| Zusammenfassung: | Interpreting sources that stretch over a period of more than a century causes major methodological problems. For every type of source, different pragmatic contexts exist on the level of the generation of these data (administrative, audience-directed etc.) that determine also the possible uses for descriptive and explanatory purposes. The paper argues that although these problems should not be neglected it is, nevertheless, possible to overcome them in a relfexive, theoretically informed way. The example discussed here is how to verify the assumption of a stable habitus: Most Habsburg commanders and officers seemed to have lacked the readiness to take (calculated) risks and initiative — the qualities of good leadership. Can we explain lacking sucess in war by a specific Austrain military habitus? This paper tries to solve this puzzle by analyzing selected autobiographies, official files, literary sources and semi-official regimental histories that contain descriptions and declamations of the relevant emotions that steered the behaviour of Austrain officers and commanders throughout this period of more than a century.
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