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532 Lutsk : The End of an Illusion (II)
It was once more necessity that forced Conrad to resume official communication with
his German counterpart. He travelled to Berlin in order to discuss the necessary opera-
tions. He had a repetition of the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive in mind, though in another
region, and he was not sufficiently aware that such reruns can never be accomplished.
However, the idea to carry out a large, joint offensive in the southern section of the
front, where the South Army under the German General Bothmer stood, though with
predominantly Austro-Hungarian troops, as well as the Imperial and Royal 7th Army,
gradually took shape. Falkenhayn even made a rather surprising suggestion, which ap-
parently took consideration of the alliance partner : the new army group should be
placed under the command of the heir to the Austrian throne, whilst Seeckt should be
added as chief of staff and should lead the operations. The proposal was magnificently
conceived. Conrad could hardly reject the option, since he would otherwise have had
to accept a German army group commander. Conrad’s weak references to General
Böhm-Ermolli constituted merely a minor quibble.
Fetching the heir to the throne back from South Tyrol and his further military
revaluation understandably caused a stir in the Army High Command, since it was
unthinkable – in contrast to the case of Archduke Joseph Ferdinand – to criticise the
leadership of the army group or to demand the dismissal of the heir to the throne. The
heir to the throne would also be placed a little under German trusteeship, however.
The Army High Command could see no way out. For the Germans, however, the sit-
uation was clear : if Archduke Karl were to receive such a senior command, it could be
assumed that the Emperor, the Military Chancellery and nolens volens also the Army
High Command would give the heir to the throne those forces that would guarantee
him success. Thus, everything spoke in favour of the Army Group Commander Arch-
duke Karl Franz Josef.
Ultimately, there was no way out for Conrad. On 30 June, when he was ordered to
attend an audience at the Schönbrunn Palace, he characterised the appointment of the
heir to the throne as ‘a worrying affair’.1254 Something was muttered about ‘Solferino’
and remonstrations were made against a premature wearing out of the heir to the
throne, but the Emperor was understandably agitated by events and very aware that
the Germans were building him a type of golden bridge. Conrad attempted during
his almost two-hour audience to obtain legitimacy for his arguments. Immediately
afterwards
– which was unique during the course of the war
– the Chief of the Military
Chancellery Bolfras, War Minister Krobatin, Foreign Minister Burián, and Prime Min-
isters Tisza and Stürgkh were brought in and the discussion continued for a further two
hours. Then the decision was made : Emperor Franz Joseph agreed to the appointment
of the heir to the throne as army commander. Karl himself travelled to Vienna on 2
July and was informed about the results of the consultations. If he raised any objections,
they were swept under the carpet. The Archduke was very aware, however, that the last
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