact of war and bureaucracy on individual lives.
Who should read this book?
- Readers interested in historical fiction about the fall of empires.
- Those who appreciate multi-generational family sagas.
- Fans of literary explorations of duty, honor, and disillusionment.