Steamrollered in Galicia: The Austro-Hungarian Army and the Brusilov Offensive, 1916
Abstract
Russia’s summer 1916 Galician operation, the noted Brusilov offensive, was one of the most successful efforts of the First World War, resulting in the near-destruction of the Austro-Hungarian Army in the east. However, the causes of Russian success, and particularly of Habsburg defeat, have been little studied and less understood; in particular, ethnic-based disloyalty has always been the explanation for Austro-Hungarian setbacks in mid-1916. However, this article closely examines poor Habsburg battlefield performance, and concludes that serious tactical shortcomings and inadequate leadership, rather than the vexing nationalities’ question, were the true causes of Austro-Hungarian defeat at the hands of Alexei Brusilov’s offensive.
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1.
1Österreich-Ungarns letzter Krieg IV: Das Kriegsjahr, 1916/I (ÖUlK, IV) (Vienna, 1933), pp. 8-30; N. Stone, The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 (London, 1975), pp. 232-36.
2.
2 Stone, Eastern Front, pp. 227-31; ÖUlK, IV, pp. 239-40.
3.
3 There was not one Austro-Hungarian army, but actually three: the Imperial-and-Royal Army (k.u.k. Armee) or ‘common’ army, recruited from all regions of the dual monarchy, and the Austrian and Hungarian home armies, the Imperial Austrian (k.k. Landwehr) and Royal Hungarian (k.u. Honvéd) forces, respectively.
4.
4ÖUlK, IV, Beilage 4, Tabelle 1, 2. By the end of 1915 the army had lost a total of 3 368 000 men to death, wounds, illness and capture - more than seven times the army’s pre-war strength.
5.
5 Kriegsarchiv (KA) Neue Feld Akten (NFA), Fasz. 734, k.u.k. VI. Korps Kmdo., Op. Nr. 602/15, 3.6.16; ÖUlK, IV, Beilage 2, 29.
6.
6 The archaic term for the equivalent of an Anglo-American major-general.
7.
7 KA, Qualifikationsliste, Kart. 1072, Alfred, Edler von Hinke. There were several senior Polish officers in the division, including Generalmajor Tadeusz Rozwadowski, commander of the 12th Field Artillery Brigade, and Colonel Franz Łatinik of the 100th Regiment. M. Klimecki, Gorlice, 1915 (Warsaw, 1991), p. 80. Rozwadowski, former inspector of sappers, rose to chief of the general staff in Piłsudski’s renascent Polish army, serving during the victorious 1920 defence of Warsaw against the Red Army.
8.
8 See M. Klimecki and W. Klimczak, Legiony polskie (Warsaw, 1990), or L. Ratajczyk, ‘The Evolution of the Polish Army, 1914-1922’, and L. Dudek, ‘Polish Military Formations in World War I’, War and Society in East Central Europe, XIX, East Central European Society in World War I (New York, 1985).
9.
9ÖUlK, IV, Beilage 4, Tabelle 3, 4.
10.
10 Hence the arrogant but somewhat accurate claim of Baron Bolfras, the emperor’s adjutant-general, in the spring of 1916: ‘The chief command of the army is now the exclusive government in our country’. O. Jászi, The Dissolution of the Habsburg Monarchy (Chicago, 1929), p. 15.
11.
11ÖUlK, IV, pp. 88-9; F. Franek, ‘Die Entwicklung der öst.-ung. Wehrmacht in den ersten zwei Kriegsjahren’, Ergänzungsheft 5 zum Werke ÖUlK (Vienna, 1933), pp. 9-10.
12.
12 Franek, ‘Entwicklung’, pp. 5, 24.
13.
13 KA/NFA, Faxz. 736, k.u.k. AOK, Op. Nr. 27.760, 18.7.16; Fasz. 734, k.u.k. 6. Korps Kmdo., Op. Nr. 518/14, 18.5.16; Res. Nr. 537, 22.5.16.
14.
14 K. Peball, ‘Führungsfragen der österreichisch-ungarischen Südtiroloffensive im Jahre 1916’, Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchives, XXXI (1978), pp. 420-21.
15.
