Page - 278 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

278 Adjusting to a Longer War tiorek was already deliberating how the border with Serbia should be drawn. Here, he was comparatively modest, and merely proposed a bridgehead to the south of Belgrade, which was at any rate the capital, the separation of the Mačva ;in other words, the Ser- bian territory to the south of the Sava that bordered on Syrmia, and the heights above the right bank of the Drina. Marterer left feeling fully confident. The reality of the war was far less euphoric. The High Command of the Balkan forces declined to react to any complaints, or to already alarming reports. The losses increased relentlessly. Finally, Potiorek decided to pursue a prestige target and ordered that the left wing of the 5th Army occupy Belgrade. This was achieved without a fight on 2 December 1914, the 66th anniversary of the accession to the throne by Emperor Franz Joseph. Potiorek wrote of the event : ‘Worked as usual, although at midday, I was highly excited by the surprising news of the fall of Belgrade.’ Then he again forwarded field postcards. The word ‘surprising’ in Potiorek’s private records makes it rather doubtful that the occupation of Belgrade was to have been accomplished at all costs on 2 Decem- ber. Certainly, however, this had been his hope. Egon Erwin Kisch was far more drastic in his reaction : ‘To mark the jubilee of Emperor Franz Joseph, this morning Belgrade was conquered with many participating, and with a broad programme of entertainment. The eastern wing of our army succeeded in taking the city. The army command spared no cost or effort in order to report this event, affixed for this day, to all corners of the world without delay, and everywhere ‘spontaneous’ ovations were given to mark this unexpected event that had by chance occurred on the anniversary day.’673 The occupation of Belgrade was immediately reported to the Military Chancellery of the Emperor by telephone. The aide-de-camp of the Emperor on duty, Colonel Count Hoyos, had the honour of bringing the news to the Monarch. Franz Joseph shed tears of joy. In the Army High Command in Cieszyn, the younger officers in particular hoped that Potiorek, whose reputation had reached its zenith, would soon be made Conrad’s successor.674 This was the fourth time that Belgrade had been occupied by Imperial Austrian troops, and Potiorek saw his name being cited alongside those of Prince Eugen and Loudon. Only now did he grant his armies a respite. It was planned to last until 3 De- cember, the day on which a victory parade would be held in Belgrade. Yet right in the middle, the Serbs launched a major attack. The Serbian leadership knew how to re-in- vigorate the morale of its soldiers. The Commander of the Serbian 1st Army, Vojvod Živojin Mišić, placed all his bets on one card. The army leadership scraped together all the guns that were left in Serbia. Finally, the Serbs organised a large-scale transportof French ammunition, mainly artillery ammunition, using the railway from Salonika to Niš, which was still under their control. Neutral Greece, which was close to Kaiser Wil- helm’s heart due to his family connections there, had allowed the ammunition to pass without objection. This made it possible to overcome the already catastrophic bottle-