This article examines comparatively the organizational structures and implementation of censorship in Berlin, Germany and Vienna, Austria during the First World War. Germany and Austria, it was claimed, were bound together by an oath of Nibelungentreue and their armies stood united Schulter an Schulter against the enemies on all fronts. Such visions of unity, solidarity and common interest were illusory, drawing no more than a thin veil over two political systems whose legislative and bureaucratic structures had been evolving in almost opposite directions since 1849. If the effects of liberalism and nationalism could be so different in the two countries, it will come as no surprise to discover that there were significant differences in the way censorship was organized and implemented in Berlin and Vienna. In Vienna itself, censorship was divided between the military authorities in the Kriegsüberwachungsamt, which was located in the War Ministry, and the various civilian or political authorities. The significance of the closure of the Reichsrat in March 1914 was not restricted to the fact that it did away with a peculiarly Austrian loophole in the censorship process. The turning-point in the history of censorship during the war came towards the end of 1916. The sense of frustration and impotence engendered by the lack of any forum for public discussion tempted some into taking desperate measures. At the same time as guaranteeing basic press freedoms, the German Reichspressegesetz, sanctioned by the Kaiser on May 7, 1874, also made provision for the control of the press in a national emergency such as war. One of the most noticeable differences between the political situations prevalent in Berlin and Vienna was the fact that unlike the Reichsrat, the Reichstag continued to sit throughout the war, thus providing a platform for the discussion of the organization and implementation of censorship.