Wartime provisioning, the people, and the state in Habsburg Central Europe during World War I

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the scholarship and processes that made the home front and the question of provisioning a central issue in a series of economic, social, and political crises in Central Europe. In particular, it focuses on those issues that played a role in the downfall of the Habsburg monarchy. Using the dual perspective of a general survey supported by specific examples from the microcosm of wartime Moravia, it shows how the government (mis)managed production, supply, and consumption, and how these efforts fundamentally altered the relationship of the state to its citizens, and vice versa, resulting in a complete breakdown of loyalty to a government perceived as an utter failure. In doing so, the text summarizes the current state of knowledge and identifies gaps that need to be filled with further research to make the existing picture both more complex and complete.