- Military and political history from the 16th to the early 19th centuries
- Habsburg-Ottoman relations
- War of the Bavarian Succession
- History of Austrian military chaplains from its beginning to the Second Republic

Current research

The project “History of the War of the Bavarian Succession” deals with an aspect of military history from the reign of Maria Theresa that has been rather neglected so far – a military conflict that was largely due to the initiative of Emperor Joseph II and went down in history as “Kartoffelkrieg” (Potato War) or “Zwetschgenrummel” (Plum Rush). For the study, an interdisciplinary approach involving military, political, diplomatic, social and commemorative history was chosen. The research concentrates on the history of Bavarian-Habsburg relations before 1778 and earlier attempts by the Habsburgs to gain possession of Bavaria, the diplomatic intrigue following the death of Elector Maximilian III Joseph of Bavaria, the hostilities and military operations of the enemy armies, the diplomatic negotiations that led to the Peace of Teschen, the reception of the war in literature and art and its reception in museums. Although short-lived, this dispute developed European dimensions. The project also offers an insight into the complex but initially futile efforts of the major European powers to maintain the fragile balance. An intensive study of the rich (contemporary and modern) literature, a comprehensive study of files in the Austrian State Archives, the Bavarian Main State Archives, the Saxon Main State Archives and the Secret State Archives Prussian Cultural HeritageFoundation  as well as numerous first-person documents form the basis for the planned monograph.

Publications (selection) 

Claudia Reichl-Ham, Belgrad – eine Stadt zwischen Orient und Okzident, in: Města dobývaná, dobytá a okupovaná. Kontexty a důsledky neúspěšné obrany měst od středověku do 20. Století/Cities under Siege, Conquered and Occupied. The Contexts and Consequences of the Unsuccessful Defence of Cities from the Middle Ages up to the 20th Century. Documenta Pragensia, vol. XLI, ed. by Olga Fejtová – Martina Maříková – Jiří Pešek, Prague 2023, pp. 453 – 480

Claudia Reichl-Ham – Jan Kilián – Jenny Öhman (eds.), „15 Wochen lang bey Tag und Nacht von denen Schweden belägert“. Das Tagebuch des Johann Zatočil von Löwenbruck zur Belagerung von Prag durch die Schweden im Jahr 1648 (= Schriften des Heeresgeschichtlichen Museums, vol. 30, Vienna 2022) (various contributions)

Claudia Reichl-Ham, „Sie weinte, aber sie nahm“. Maria Theresia und die Erste Polnische Teilung (= Acta Austro-Polonica, vol. XIV, Vienna 2023), pp. 43 – 75

Claudia Reichl-Ham – Bertrand Michael Buchmann, Habsburger und Osmanen. Eine bilaterale Geschichte (= Schriften des Heeresgeschichtlichen Museums, vol. 29, Vienna 2021)

Claudia Reichl-Ham, “War is Man Stuff!”? ‘Uniformed’ Women in the (Military) Service of the Habsburg Empire, in: Cutting a New Pattern. Uniformed Women in the Great War, ed. by Barton C. Hacker – Margaret Vining, Washington 2020, pp. 221 – 250

Claudia Reichl-Ham, Between Entente and Central Powers: The Ottoman Empire on Its Way to War, in: Robert Frank – Catherine Horel (eds.), Entrer en guerre, 1914 – 1918. Histoire, historiographiques, mémoires (= Enjeux internationaux CISH, vol. 44, Bruxelles – Bern et al. 2018), pp. 133 – 150

Claudia Ham – Roman-Hans Gröger – Alfred Sammer, Militärseelsorge in Österreich: zwischen Himmel und Erde, Graz – Vienna 2001