A story of Schnapps!

A few days ago, I noticed a bottle of Schnapps, in a liquor store. For the uninitiated Schnapps, is a fruit brandy and one that requires an acquired taste. As a liquor it is popular in Germany & the immediate vicinity. While I did not buy the bottle, this story centres around the spirit!

While many of us waffle about great teams & team dynamics, it is rarely that we come across great teams, particularly great teams that remain great under intense pressure. More often than not we see teams that fracture and crack under strain.

The army of the Austrian empire in the 18th century had seen, days of of glory and was a lumbering, sizable force of soldiers who had a deep mistrust for each other and their abilities. The situation came to a comic pass at the battle of Karansebes in present day Romania.

The Austrian Emperor, Joseph II,( Holy Roman Emperor ) decided that his mission in life was to rid the world of barbarians ( Read Muslim Ottoman Turks ). He started by attacking the Turks in Transylvania. After camping in some marshland, 172,000 of his troops caught malaria, of which 33,000 died. When he heard that the Turkish Grand Vizier was on his way, Joseph took half his army to meet him near the town of Karansebes, in the September of 1788.

Of the many mercenaries, that populated the Austrian army, the flamboyant Hussars were a few. The Hussars, out on a scouting patrol, restless and bored, in waiting for battle, bought what is thought to be Schnapps from local folk & were in little time tipsy and raucous. Their behaviour drew sharp censure from Austrian Officers.
The men took offence, and, in order to frighten the officers away, started shouting out that the Turks were upon them. The officers fell for it, and raised the false alarm too. In the confusion, some body heard the word 'Allah', panic spread throughout the army and a stampede ensued. In the dark, Austrians started fighting Austrians and many men were also drowned in the river or crushed. By daybreak, it became apparent that the Austrians had killed 10,000 of their own number. The Turks had still not even arrived. The battle was over before it had begun & the Austrians limped back home with their tail between their legs. Joseph II suffered the ignominy of being pushed into a stream in the melee! Two days later the Turk army did arrive only to find ten thousand dead Austrian soldiers!

Great teams are built on implicit trust, great communication and sound leadership, not on numbers or grand plans. I'm also sure that the Austrians would have steered clear of Schnapps for quite a while...................