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The Brusilov
Offensive 527
tion to resist. In fact, it was far more promising to start there, where inexperienced units
tended to give up easily and raise their hands in surrender. The Imperial and Royal 4th
Army sent the 10th Cavalry Division, which had been held in reserve, to the critical
section. Artillery ammunition was replenished, while sparing use of the ammunition
was called for. As early as 5 June, Conrad advised the German Plenipotentiary Gen-
eral attached to the Army High Command, Cramon, that German troops would once
more be required. Before a formal request reached Falkenhayn in Mézières, however,
Falkenhayn let Cramon know that in order to fulfil this request the Army Command
would have to draw on the reserves on the Italian front, including Trentino. ‘That is
bitter, but I see no other way.’1235 The deterioration of the situation induced Falkenhayn
to then undertake minor transfers of German troops on the eastern front, but this had
no impact.
On 6 June, the front of the Imperial and Royal 4th Army collapsed. A dent in the
front, 75 kilometres deep and 20 kilometres wide, had emerged. The commander of the
army group, General Linsingen, demanded the dismissal of Archduke Joseph Ferdi-
nand. The Army High Command joined in the call for an immediate dismissal, and on
7 June an archduke was relieved in the middle of a battle, which constituted a novelty.
Instead of Joseph Ferdinand, General of Cavalry Nadas von Tersztyánszky assumed
command of the 4th Army, the same general who had not been allowed to lead the
campaign against Serbia due to his conflict with Tisza and had since been at the ‘dis-
posal of the Supreme Commander’, i.e. doomed to inaction. Whether it was very clever
to appoint a general who was rumoured to be ruthless and who had been removed from
his post due to a dispute with Tisza to command an army of which about about half
were Honvéd troops, can be left open.1236 The blame for the failure of the Imperial and
Royal 4th Army was again apportioned not only to a single commander or staff. It was
later discovered that large parts of the Moravian Infantry Regiment No. 8 had deserted
to the Russians. Thus, it was once more Czechs who were identified as the ones who
had apparently failed and provoked a crisis. This was a circumstance that was noted
above all by the Germans.1237 ‘Unfortunately, our military situation has shifted over
these days as a result of the truly woeful route of the brave fraternal allies on the Stryi
[River], which led to the loss of Lutsk’, noted the Prussian War Minister. ‘Falkenhayn
was furious, and rightly so ! During this grave struggle, however, we cannot allow entire
divisions to abandon their artillery and desert to the enemy. […] Falkenhayn wanted
immediately to telegraph Conrad with the greatest coarseness.’1238 Instead, he decided
on an immediate meeting. Hectic consultations began.
At the time of the change in command of the 4th Army, the Russians attacked once
more near Lutsk. The bridgehead collapsed. To the south, the Russians succeeded in an
ancillary attack that culminated in the battle of Okna 30 kilometres north of Czernivtsi
(Czernowitz), in making a deeper incision against the Imperial and Royal 7th Army of
THE FIRST WORLD WAR
and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918
- Title
- THE FIRST WORLD WAR
- Subtitle
- and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918
- Author
- Manfried Rauchensteiner
- Publisher
- Böhlau Verlag
- Location
- Wien
- Date
- 2014
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-205-79588-9
- Size
- 17.0 x 24.0 cm
- Pages
- 1192
- Categories
- Geschichte Vor 1918
Table of contents
- 1 On the Eve 11
- 2 Two Million Men for the War 49
- 3 Bloody Sundays 81
- 4 Unleashing the War 117
- 5 ‘Thank God, this is the Great War!’ 157
- 6 Adjusting to a Longer War 197
- 7 The End of the Euphoria 239
- 8 The First Winter of the War 283
- 9 Under Surveillance 317
- 10 ‘The King of Italy has declared war on Me’ 355
- 11 The Third Front 383
- 12 Factory War and Domestic Front, 1915 413
- 13 Summer Battle and ‘Autumn Swine’ 441
- 14 War Aims and Central Europe 469
- 15 South Tyrol : The End of an Illusion (I) 497
- 16 Lutsk :The End of an Illusion (II) 521
- 17 How is a War Financed ? 555
- 18 The Nameless 583
- 19 The Death of the Old Emperor 607
- 20 Emperor Karl 641
- 21 The Writing on the Wall 657
- 22 The Consequences of the Russian February Revolution 691
- 23 Summer 1917 713
- 24 Kerensky Offensive and Peace Efforts 743
- 25 The Pyrrhic Victory : The Breakthrough Battle of Flitsch-Tolmein 769
- 26 Camps 803
- 27 Peace Feelers in the Shadow of Brest-Litovsk 845
- 28 The Inner Front 869
- 29 The June Battle in Veneto 895
- 30 An Empire Resigns 927
- 31 The Twilight Empire 955
- 32 The War becomes History 983
- Epilogue 1011
- Afterword 1013
- Acknowledgements and Dedication 1019
- Notes 1023
- Selected Printed Sources and Literature 1115
- Index of People and Places 1155