15 For a detailed and honest account of the most ignominious Czech failure in 1915, the loss of most of Prague’s 28th Regiment at the Dukla Pass (an incident much-mythologized by all sides), see R.G. Plaschka, ‘Zur Vorgeschichte des Übergangs von Einheiten des IR 28 an der russischen Front 1915’, Österreich und Europa: Festgabe für Hugo Hantsch zum 70. Geburtstag (Vienna, 1970).
16.
16 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, k.u.k. AOK, Op. Nr. 50/058, ‘Ethische Erziehung des Mannschaft im Felde’, 23.5.16; KA, Nachlaß Robert Nowak, B/726, Nr. I/III, ‘Das Klammer des Reichs: Das Verhalten der elf Nationalitäten der k.u.k. Wehrmacht, 1914-1918’, pp. 713, 772.
17.
17 KA, Nachlaß Robert Nowak, Nr.1/II, pp. 531-5, 545; KA, Gefechts-Berichte, Schachtel 13, k.u.k. 11. ITD Kmdo., Res. Nr. 838, ‘Bericht über die Affäre am 4.11.15.’
18.
18ÖUlK, IV, Beilage 4, Tabelle 8. In all, there were 111 divisional and 13 non-divisional infantry brigades, as well as 23 divisional and 3 non-divisional cavalry brigades.
19.
19ÖUlK, IV, Beilage 4, Tabelle 5. New infantry units included only a dozen line regiments and ten rifle (Feldjäger) battalions; there were also 42 special volunteer battalions.
20.
20 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, k.u.k. 12.ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 141/3, 20.5.16; see also E. Gabriel, ‘Die wichtigsten Waffen der öst.-ung. Armee 1918’, Österreichische Militärische Zeitschrift (1968).
21.
21 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, k.u.k. FKR.12, Op. Nr. 512, 25.5.16; Franek, ‘Entwicklung’, pp. 29-30.
22.
22ÖUlK, IV, Beilage 4, Tabelle 9.
23.
23 Ibid.
24.
24 Franek, ‘Entwicklung’, pp. 26-7; ÖUlK, IV, Beilage 4, Tabelle 7.
25.
25 KA/NFA, Fasz. 743, k.u.k. AOK, Q. Op. Nr. 167700, 8.1.16; ÖUlK, IV, Beilage 4, Tabelle 6, 10.
26.
26 The pre-war bluish pike-grey (hechtgrau) uniform - close in shade to the French bleu d’horizon - though appropriate in the Alps, stood out on the plains of Galicia, and was replaced by a feldgrau one, very close to the Imperial German colour. The steel helmet too was virtually indistinguishable from the Prussian model. The helmet and new uniform were both introduced in September 1915, and were in front-line use by spring 1916. E. Steinböck, ‘Die Ausrüstung des österreichischen Soldaten im Ersten Weltkrieg’, Weltkrieg, 1914-1918: Heereskunde-Kriegsgeschichtliche Betrachtungen siebzig Jahre danach (Vienna, 1988), pp. 87-88.
27.
27 KA, Nachlaß Robert Nowak, Nr. 1/II, p. 377.
28.
28 H. Batkowski, ‘Die Polen’, Die Habsburgermonarchie, 1848-1918, III/1, Die Völker des Reiches (Vienna, 1980), pp. 526-30; R. Kann, The Multinational Empire: Nationalism and National Reform in the Habsburg Monarchy, 1848-1918, I (New York, 1977), pp. 221-32.
29.
29 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, k.u.k. IR. 56, Op. Nr. 139, 18.5.16; k.u.k. IR. 57, Res. Nr. 279, 18.5.15; k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 153/3, Sap. Komp. 5/1, ‘Minenplan’, 1.6.16; k.u.k. IR. 20, Exh. Nr. 1213/Adj., 1.6.16.
30.
30 I. I. Rostunov, Russkii front pervoi mirovoi voiny (Moscow, 1976), pp. 294-310; for a brief discussion of Kirey’s artillery plan: C. Bellamy, Red God of War: Soviet Artillery and Rocket Forces (London, 1986), pp. 31-41.
31.
31 Rostunov, Russkii front, p. 305; Stone, Eastern Front, p. 239; ÖUlK, IV, Beilage 2, pp. 26-39.
32.
