Paul Puhallo from Brlog

FZM Paul Puhallo von Brlog 1914, photographer: Carl Pietzner

Paul Puhallo , from 1908 Puhallo von Brlog , from 1917 Baron Puhallo von Brlog (born February 21, 1856 in Brlog , Croatia ; † October 12, 1926 in Vienna ) was an Austro-Hungarian Privy Councilor , commander of the Austro-Hungarian War School , officer of Croatian origin (most recently in Rank of colonel general ) of the Austro-Hungarian army with Hungarian noble title .

biography

Education and career before the war

The family came from near the old military frontier , so Puhalo was in a sense intended for service in the army from birth.

The son of the kk officer Michael Puhalo (1818–1913) entered the military technical school in Mährisch Weißkirchen in 1870 after attending military educational institutions in Hungarian-Weißkirchen , Kamenitz and Güns , where he served until 1873. After successfully completing the Technical Military Academy in Vienna, he was promoted to lieutenant in Field Artillery Regiment No. 11 on September 1, 1877. Between 1880 and 1882 he attended the advanced artillery course in Vienna, which he completed with excellent results. On November 1, 1882 he was promoted to first lieutenant and attached to the General Staff Corps. The promotion to captain 1st class took place on November 1, 1886, while he was serving as a tactics teacher at the Technical Military Academy. On September 18, 1892, Puhallo was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the 3rd Infantry Division in Linz, where he was promoted to Major on May 1, 1893. On November 1, 1895 he became a lieutenant colonel in the General Staff Corps. In April 1896 he was transferred to Infantry Regiment No. 55 in Tarnopol . During these years he received excellent reviews, especially his great talent as a trainer was repeatedly highlighted. As a result, he was transferred to the war school on September 11, 1898 and promoted to colonel on November 1 of the same year . In the meantime he had married Anna Hörzinger in 1897, with whom he had a daughter.

In 1902 Puhallo was transferred to the operations office of the General Staff, of which he became chief on April 23, 1903. In 1905 he was appointed commander of the 50th Infantry Brigade in Vienna and promoted to major general on May 1st . On October 20, 1906, he was appointed commander of the kuk war school. Under his direction, this important facility was modernized in many areas in order to achieve higher quality training. On May 1, 1909, he was appointed field marshal lieutenant . In September 1910 he took over command of the 46th Landwehr Infantry Division in Krakow , and in October 1912 of the V Corps in Pressburg as the successor to General of the Infantry Arthur Heinrich Sprecher von Bernegg . The last promotion before the First World War was on November 1, 1913, when he was promoted to Feldzeugmeister .

First World War

At the beginning of the war, Puhallo's V Corps was part of the 1st Army, which was deployed in northern Galicia under General of the Cavalry Dankl . His troops were involved in the victorious Battle of Kraśnik from August 23, 1914 , but had to withdraw from the southern apron of Lublin behind the San by mid-September before Russian counter-attacks began . As a result of the following attack operation north of the Vistula , his troops were moved to Russian Poland , after the battle of Ivangorod he was forced to retreat again at the end of October 1914. After the heavy fighting on the Nida , his troops were relocated to the Carpathians for Christmas . As part of the 3rd Army , his V Corps took part in the unsuccessful battles for the liberation of the Przemyśl fortress . In May 1915 his troops reached Sambor , whereupon Puhallo took over command of the 3rd Army on May 22nd. Together with the German 11th Army , he was finally able to recapture the Przemysl fortress, which had been captured by the Russians, in early June. As a result of a restructuring, Puhallo Viktor Dankl followed on June 10, 1915 as Commander-in-Chief of the 1st Army, while the 3rd Army was disbanded. With the 1st Army, Puhallo took the bridgeheads at Sandomierz and Tarlo-Josefow. After the transfer of his army to the Bug, Puhallo was placed under the German Colonel General von Mackensen . However, after the liberation of Lviv and the conquest of Dubno, the front froze. On May 1, 1916 he became the (rank of 13 May 1916) Colonel General transported. After the start of the Brusilov offensive , his troops had to join the general retreat. Another reorganization of the army led to the dissolution of his 1st Army, whereupon Puhallo lost his command and was available from July 25, 1916 onwards. Since the high command was dissatisfied with his performance, he was no longer considered as commander of an army. Nonetheless, the Colonel General was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold with KD and swords on April 7, 1917, followed by the elevation to the Hungarian baron on April 27 of the same year. He retired on December 1, 1918.

After his retirement he became a citizen of the new SHS state . However, as he was a loyal general of the Habsburg Empire and only received a small pension from the state, he had to live in rather poor circumstances. For this reason he moved back to Vienna, where he lived on donations from former comrades until his death on October 12, 1926 as a result of a serious operation. His body was transferred to Linz , where former officer colleagues arranged for a dignified burial.

Awards

• Austrian Military Merit Cross on April 16, 1896
• Order of the Iron Crown III. Class on October 12, 1902
• Knight's Cross of the Leopold Order on April 27, 1905
• Commander 1st class of the Albrecht Order in 1906
• Grand Cross of the Spanish Order of Military Merit in 1906
• Commander first class of the Order of Frederick in 1907
• Order of the Iron Crown 2nd class on August 2, 1910
• Appointed to the Privy Council on November 30, 1913
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Iron Crown with the war decoration on October 5, 1914
• Iron Cross 2nd class in 1914, with swords 1917 (after introduction)
• Iron Cross 1st Class in June 1915
• Cross of honor 1st class of the badge of honor for services to the Red Cross with the war decoration in June 1915, with swords 1917 (after introduction)
• Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold with swords and with the war decorations on April 7, 1917

literature

• R. Egger:  Puhallo by Brlog Paul. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 8, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1983, ISBN 3-7001-0187-2 , p. 328.

Web links

Commons : Paul Puhallo from Brlog  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• English website The Austro-Hungarian Army
• The Austro-Hungarian Army from 1914 to 1918
• Entry on Austrian Commanders

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hungarian ennoblement by the father Michael Puhalo de Brlog.
2. ↑ Hungarian ennoblement as Báró Puhallo de Brlog. The title Freiherr appears in German-language documents.
3. ↑ nobilitashungariae: List of Historical Surnames of the Hungarian nobility. Retrieved September 1, 2015 .  >
4. ↑ Manfried Rauchsteiner: The death of the double eagle . Special edition. Verlag Styria, Graz, Vienna, Cologne 1997. ISBN 3-222-12454-X , pp. 213f.
5. ↑ Manfried Rauchsteiner: The death of the double eagle . Special edition. Verlag Styria, Graz, Vienna, Cologne 1997. ISBN 3-222-12454-X , p. 357.
6. ^ The kk or kuk generals 1816–1918. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 4, 2013 ; accessed on September 1, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ^ Kuk generals & general staff. Retrieved September 1, 2015 . 
8. ↑ All sorts of things. Austria. Colonel General Puhallo †. Badener Zeitung, October 16, 1926, p. 5