ABSTRACT
This chapter considers Franz Alexander’s personal and professional life, the role of family in his decisions, and how those decisions affected other family members. At the time the Great War broke out in 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which comprised nearly 700,000 square kilometres, had a population of 52 million and almost half lived in Hungary. The military forces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire remained relatively unified during the war despite their multiethnic nature, and proved to be reliable and were used on the front lines. Alexander’s service, however, began on hospital train Number 38 travelling between Budapest and Vienna, though he would eventually see battle on the Italian front. After the collapse of the front along the River Piave in November 1918, and the official end of World War I, Alexander returned to Hungary to be demobilized. Alexander read and reread Sigmund Freud’s works, finding them, at times, tedious and painful to follow with their vague and ambiguous concepts.
