Similar problems and questions return in the book’s third part, ‘Occupation’. This phenomenon occurred in the East, of course, on a significantly greater scale than in the West. The narrative focuses on the Russian occupation of Galicia in 1914–1915, the Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian occupation of Serbia at the end of 1915, the German occupation of Poland and the ‘Ober-Ost’ territories from the summer of that year, and the German occupation of Romania at the end of 1916. Regardless of local differences, a common trait turns out to be that the occupations during the First World War had more in common with the administration of the ‘Hinterland’ than with the Second World War occupations. The results are similar regarding research into the ‘civilizing mission’ – in other words, attempts to morally subjugate ‘half-Asians’, from the Balkans to Latvia, not only by the German army, but also through cultural means. These ranged – as is well known – from attempts to scientifically describe the new countries to education and hygiene. According to the book’s interpretation, despite the ignorance, ruthlessness, and arrogance of the occupiers, it is difficult to acknowledge these attempts as the beginning of the road leading to Auschwitz.

The first part discusses what led up to August 1914 (with focus primarily on atmosphere and calculations, without discussing the diplomatic operations in July of that year), namely the Balkan Wars (with focus on causes, effects, and logistics rather than the exact course of military operations), as well as military operations and their impact on the region where battles took place from August 1914 to December 1916). This section of the book discusses, among other things, the consequences of ‘attacks at any price’, the everyday lives of soldiers and their relations with civilians, the espionage mania that was widespread along the Eastern front, war crimes, medicine and diseases, the siege of the Przemyśl Fortress, the Battle of Gorlice, the great retreat of Russia in the summer of 1915, and the Brusilov Offensive a year later. Separate sections are devoted to the Serbian and Romanian fronts and prisoners of war.

This part deals with psychological and social transformations, changes in employment and organization of production (including a sharp increase in the number of women employed and the significance of farming), inspections, and rationing; the narrative often descends to the level of everyday life on the front. Alongside economic deterioration and maintenance, significant attention is given to atmospheres (especially in cities that were particularly afflicted by crisis) and ethnicization, which foreshadowed in 1916 the difficult times ahead for multinational empires. After a section about information scarcity and propaganda, the narrative concentrates on the issue of the allegiance of stateless nations. Despite the full acceptance of the emperors in the summer of 1914, leaders soon began to treat these nations with growing distrust, which found expression in the vocal repression of such ethnic groups as Baltic Germans, Serbians, Ukrainians and – above all – Jews. The book argues that it was precisely these repressive politics which, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, hastened the collapse of the empires.