Seite - 177 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

Archduke ‘Fritzl’ Goes to the Front 177 While on the Serbian border, the first skirmishes were already taking place and the preparation of the troops for the start of the offensive was underway, the troops des- tined for the north-eastern front and their commanders were given a ceremonial send- off. At the stations, honorary companies also mustered, the masses thronged towards the platforms, and mayors and notables mounted podiums to hold final speeches and give goodwill messages. Long live the Emperor. ‘Everyone joined in’, noted the Com- mander of the 1st Army, Baron von Dankl. ‘It was an uplifting moment.’420 On Sunday, 2 August, the commanders designated for the Galician theatre of war had met in the War Ministry for the first time : General of Cavalry Baron Viktor von Dankl, Commander of the Imperial and Royal 1st Army ; General of Cavalry Baronet Rudolf von Brudermann, Commander of the Imperial and Royal 3rd Army, and the former War Minister, General of Infantry Baron Moritz Auffenberg, who was now Commander of the Imperial and Royal 4th Army. Only the Commander of the 2nd Army, Böhm-Ermolli, was missing, since he was by that time already in Petrovaradin. However, on 31 July, he had already been told by Conrad what he needed to know. Conrad von Hötzendorf gave notebooks to the commanders of the armies that were to travel north, which contained their instructions. If anything was unclear, they were to address the Operations Division of the Army High Command. They were also warned ‘not to allow themselves to be persuaded’ by anyone who came with suggestions for action or other opinions. Everything had been extensively thought through and was thus ‘commanded by God !’ The headquarters then grouped in Vienna before being relocated to Galicia. When the time came, Baron von Dankl exclaimed that this was a wonderful moment. Liège had already been taken by the Germans, Belgium had been overrun, and now the push towards Paris could be made. It was now also time to make progress in the east.421 The Army High Command arrived at the fortress of Przemyśl. The train carrying the Army Supreme Commander, Archduke Friedrich, the Chief of the General Staff and the divisions of the Army High Command to Przemyśl was not particularly noticeable. It merged with the 7,000 or so carriages that were rolling to the deployment zone every day.422 Przemyśl, Austria-Hungary’s most important fortress, had been selected by Con- rad as it was close to the theatre of war, guaranteed secure accommodation and above all also offered the infrastructure that was of absolute necessity for the leadership tasks of the highest command. As an actual fortress, however, he had neglected it. He had a dislike of the major siege forts in the east, such as Lviv, Przemyśl and Kraków. In 1911, he had not allocated funds for the largest of these, Przemyśl, to be upgraded. It was regarded merely as a storage facility of vast proportions, from which the front should be given backup support and above all, from which personnel and materials should be sent. When work began on making the fortress ready for war, the