- Viktor Graf von Scheuchenstuel
Viktor Graf von Scheuchenstuel (
May 10 1857 –April 17 ,1938 ) was aColonel General in theAustro-Hungarian Army . He was a general staff officer and division commander untilWorld War I broke out. During World War I he was a Corps and Army commander serving inSerbia ,Albania andItaly . During World War I he was promoted toGraf (equivalent to aCount ) in theAustrian nobility . Following the end of World War I and the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Scheuchenstuel retired from the military. He died inVienna .Before World War I
Scheuchenstuel was born in Witkowitz,
Moravia (now part of theCzech Republic ). In 1874 he attended Pioneer Cadet School in Hainburg citation
last = Stefanovics
first = Glenn
title = Solving Problems Through Force
url = http://www.geocities.com/veldes1/scheuchenstuel.html
accessdate = 2008-06-02] in Austria. He served as aLieutenant andOberleutnant in the Pioneers until 1884 when he attended a military academy in Vienna. Following graduation in 1886 Scheuchenstuel joined the Austro-Hungarian General Staff. In 1903 he commanded the Austro-Hungarian L. Infantry Regiment. Following a promotion toMajor General in 1907 he commanded the LXIX. Infantry Brigade, the VIII. Mountain Brigade and the X. Infantry Division. In 1911 he was promoted to Field Marshal Lieutenant and in 1912 took over the IX. Infantry Division.World War I
erbian Front
In August 1914 Field Marshal Lieutenant Scheuchenstuel commanded the Austrian IX. Infantry Division, which was part of General
Artur Giesl von Gieslingen 's VIII. Corps on the Serbian border. AroundAugust 12 three Austrian Armies, including the VIII. Corps, attacked Serbia in what became known as the First Invasion of Serbia. The Austrians were driven back byAugust 24 , with over 50,000 men lost [http://www.naval-history.net/WW1CampaignsSerbia.htm Naval History.net Serbian Campaign] ] . OnOctober 12 ,1914 Gieslingen was relieved of duty and Scheuchenstuel assumed command of the Austrian VIII. Corps.In mid-November Scheuchenstuel's VIII. Corps joined General Potiorek's V. Army in the invasion of
Mačva in Northern Serbia. Scheuchenstuel advanced through Serbia reachingBelgrade , abandoned by Serbian Marshal Putnik, onDecember 1 . Once Putnik resupplied, he counter-attacked and drove the Austrian army back. ByDecember 16 the VIII. Corps was back across theDanube and out of Belgrade.Throughout most of 1915 Scheuchenstuel was involved in battles along the Serbian front. Finally in October 1915, his VIII. Corps was included in Field Marshal von Macksensen's Army for the Conquest of Serbia. The
Central Powers Army under Mackensen was able to crush the Serbian Army, and by December 1915 the VIII. Corps was part of General Kövesshaza's III. Army on the Albanian Front.Albanian Front
On
January 25 ,1916 the Austro-Hungarian Army attacked Montenegro which quickly surrendered. The army then moved down into the Italian controlled Albania, which fell to the Austrians by the end of winter. The Serbian Army made a fighting retreat over the Albanian coastal mountains. Once they reached the coast, the Italian and French Navies evacuated the Serbian Army. ByFebruary 26 ,1916 nearly all of Albania was under Austrian control.Italian Front
On
May 23 ,1915 Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, however the Italian front quickly became a stalemate as theBattles of the Isonzo led to heavy casualities on both sides without any major territorial gains [http://www.naval-history.net/WW1CampaignsItaly.htm Naval History.net Italian Campaign] ] . In an attempt to break the stalemate, onMay 15 ,1916 "Army Group Archduke Eugen" under the command of theArchduke Eugen of Austria attacked into theTrentino area in Italy. Scheuchenstuel's VIII. Korps was included as part of the XI. Army which formed half of the Army Group. Initally the attacks, which became known as theBattle of Asiago , were successful. The Austrian army is able to open a 5 mile wide and 12 mile deep gap in the Italian lines. However, byJune 10 , 1916 the attack had stalled. Following the effective RussianBrusilov Offensive the Austrian attack stops completely, and the VIII. Korps is transferred east.Following brutal fighting against the Russians, the entire VIII. Korps is disbanded. Scheuchenstuel was dismissed from the army following "disputes with Army High Command" in July. However he was reinstated by the
Kaiser and given command of I. Korps inRomania in September.Romanian Front
Scheuchenstuel's new I. Korps were part of
Hermann Kövess von Kövessháza 's VII. Army in northern Romania. The VII. Army in the north was not directly involved in Falkenhayn's counterattack and sweep through southern Romania, but was certainly involved in fighting in theCarpathian Mountains . By January 1917, most of the fighting appeared to be over. OnFebruary 28 ,1917 Scheuchenstuel was made a noble and given the rank ofGraf . In addition to his rank, he was given command of the XI. Army on the Italian Front.Return to the Italian Front
By spring 1917 Scheuchenstuel was in command of the Austro-Hungarian XI. Army on the Italian Front. He was under the command of
Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf , commander of the entire Front. He took part in theBattle of Caporetto in November 1917, one of the largestCentral Powers victories in Italy. Following the victory at Caporetto, Scheuchenstuel was promoted to Colonel General on November 16, 1917.In the spring of 1918 he directed a diversionary attack into the
Tonale Pass , which was beaten back by the Italians. During the summer of 1918, food supplies ran short prompting Scheuchenstuel to write to Count Franz Conrad insisting that more food was needed [Quoted in Stefanovics, "Because of the inferior quality of meat, th small fat ration of six grams and the lack of vegetables which can only be substituted by flour, the present measure of 500 grams is already the minimum which a man should get under existing fighting and climatic conditions in order just to survive... Any reduction of the bread ration seems to me very risky because bread is the most indispensable foodstuff and our men cannot be fully compensated with meat."] . Conrad blamed the suppliers and Army Headquarters ordered an increase in the meat ration. However, the supplies didn't exist and this order was not fulfilled.The unsuccessful
Battle of the Piave River in July 1918 resulted in Scheuchenstuel's troops being unable to advance. Due to dissatisfaction of his troops he was forced to retreat from Trentino after theBattle of Vittorio Veneto , which ended World War I on the Italian Front. Following the war, Scheuchenstuel retired in 1918. He died in Vienna on 17 April 1938.References
* http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/index.htm
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