The Austro-Hungarian Navy was not just a technical-administrative organization with a few ships and ports, but for thousands of people and their families from all parts of the monarchy, it was also something like home. In World War I, it proved to be a capable fighting force that remained fully operational until the final dissolution of the monarchy, which should not be taken for granted. The city of Pola, known in Croatian as Pula, was the somewhat cosmopolitan main war port of this navy. However, 100 years ago, in November 1918, time and the world as it had been known came to an abrupt end there, just as in the entire Danube monarchy. It became the world of yesterday. The once eighth-largest navy in the world, equipped with modern battleships, cruisers, submarines, seaplanes, and its own city, was reduced to a shadow of its former self.