This might be a scene from the final days of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918. In fact it is today, 100 years later. For once more the spectre of European fragmentation haunts Vienna.

Italian and Austro-Hungarian troops clashed at altitudes up to 12,000 feet (3,600 meters) with temperatures as low as -22°F (-30°C) in the Guerra Bianca, or White War, named for its wintry theater.

Otto von Habsburg only relinquished his claim to the fallen Austro-Hungarian empire in 1961 The eldest son of the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian empire has died in Germany at the age of 98.