Page - 308 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

308 The First Winter of the War storm was raging. The soldiers were told which direction they would go only at the pre- cise moment they departed from the eastern forts. At the same time, an order from the fortress commander was read out to them, which pathetically and falsely stated : ‘My soldiers, […] I lead you out to smash with a steel fist the iron ring of the enemy around our fortress and then to penetrate with irresistible force further and further until we reach our armies, which have forced their way almost through to us in an intense fight. […] forward, forward regardless !’ But what else could Kusmanek have said to them ? The Russians were expecting the divisions when they broke out and after several hours of bloody carnage, during which it was above all the Honvéd (Hungarian stand- ing army) troops, which were deployed in the front, that were decimated, the opera- tion had to be discontinued. Now it was only a question of days before the fortress capitulated. The Army High Command demanded that all war material be destroyed before the surrender. The fortress command decided on 22 March as the day of the capitulation. The fortress could have been held for two more days, but the soldiers were to be given provisions for two days in order to ensure that they survived the first days in captivity. At 5 a.m. on 22 March, the demolition of the artillery began. Half an hour later the mines and the concentrated charges in the works were ignited. At the same time, the soldiers smashed their rifles, broke their sabres, threw their bullets in the San River or trampled them into the dirt. Horses were shot, bridles and saddlery cut up. Then the last radio message was sent and the transmitting mast cut down. An aeroplane conveyed Kusmanek’s final message : ‘Przemyśl was relinquished today at 7 a.m. without negotia- tions with the enemy following the detonation of all buildings and materials.’ Przemyśl fell into the Russians’ lap without them having to make a last attempt to storm it. Around 120,000 men were taken into Russian captivity. There was talk of her- oism in equal measure in Austria-Hungary and in Russia. The Russians had obtained an object of prestige and Austria had one dilemma less to worry about. The original fortress garrison of 130,000 men had in any case been written off already. The press communiqués about the collapse had already been composed days before the 22 March. The claim was circulated that the besieging Russians had lost over time an entire army in front of Przemyśl. Finally the Chief of the Russia Group in the Army High Com- mand formulated another army order, which stated that the Army High Command had been expecting the fall of the fortress for some time and that everything had proceeded in accordance with the large-scale operational planning  – and in fact : now plans could once more be made regardless of the ‘millstone around our neck’. The waging of warfare was repeatedly influenced by political negotiations, which proceeded simultaneously. Italy’s stance gave most cause for anxiety. In order to help Turkey and to intimidate Romania, but at the same time to pull Bulgaria on to the side of the Central Powers, a renewal of the campaign against Serbia would have been nec-