Buttar - Germany ascendant: the Eastern Front 1915

DEDICATION

To Amit, a tireless if sometimes baffled helper.

First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Osprey Publishing,

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2015 Prit Buttar

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ISBN: 978-1-4728-1937-6 (PB)

ISBN: 978-1-4728-1354-1 (ePDF)

ISBN: 978-1-4728-1355-8 (eBook)

Front cover: German soldiers with machine guns are pictured here in their lines at Johannisburg in the winter of 1914 (Topfoto)

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Contents

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

Arz, Arthur commander of VI Corps

Berchtold, Leopold von foreign minister

Bhm-Ermolli, Eduard Freiherr von commander of Third Army

Boroevi, Svetozar commander of Third Army, replaced by Puhallo, later commander of Fifth Army

Burin von Rajecz, Stephan foreign minister

Conrad von Htzendorf, Franz Xaver Josef chief of general staff

Dankl, Viktor commander of First Army, replaced by Kirchbach, commander of k.u.k. forces in Tyrol May 1915

Frederick, Archduke commander-in-chief k.u.k. Army

Joseph Ferdinand, Archduke commander of Fourth Army

Kirchbach, Karl Freiherr von commander of I Corps, briefly commander of First Army, May 1915

Kvesz, Hermann von commander of Third Army September 1915

Krautwald, Josef commander of X Corps April 1915, replaced by Martiny

Kitek, Karl commander of XVII Corps

Kusmanek, Hermann von garrison commander, Przemyl

Martiny, Hugo commander of X Corps May 1915

Meixner, Hugo commander of X Corps, replaced by Krautwald

Pflanzer-Baltin, Karl von commander of eponymous army group, later upgraded to Seventh Army

Puhallo, Paul commander of Third Army May 1915, then commander of First Army

Roth, Josef commander of XIV Corps

Tersztynszky, Karl commander of eponymous army group, later Third Army, replaced by Kvesz

Trollmann, Ignaz commander of XIX Corps

BULGARIA

Boyadzhiev, Kliment commander of First Army

Ferdinand tsar of Bulgaria

Radoslavov, Vasil prime minister

Todorov, Georgi commander of Second Army

GERMANY

Below, Otto von commander of Eighth Army, later commander of Army of the Niemen

Behr, Karl von commander 119th Infantry Division, commander of eponymous corps June 1915

Beseler, Hans von commander of siege artillery, Novogeorgievsk

Bethmann-Hollweg, Theobald von German chancellor

Bothmer, Felix Graf von commander of eponymous corps, later commander of South Army

Cramon, August von liaison officer at AOK

Eichhorn, Hermann von commander of Tenth Army

Emmich, Otto von commander of X Corps

Fabarius, Friedrich commander of 82nd Reserve Infantry Division

Falk, Adalbert von commander of 2nd Infantry Division

Falkenhayn, Erich von chief of the general staff

Falkenhayn, Eugen von commander of XXII Reserve Corps

Gallwitz, Max von commander of Twelfth Army, later commander of Eleventh Army in Serbia

Haeften, Hans von adjutant to Moltke the Younger and press officer at Ober Ost

Hell, Emil chief of staff, Tenth Army

Hindenburg, Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von commander of Ober Ost

Hoffmann, Max staff officer at Ober Ost

Kosch, Robert commander of X Reserve Corps

Lauenstein, Otto von commander of XXXIX Reserve Corps, commander of

eponymous army group April 1915

Leopold, Prince of Bavaria commander of Ninth Army April 1915

Linsingen, Alexander von commander of South Army, replaced by Bothmer, later commander of Army of the Bug

Litzmann, Karl commander of XL Reserve Corps

Ludendorff, Erich chief of staff, Ober Ost

Mackensen, August von commander of Ninth Army, replaced by Prince Leopold; commander of Eleventh Army April 1915

Marwitz, Georg von der commander of XXXVIII Reserve Corps, commander of Beskidenkorps March 1915

Morgen, Curt von commander of I Reserve Corps

Plettenberg, Karl von commander of Guards Corps

Scholtz, Friedrich (Fritz) von commander of XX Corps, later also commander of Eighth Army

Seeckt, Hans von chief of staff, Eleventh Army

Woyrsch, Remus von commander of eponymous army

Ziethen, Alfred artillery commander, Eleventh Army

RUSSIA

Alexeyev, Mikhail Vasiliyevich chief of staff, Southwest Front, later commander of Northwest Front

Balanin, Dmitri Vasiliyevich commander of XXVII Corps

Bezobrazov, Vladimir Miklailovich commander of Guards Corps, replaced by Olukhov

Bonch-Bruyevich, Mikhail Dmitriyevich commander of 176th Infantry Regiment, 44th Infantry Division