Seite - 167 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918
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Deployment in Echelons and
Packets 167
order. This measure was no doubt highly sensible and public-spirited, but at the same
time, it did cost 24 hours, and in some cases led to confusion, since the reservists already
wanted to enlist and crowded into the barracks, but since they found that no accommo-
dation had yet been prepared, they were forced to camp outside. The infantry was then
ready to march relatively quickly. The cavalry had to be ready within five days and the
artillery within seven days. This meant that – taking into account the times for railway
transport – the large army units would only be ready for operation between the 15th
and 18th day of mobilisation. Naturally, all this was no surprise, but could be read in
every deployment plan, and anyone familiar with the manual would have known about
such factors as the alarm period or the free day. At that time, no criticism at all was
made of the fact that the Imperial and Royal armies needed so long to become ready for
operation, since in comparison, they were still faster than their enemies. It is only to our
eyes that the periods described appear to be long
– too long. It was also certainly not in
Conrad’s power, or that of anyone else in the military hierarchy, to initiate mobilisation
earlier. Shortening the alarm period would however have been just as possible as a more
rapid completion of the railway deployment.
Initially, nothing further happened following mobilisation of the Balkan Minimal
Group and the B Echelon, since the A Echelon was not yet to be mobilised. However, it
was impressed upon the Commander of the Imperial and Royal 2nd Army that formed
the B Echelon, General Böhm-Ermolli, that he would immediately have to relocate his
army from the Balkans to Galicia in the event of war against Russia. Böhm-Ermolli
was already summoned to Vienna on the night of 26 July, where he was not only to
take command of the army, but together with his corps commanders – Tersztyánszky
(IV Corps), Hugo Meixner (VII Corps), von Hortstein (IX Corps) and Colerus (III
Corps) – was also explained the fundamental operational principle that formed the
basis of the campaign against Serbia.387
On 30 July, the news came ever thicker and faster that Russia had begun to mobilise.
On hearing this, Conrad von Hötzendorf presented an application to Emperor Franz
Josef for the general mobilisation of all parts of the Imperial and Royal Army. However,
it was again necessary to sit and wait. A further wait was in fact unavoidable, since
now, the railway office suddenly needed 24 hours in order to be able to process all the
activities arising from a general mobilisation and the redirection of the B Echelon. On
the following day, it was announced that the first alarm day for the forces intended
for deployment against Russia could not be called until 2 August, with the first day
of actual mobilisation not before 4 August.388 What was one to think of the assurance
that had earlier been repeatedly given, that at least until the 5th day of mobilisation the
redirection of the B Echelon would cause no problems ?
In the German Empire, however, full mobilisation was not only initiated on 31
July, but demands were also made of Austria-Hungary to do the same. This was also
THE FIRST WORLD WAR
and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918
- Titel
- THE FIRST WORLD WAR
- Untertitel
- and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918
- Autor
- Manfried Rauchensteiner
- Verlag
- Böhlau Verlag
- Ort
- Wien
- Datum
- 2014
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-205-79588-9
- Abmessungen
- 17.0 x 24.0 cm
- Seiten
- 1192
- Kategorien
- Geschichte Vor 1918
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- 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