Page - 203 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The War Economy Dominates Everyday Life 203 suming, as it had not been prepared, and ultimately these macroeconomic considera- tions would not have been met with much understanding. We should not forget that most of those assigned to the Landwehr (Austrian standing army), the Landsturm (re- serve forces) and the replacement reserves thought at the beginning of the war that they were missing something. This is why they removed themselves indiscriminately from their companies. Only gradually did the attraction of the war dwindle and the military administration became more selective when enlisting. Yet those companies that had experienced a boom in new business continued to have difficulties covering their labour requirements. At Škoda, labourers apparently worked up to 110 hours a week at the height of the war,477 which came to 16 hours of work, seven days a week. Working 80 hours was by no means exceptional. Only the mentally and physically disabled, civil servants, clerics and farmers, as well as storekeepers or salaried employees were exempted from the general availability for forced work duties. Those who were unfit for military service could be recruited to work in industry, as well as Landsturm conscripts who had not yet been assigned to a bat- talion on the march but were intended to be deployed at the front. This ‘militarisation’ resulted in those affected becoming what were known as ‘army labourers’ and in their wages being simultaneously reduced from a considerably better level to that of military wages.478 Even here there was no resistance from the trade unions. In those areas that were placed directly under the control of the military administration, the organisation of the workers had already become impossible because they were forbidden to hold assemblies. The military leadership of a business operating under the provisions of the Law on War Contributions could alter the status of a worker from a civilian to a member of the Landsturm, reduce his wages or even encroach on his private life, for example by plac- ing a ban on visiting taverns and coffee houses after 8 p.m.479 This approach adhered to the constitution , according to which the soldiers at the front had no choice and above all no fixed service hours and their lives were furthermore constantly in danger. It must also be kept in mind here that earlier closing times and bans on the sale of alcohol were also in place in England and France, in order to reduce alcohol consumption among workers and to increase their efficiency. The Austrian system of compulsion to work was evidently even suited to provoking the envy of leaders of German industry, who demanded from the imperial government the alignment with Austrian practices in order to stabilise levels of work performance.480 The coercive measures described above and the rigorous handling of the emergency legislation demonstrate several factors : for one thing, it becomes clear under which tre- mendous pressure the workforce but also the rest of the population were placed and to which they submitted themselves more or less willingly. Several phenomena of the later war years and, above all, the end of the conflict can be explained in this way. For another