32 M. Ronge, Kriegs- und Industriespionage (Vienna, 1930), pp. 222-3; B. Anin and A. Petrovich, Radio-Shpionazh (Moscow, 1996), pp. 183-85; see also A. Pethö, Agenten für den Doppeladler: Österreich-Ungarns Geheimer Dienst im Weltkrieg (Graz, 1998), pp. 144-8.
33.
33 Stone, Eastern Front, p. 240.
34.
34 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 137, 16.5.16; Tagesmeldungen, k.u.k. IR. 3, 20, 56, 57, 100, 16.5.16; k.u.k. Generalstabschef des VI. Korps, Op. Nr. 517/17, 17.5.16.
35.
35 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, k.u.k. IR. 100, Tagesmeldungen, 24.5.16; k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., K. Nr. 272, 28.5.16.
36.
36 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 152, 31.5.16; k.u.k. IR. 57, 100, Tagesmeldungen, 31.5.16; k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo, Op. Nr. 153/7, 1.6.16; k.u.k. Generalstabschef des VI. Korps, Op. Nr. 601/21, 1.6.16.; k.u.k. IR. 57, 100, Tagesmeldungen, 2.6.16.
37.
37 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, k.u.k. IR. 20, Exh. Nr. 1213/Adj., 1.6.16; k.u.k. IR. 57, Res. Ex. Nr. 287/Adj., 1.6.16; k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 153/4, 1.6.16.
38.
38 G. Artl, Die österreichisch-ungarische Südtiroloffensive (Vienna, 1983), p. 183; Peball, ‘Führungsfragen’, pp. 422-30; ÖUlK, IV, pp. 253-349; or briefly: G. Stockelle, ‘Die Südtiroler Offensive gegen Italien’, Österreichische Militärische Zeitschrift (1966).
39.
39 R. Kiszling, ‘Die Brussilow-Offensive bei Łuck-Olyka’, Österreichische Militärische Zeitschrift (1966), p. 298. The 4th Army’s nine divisions were the Magyar-Croatian 7th, the mostly Magyar 70th Honvéd, the Polish-Magyar 2nd, the Slovak-Magyar 37th Honvéd, the Magyar-Romanian 41st Honvéd, the Czech-German 4th, the Ruthenian 11th, the mostly German 13th Landwehr and the Magyar-Croatian 10th Cavalry Divisions.
40.
40 KA, Nachlaß Robert Nowak, Nr. 1/III, pp. 720-27; Kiszling, ‘Die Brussilow-Offensive’, pp. 298-302. Signifiantly, none of the 4th Army’s generals were captured, although many of them had lost their entire formations.
41.
41 Stone, Eastern Front, pp. 251-54.
42.
42 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, k.u.k. IR. 100, Tagesmeldung, 5.6.16; k.u.k. IR. 57, Res. Nr. 287/Adj., 6.6.16.
43.
43 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, k.u.k. IR. 100, Tagesmeldungen, 7-9.6.16.
44.
44 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., ‘Situation am 10.6.16’; KD Südarmee, AOK, Ia. Nr. 2263, 10.6.16; KA, Gefechts-Berichte, Schachtel 13, k.u.k. 12. ITD Gefechts-Bericht, 9-12.6.16; Schachtel 48, k.u.k. IR. 3 Gefechts-Bericht, 10.6.16.
45.
45 KA, Gefechts-Berichte, Schachtel 65, k.k. LIR. 5, Res. Nr. 4/65, ‘Gefechts-Bericht vom 6.6-14.7.16’, 17.7.16.
46.
46 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, k.u.k. VI. Korps Kmdo., Op. Nr. 610/25, 10.6.16; KD Südarmee, AOK, Ia. Nr. 2275, 12.6.16. Emphasis in the original.
47.
47 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, KD Südarmee, AOK, Ia. Nr. 2275, 12.6.16; k.u.k. IR. 100, ‘Situation am 13.6., 8.30 vorm.’; k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 165/1, 13.6.16; ÖUlK, IV, 451-56. The division’s six infantry regiments averaged two strong battalions each.
48.
48 Stone, Eastern Front, p. 254.
49.
49 R. Kiszling, Die Kroaten: Der Schicksalweg eines Südslawenvolkes (Graz, 1956), p. 107; ÖUlK, IV, p. 422.
50.
