Seite - 545 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

The ‘Joint Supreme War Command’ 545 front came more strongly to the fore as a result of their personality and showed more contours than, for example, General of Artillery Puhallo, or Archduke Joseph Ferdi- nand, but also General Böhm-Ermolli. The commanders on the Isonzo, Boroević, Rohr, Archduke Eugen, but also their chiefs of staff, corps and divisional commanders, had branded themselves more deeply on the memory. It therefore seemed natural to accuse the Army High Command of not having taken sufficient precautionary measures and of not having made enough weapons available. Cities in the Isonzo section of the front, such as, most notably, Gorizia or Trieste, the aim of all Italian offensives, were given symbolic meaning. For this reason, events on the Isonzo were also felt on other fronts. The loss of Gorizia was perceived as a catastrophe, since the Italians had gained scarcely any ground up till then by means of the positional warfare on the Isonzo. Now Trieste appeared to be seriously endangered. The impression in Vienna and with the Army High Command was equally devastat- ing. Gorizia appeared to be far more important than anything on the Russian front, and even more important  – at least for the non-Hungarians  – than Romania’s impending entry into the war. Subsequently, the not yet consolidated north-eastern front had to send two divisions to Italy.1282 This turned out to be too late and at the same time too much, since Boroević had already accomplished a consolidation merely by means of small additions of reserves. Wherever one looked, however, there appeared to be more patchwork required. And now only ‘the Germans’ seemed to be in a position to help. In the Austro-Hungarian Army High Command, but also among very many com- manders and officers at the front, there was considerable sympathy for the Germans. They exuded far more confidence, were generally easy to get on with and had the par- ticular aura that comes with success. The Army High Command compared Kaiser Wil- helm with Archduke Friedrich  – and such a comparison could only ever turn out in favour of the German Monarch. Falkenhayn, Hindenburg, Ludendorff and, especially, Mackensen were also generally much more positively evaluated than the Austro-Hun- garian military leaders. The German political leaders also generally enjoyed more ac- claim than the Austrians. One compared Bethmann Hollweg with Count Stürgkh or Count Istvan Burián and found far more quality among the Germans. Only the Hungarian Prime Minister Count Tisza was rated comparably, and even where he was met with distrust, reserve or rejection, it was clear that he was not counted among the mediocre. The ‘Joint Supreme War Command’ In summer 1916, the Army High Command in Cieszyn began to divide the people up according to whether they were in favour of or against the joint command of the Ger-