Seite - 531 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The Brusilov Offensive 531 orders of his superior. His chief of staff, Brigadier Kletus Pichler, was also dismissed. These were effectively only measures that aimed at making someone responsible for the failure. The defeat of Italy had failed. And in view of the, as it seemed, unstoppable advance of the Russians in the direction of Lviv and Hungary, the discontinuation of the ‘punitive expedition’ appeared not only self-evident but also the only way to avoid a catastrophe. And it was also a perfectly plausible excuse for being forced over large sections to retreat to the initial positions. On the Eastern Front, however, the Army High Command, as Cramon reported to Falkenhayn, abstained from ‘any influence or operational directive’ to the Army Group Linsingen, and Conrad also emphasised to Falkenhayn in conclusion of a telegram ‘that I am aware of the consequences of the failure, which has come about against all likelihood, thus also the self-denial, which is inflicted on me as a result’.1251 Falkenhayn did not honour any gestures of humil- ity, however, no more than he allowed himself to be irritated to any extent out of any mood of defiance. He became increasingly more challenging, did not want to be either advised or contradicted by Conrad, and eventually became so harsh and insulting that Conrad no longer gave him any reply on 20 June. On this day, Count Herberstein, the Adjutant General of the Imperial and Royal Army High Command, was once more summoned to Vienna. In the opinion of the Imperial Military Chancellery, the reports still left a lot to be desired, for which reason Herberstein should once more report directly. He did this and remained for over an hour with the Emperor. Franz Joseph admittedly fell asleep briefly during the audience. Now, however, he was more comprehensively informed and visibly shaken.1252 The same afternoon, Herberstein informed ministers Burián and Krobatin. They also appeared not to have been previously aware of the extent of the Russian offensive. But an end to the catastrophe was not yet in sight. An initial, cautious stocktake of losses among the Imperial and Royal armies affected by the Brusilov Offensive revealed a minus of around 200,000 soldiers, whereby a differentiation had to be made between the 4th Army, whose losses could be mainly attributed to the capture or desertion of tens of thousands, and the 7th Army, which explained the drop in its combat strength to 57 per cent predominantly with tens of thousands of fallen and wounded. But the 7th Army also lost tens of thousands as prisoners of war. Pflanzer’s 7th Army lost Chernivtsi, the capital city of Bukovina, which thus had to be left to the Russians a second time. Con- rad pointed most emphatically to the consequences of a loss of Bukovina, since in that case it could be expected that Romania would enter the war. Telephone dispatches that were intercepted and deciphered by the Army High Command during the two follow- ing days, confirmed this threat. The Italian Foreign Minister Sonnino sent telegrams concerning this matter both to Bucharest and also to Petrograd (as St. Petersburg had been renamed following the outbreak of war).1253 The Imperial and Royal Army High Command decrypted them.