50 KA, Sammlung Balaban, Schachtel 9, k.k. 13. LITD Kmdo., Kriegsgliederung, 25.5.16; Op. Nr. 164/11, 12.6.16; Gefechts-Bericht, Schachtel 65, k.k. Ldw. Dionsgericht in Wien, Dst. 2834/16, 11.9.17.
51.
51 C. von Bardolff, Soldat im alten Österreich: Erinnerungen aus meinem Leben (Jena, 1938), p. 257; see also E. Finke, K.(u.)k. Hoch- und Deutschmeister: ‘222 Jahre für Kaiser und Reich’ (Graz, 1978), 286-88.
52.
52 Kiszling, ‘Brussilow-Offensive’, p. 302. Kiszling, a wartime general staff officer and Conrad protégé, was still more honest than most Old Austrian soldier-historians, particularly in his later years; see also the official (and frequently mendacious) divisional report on the disaster of 4-9 June: KA, Gefechts-Berichte, Schachtel 12, k.u.k. 11. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 188/10, 12.7.16.
53.
53 KA, Nachlaß Robert Nowak, Nr. 1/III, p. 773.
54.
54 KA/NFA, Fasz. 73, KD Südarmee, AOK, Ia. Nr. 2284, 15.6.16.
55.
55 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, k.u.k. VI. Korps Kmdo., Op. Nr. 619/27, 19.6.16; Op. Nr. 602/12, 20.6.16.
56.
56 KA/NFA, Fasz. 734, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 166/1, 14.6.16; Op. Nr. 167/13, 15.6.16; Op. Nr. 168/22, 16.6.16; k.u.k. 12. FA Brig. Kmdo., ‘Stände der FA’, 16.6.16; Fasz. 735, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 175/3, 23.6.16. These were the Steinsberg, Koburg, Preußen and Daun Stellungen, ironically named for the positions overrun on 10 June.
57.
57 KA/NFA, Fasz. 735, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 173/5, 21.6.16; Op. Nr. 181/11, 29.6.16; k.u.k. VI. Korps Kmdo., Op. Nr. 626/18, 26.6.16; KD Südarmee, Stabsoffz. Der Fliegertruppe, B. Nr. 2387/Op, 23.6.16.
58.
58 KA/NFA, Fasz. 735, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 182/8, 30.6.16; ÖUlK, IV, Beilage 25, 5. Divisional ration strength - as opposed to rifle strength - was 30 000, though that counted many troops actually ill or on leave.
59.
59 Stone, Eastern Front, p. 261.
60.
60 Monasterzyska, a pre-war garrison town, had one of the few factories in rural East Galicia, the k.k. Tabakfabrik, most of whose thousand workers had long since abandoned the town, like the other 4000 residents.
61.
61 KA/NFA, Fasz. 735, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 185/13, 3.7.16; k.u.k. VI. Korps Kmdo., Op. Nr. 703/23, 4.7.16; Op. Nr. 705/31, 5.7.16; k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 186/8, 5.7.16.
62.
62 KA/NFA, Fasz. 735, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 187/26, 5.7.16; k.u.k. 23. IBrig., Telegramm Nr. 42, 7.6.16.
63.
63 KA/NFA, Fasz. 735, k.u.k. VI. Korps Kmdo., Op. Nr. 207/16, 7.7.16; KD Südarmee, AOK, Ia. Nr. 2572, 7.7.16.
64.
64 KA/NFA, Fasz. 735, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 189/14, 7.7.16; Op. Nr. 192/12, 12.7.16.
65.
65 KA/NFA, Fasz. 735, KD Südarmee, AOK, Ia. Nr. 2617, 11.7.16; k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 189/14, 7.7.16.
66.
66 KA/NFA, Fasz. 735, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 189/9, 7.7.16; KD Südarmee, AOK, La. Nr. 2579, 8.7.16.
67.
67 KA/NFA, Fasz. 735, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 190/13, 190/15, 8.7.16; Op. Nr. 191/13, 9.7.16; KD Südarmee, AOK, Ia. Nr. 2585, 9.7.16.
68.
68 KA/NFA, Fasz. 735, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 193/13, 12.7.16; KA, Gefechts-Berichte, Schachtel 13, k.u.k. 12. ITD, Gefecht-Bericht 12.7.16.
69.
