Page - 164 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

164 ‘Thank God, this is the Great War!’ tion by Russia or Italy.380 This concept of rapidly bringing down Serbia, regardless of the development of the eastern front, ultimately came to form the basis of all specific strategies, and in the plans for ‘war scenario B’, as well as in those for combined war scenarios, additional troops for the Balkans were still envisaged. Naturally, extensive deliberations were also made as to what would happen when after the start of a war against Serbia ‘war scenario R’ were suddenly to be put into action. In this case, the ‘B Echelon’, which had the strength of an army, and which in the event of an exclusively Balkan conflict was to reinforce the ‘Balkan Minimal Group’, was to change direction and be relocated to Galicia. The railway procedures were outlined and the time calcula- tions made. In such an event, the most advantageous option, as Conrad von Hötzendorf reported to the Emperor on 2 April 1914, would be for the B Echelon, together with the Imperial and Royal 2nd Army, to be ‘transported northwards prior to the 5th day of mobilisation’. However, the relocation must ‘be conducted at least prior to the 16th day of mobilisation B[alkans]’.381 Conrad acknowledged neither the misgivings of other General Staff officers about the direction of the operation in a war against Serbia, nor the objections made by the railway office of the Imperial and Royal General Staff re- garding the actual feasibility of a redeployment in the event of a subsequent declaration of war by Russia. Here, an argument was applied that would be repeated time and again like a Tibetan prayer wheel : the B Echelon could be reorganised without any problem. This at least was the case until it was put to the test at the beginning of August 1914, and all plans were thrown into disarray. The declaration of war against Serbia first affected those troops who counted among the ‘Balkan Minimal Group’. However, since at this point in time, a war with Russia was pushed to the periphery of political and military thinking and the desire on the part of the Emperor for a war against Serbia counted as an order, the B Echelon, the strategic contingency group, was mobilised with the aim of using it in the Balkans. Overall, seven corps were mobilised, which comprised a total of 20 infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions, as well as six Landsturm (reserve force) infantry brigades. With the sole aim of gaining surplus forces, the military leadership also ordered the mobilisation of the III Corps (‘Graz’), particularly since there was concern that Czech troop units might mu- tiny. If this were to occur, the deployment of troops from the VII Corps (‘Prag’) or the IX Corps (‘Leitmeritz’), who were intended for the Balkans, could perhaps be hampered or only be partially feasible. Conrad was also unclear about the position of Italy. He harboured a traditional mistrust of the country, which became complete following the sudden death of the Chief of the General Staff Alberto Pollio, who had been friendly to- wards Austria. He was therefore unwilling to take any risks. The III Corps also provided an additional three infantry divisions and two Landsturm infantry brigades. From the forces summoned by seven corps  – if the III Corps are for a moment ig- nored  – and from troops of Bohemian, German, Hungarian, Croatian and other prov-