Page - 451 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The ‘Black-Yellow’ Offensive 451 by the latter’s sceptical reaction. However, Falkenhayn also acknowledged the fact that Conrad’s plans could have two positive benefits : if the Austro-Hungarian troops were to be successful with their offensive, the Russian fronts could be further weakened to a significant degree. Additionally, the fact that an operational success would of necessity increase Austro-Hungary’s self-confidence also had to be taken into account. Since this would certainly have been welcome in relation to the joint conduct of the war, Falken- hayn was able to accept Conrad’s plans. It was after all probably no secret to the Ger- man command authorities, and in particular to the Chief of the German General Staff, that the tensions and disputes regarding the conduct of the war had for a long time already no longer been based on objective opinions, but had taken on a purely personal aspect. Therefore, if the Imperial and Royal Armies could return to where they had begun in August 1914, confident and full of burning offensive spirit, then it could only be to the benefit of the Germans. The only question that remained unanswered was whether it would be possible to start over from the beginning and disregard what had happened in between. Another uncertainty was whether this was still the same army. After a year of war, Austria-Hungary had registered a total loss of 56,989 officers and NCOs and 2,484,548 men from over 5.6 million soldiers overall.1075 One in eight officers and one in ten men had fallen. Almost 730,000 soldiers had been taken captive or were missing, while 928,000 had suffered injuries of varying degrees of severity. The ‘old army’ had therefore long since ceased to exist, and in the middle of the war, a new army began to emerge. In July 1915, the XIII March Battalions and Squadrons were already being formed. For most regiments, one replacement body was formed every month. Even so, the number of soldiers at the front had tended to decrease rather than increase. On the reference date of 15 August 1915, the Austro-Hungarian armies had a total of 29,113 officers and 806,982 men standing on all fronts, not including those small contingents deployed on the western front or in the Middle East. Then came the Imperial and Royal Navy. However, the approximately 837,000 soldiers at the fronts were fewer in number than those who had been available at the start of the war. In 1915, soldiers were mustered who had been born in 1897. However, this was not enough to cover the replacements needed. On 21 July, Conrad declared that despite the favourable war situation, it must not be forgotten that all this had been obtained at an enormous cost in terms of materials and personnel, and that ‘in particular, the reservoir of person- nel resources is finally beginning to dwindle’.1076 Already with a view to the war year 1916, the re-mustering of troops born in years that had already been mustered once or twice was demanded. Additionally, those who were due to complete their 18th year in 1916 were already to be mustered in December 1915 in order to be able to enlist them as early as January 1916. It was then proposed that the obligatory Landsturm (reserve forces) service age should be reduced to 17, although Hungary objected to this. Even so, preparations were made for the second contingent of the Landsturm to replace the