69 KA/NFA, Fasz. 736, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 208/6, 26.7.16; KA, Gefechts-Berichte, Schachtel 13, k.u.k. 12. ITD, Gefecht-Bericht, 12.7.16.
70.
70 KA, Gefechts-Berichte, Schachtel 13, k.u.k. 12. ITD, Gefecht-Bericht, 12.7.16; NFA, Fasz. 735, k.u.k. VI. Korps Kmdo., Op. Nr. 195/2, 713/17, 713/31, 13.7.16.
71.
71 KA, Gefechts-Berichte, Schachtel 13, k.u.k. 12. ITD, Gefecht-Bericht, 12.7.16; NFA, Fasz. 736, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 208/6, 26.7.16.
72.
72 KA/NFA, Fasz. 735, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 194/12, 12.7.16.
73.
73 KA, Gefechts-Berichte, Schachtel 13, k.u.k. 12. ITD, Gefechts-Bericht, 13.7.16; NFA, Fasz. 735, KD Südarmee, AOK, Ia. Nr. 2652, 14.7.16; k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 195/14, 13.7.16.
74.
74 KA, Gefechts-Berichte, Schachtel 13, k.u.k. 12. ITD, Gefechts-Bericht, 13.7.16; NFA, Fasz. 735, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 196/3, 196/5, 14.7.16; Op. Nr. 197/4, 15.7.16.
75.
75 KA/NFA, Fasz. 735, KD Südarmee, Ia. Nr. 2631, 15.7.16; Fasz. 736, KD Südarmee, Ia. Nr. 2705, 18.7.16.
76.
76 KA. NFA, Fasz. 736, k.u.k. VI. Korps Kmdo., Op. Nr. 715/37, k.u.k. XIII. Korps Kmdo., Op. Nr. 714/32, 16.7.16.
77.
77 KA/NFA, Fasz. 736, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 198/6, 16.7.16; Op. Nr. 206/14, 24.7.16; k.u.k. VI. Korps Kmdo., Op. Nr. 717/22, 17.7.16; k.u.k. AOK, Op. Nr. 27.760, 18.7.16; k.u.k. ErsBaon. IR. 57, Res. E. Nr. 2500/VIII Adj., 18.8.16.
78.
78 KA/NFA, Fasz. 736, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 201/2, 201/3, 19.7.16; k.u.k. IR. 3, Op. Nr. 209/5, 27.7.16.
79.
79 KA/NFA, Fasz. 735, k.u.k. AOK Teschen, Op. Nr. 26.833, 27.115, 7.7.16.
80.
80 KA/NFA, Fasz. 735, KD Südarmee, A. Kdo.12., Op. Nr. 98, ‘Armeebefehl!’, 10.7.16.
81.
81 KA/NFA, Fasz. 736, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 208/6, 26.7.16.
82.
82 KA/NFA, Fasz. 736, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 210/1, 210/4, 210/5, 210/9, 28.7.16; k.u.k. 12. FA. Brig. Kmdo., Op. Nr. 211/5, 29.7.16; KD Südarmee, AOK (Landauer), Br. B. Nr. 39. Op., 1.8.16; AOK, Ia. Nr. 2882, 2.8.16.
83.
83 KA/NFA, Fasz. 736, k.u.k. VI. Korps Kmdo., Op. Nr. 808/25, 8.8.16; Op. Nr. 809/29, 9.8.16; k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 222/7, 9.8.16.
84.
84 KA/NFA, Fasz. 737, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 223/3, 223/13, 10.8.16; Op. Nr. 224/11, 224/13, 11.8.16.
85.
85 KA/NFA, Fasz. 737, k.u.k. 12. ITD Kmdo., Op. Nr. 225/21, 12.8.16; Op. Nr. 226/3, 13.8.16; Op. Nr. 227/14, 14.8.16; k.u.k. IR. 100, Op. Nr. 226/39, 13.8.16.
86.
86 To the north also were the two divisions of the Turkish XV Corps, dispatched to Galicia as a gesture of alliance solidarity in the wake of the Brusilov catastrophe.
87.
87 KA, Nachlaß Robert Nowak, Nr. 1/III, 822.
88.
88 Rothenberg, Army of Francis Joseph. p. 196; Stone, Eastern Front, pp. 255-61.
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