Page - 406 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

406 The Third Front The Imperial and Royal troops had hardly been able to entrench their positions and had for the most part only built parapets. Since in this phase of the war, steel helmets had not yet been introduced, there were countless severe head wounds. The reason given subsequently, that it had been impossible to dig down into the rocky karst ground, was a mere excuse.961 To a far greater extent, the first defensive success had created a false sense of security and had nourished the belief that the Italians could be kept at bay without making any significant additional effort. The issue of the construction of forti- fications ultimately led to an intense controversy between the 5th Army, the Command of the South-Western Front and the Army High Command, which also criticised that inadequate construction of fortifications, while at the same time studiously neglecting to make one single on-site inspection. The fact that it was possible to dig into the karst rock was tellingly proven a short while later when the III Corps, which had been re- located from the Isonzo front to Tyrol, left its successors with a first-class fortification system of man-height depth. Finally, the dispute turned into a personal conflict between the Chief of the General Staff of the south-western front, Major General Alfred Krauss and the Commander of the 5th Army, Svetozar Boroević.962 The Army Commander even tendered his resig- nation. This reflected a further facet of the disintegration of the officer corps. Boroević, whose leadership of the Imperial and Royal 3rd Army following the dismissal of Bru- dermann had been regarded as exemplary, was treated with direct hostility by many, despite his successes. With the exception of Conrad, hardly anyone felt sympathetic towards him, or could stand to be in his company for any considerable length of time. Some even hated the monosyllabic Croat outright. Schneller, the Italy specialist at the Army High Command, noted for example : ‘Bosco [meaning Boroević] must go. And it is he of all people, this army spoiler, who is being retained !’963 And elsewhere : ‘Con- rad is first requesting reports. I have the impression that it will be difficult to drop the army wrecker Bosco, he most certainly deserves it, if only due to his lack of honesty and insubordination, quite apart from his ruthless leadership in the negative sense.’964 Only one matter was mentioned in a respectful tone : Boroević would not back down.965 He finally merely explained laconically that the losses on the Isonzo were far lower than those suffered by the 3rd Army, which he had led during the Carpathian winter of 1915.966 For his part, Boroević, the stubborn, Orthodox Croat, vehemently criticised General Krauß. The letters written by Boroević to the Army High Command on this subject were apparently highly entertaining, with Boroević calling Krauß a ‘docile poo- dle’ due to his Emperor-style beard and professorial appearance.967 The two men gave free rein to their antipathy. Finally, Archduke Friedrich forced Boroević and Krauss to continue working to- gether and rejected the retirement application of the Commander of the 5th Army. As Friedrich wrote to Eugen : ‘Major General Krauß must avoid unnecessary harshness