The Emperor's Tomb, while not a truly accurate and detailed account of World War I, significantly describes the rise and the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and an influential name, the Trottas. . Joseph Roth, in his novel, uses a key descendant of the Trotta family to show how the war changed their lives but does not erase centuries of Austro-Hungarian pride. Rich and poor go to war in the hope of preserving their country, their pride and their power. None of them knew that the cost of war could be so detrimental to everything they fought so hard to preserve in their beloved country. For them, the cost of the war was much higher than they had anticipated. War was a way for them to show how much they truly loved and appreciated their country. The war proved to be a turning point in everyone's life. The profound effects of World War I on Austro-Hungarian society helped divide a seemingly thriving nation. Lands were destroyed by war and lives were changed forever. For both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Trotta name, the cost of the war was far greater than anyone could have imagined; the cost of the war was tradition, love, power and a sense of pride for their beloved country, Austria-Hungary. As the narrator prepares to go to war, with "no time to lose," he begins to realize the role that tradition plays. and his name meant for his young life. He no longer cared about his rich snobbish friends but about his “real” friends Joseph Branco the chestnut roaster and Manes Reisiger the fiaker. His relationship with these two men is his only link to the ancient way of life of Austro-Hungarian society. Thanks to the two men, the narrator can live in the past and stay away from society's new way of life. Even after the war in a new and indeterminate world that welcomed him, he "was still not worried about the new life that awaited him." (Roth pp. 99) He hoped that tradition would prevail in Austro-Hungarian society. . The rich no longer had the most money and the narrator could no longer sit around doing nothing all day. He is forced to get up early and work for something he is not used to doing..