ABSTRACT
Austria-Hungary had never been one of the great economic powers, and certainly was no match for Imperial Germany, but in the years before the First World War it had enjoyed a certain prosperity, and appeared to have a reasonably healthy and expanding economy. With 52 million inhabitants, of whom 28 million lived in the Austrian part of the Empire, it was the third largest state in Europe. 1 Yet even in the Austrian part of the Dual Monarchy only 23 per cent of the population were employed in industry, and 53 per cent worked in agriculture. In Hungary 69 per cent were still employed in agriculture. By comparison, in France 42 per cent were engaged in agricultural pursuits, in Britain only 13 per cent. Austrian industry was heavily concentrated in certain areas: Bohemia and Moravia, Silesia, Styria and the area around Vienna. The monarchy was thus in many respects a backward agrarian country, but with pockets of flourishing industry. With adequate supplies of raw materials and a high degree of industrial concentration, the economic situation of the country was rather more favourable than might at first be supposed.
