Joseph was unimaginative enough to resign from the service when he discovered that the story of his exploit at Solferino had been dressed up for patriotic consumption in the Austrian school books. Of Solferino,' found himself committed by the growing family legend to the cavalry.Īll three Trottas are very limited people. His son, Franz, became a minister of the civil service, but Carl Joseph, the grandson of the 'hero Joseph Trotta was made a baron, promoted to the rank of Captain, and rewarded more concretely by a dispensation from the imperial purse. Joseph Trotta, a Slovene, son of a long line of south European peasants, happened to save the young Francis Joseph's life at Solferino by stopping a bullet aimed at his Majesty's head.

Great events are present only as they are reflected in the lives of the characters- in this case the lives of the three Trottas, all of whom served the Emperor 'Radetzky March' is an example of the way a good sociological novel should be written. And soon the Radetzky March will be relegated to the lumber room of non-vital history. Francis Joseph himself is dead and the wind sown by Gavril Princip, who murdered the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to Francis Joseph's throne, is about to blowĭown the flimsy structure of the monarchy. It is one of the devices by which Joseph Roth manages to bind together his study of the disintegration of an empire, 'Radetzky March.' Through the novel the two-four military time keeps its beat, but at theĬlose the feet of the marchers are lagging, and many are out of step. Francis Joseph, fated to rule the Austro-HungarianĮmpire for some three-quarters of a century, was not born under a military star he went forth to battle and he always- well, almost always- fell.īut the Radetzky March played on. After his death came the evil days Austria was beaten by Louis Napoleon, by Bismarck, and, finally, in the World War. In the fact that during his lifetime Austria occasionally won a fight. The measure of his success, as chief of staff and Field Marshal, may be found For years he fought the red-tape artists who taught that military science, like the Rock of Ages, never changed. He lived to be over 90 and died in harness. Oseph Radetzky, a veteran of Marengo, Wagram and other smoky battles of the Napoleonic wars, was one of the military glories of the now defunct Austro-Hungarian Empire. Translated from the German by Geoffrey Dunlop. OctoBooks of The Times By JOHN CHAMBERLAINīy Joseph Roth.

The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth