Adolf von Boog

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adolf von Boog in the rank of major general

Adolf von Boog (born April 27, 1866 in Belluno ; † February 15, 1929 in Vienna ) was a field marshal lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army and from 1918 to 1919 commander-in-chief of the “ People's Army ” of German-Austria , the short-lived predecessor organization of the Federal Army of the First Republic .

Life

Early military career

Boog was one of five sons of ennobled in 1899 kk Police Council Wenzel Boog, and he had two sisters, the Art Nouveau - architect Carlo von Boog was his older brother. Adolf von Boog began his career after graduating from the Austro-Hungarian Technical Military Academy with his retirement as a lieutenant on August 18, 1886. He initially served as an artillery officer in the heavy battery division 4 and was assigned to the general staff after attending the war school . From 1892 to 1907 he worked in various general staff functions - interrupted in 1901/02 and 1907/09 by troop service with the kuk infantry regiments No. 31 in Transylvania and No. 88 in Bohemia . In 1909 he was appointed Chief of Staff of the XV. Corps in Sarajevo and promoted to Colonel of the General Staff on May 1, 1910 . After a brief activity as the commander of Infantry Regiment No. 27 "Belgians" in Graz , he was employed in the presidential office of the War Ministry from 1911 to 1913 . He was then appointed commander of the 8th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Infantry Troop Division in Brno and promoted to major general on August 12, 1914 .

In the first World War

Relocated to the Russian front with his brigade (infantry regiments No. 8 and 49) at the beginning of the war , he took part in the Battle of Komarów in the Zamość area in the framework of the II. Corps (General of the Schemua Infantry ) at the end of August 1914 . After retreating to the San , the 4th Division (FML Stöger-Steiner ) struggled in vain to maintain the bridgehead at Sieniawa . In January 1915, Major General Boog became Chief of Staff of the 3rd Army of General of the Infantry Svetozar Boroević von Bojna , which was in defensive battle in the winter Carpathian Battle.

After Italy entered the war (May 1915) he was entrusted with the command of the 93rd Division on the newly formed Isonzo Front. At the beginning of September 1915 he took over the 25th Infantry Troop Division as part of the 1st Army on the Styr sector on the eastern border of Galicia . During the Brusilov offensive (June / July 1916) in the section of the XVIII. Corps (General Czibulka ) deployed, the front of his division was broken through by the Russians at Saponow and restored by counter-attacks by German troops under General von Eben . On August 14, 1917, Boog was promoted to field marshal lieutenant. From May 1918, he took command of the 4th Infantry Division in the context of the XXVI. Corps (General Horsetzky ) led defensive battles in the area of Monte Grappa and the seven municipalities .

In 1912, Lieutenant Colonel Adolf von Boog suggested the introduction of gas ammunition. In 1916, after poison gas had become widespread as a chemical weapon , Boog claimed authorship in a letter to the Austro-Hungarian Army High Command.

People's Army

Immediately at the end of the war, the new German-Austrian government under State Chancellor Karl Renner ordered the establishment of its own armed force. The German Nationalist Josef Mayer became State Secretary for the Army , while the Social Democratic Undersecretary Julius Deutsch did the actual organizational work. Field Marshal Lieutenant Adolf von Boog, who "still had relations with the political parties in Parliament" (Jedlicka) from his time as President of the War Ministry, was appointed Commander in Chief of the new army. He agreed to the promotion of suitable non-commissioned officers to officers - the “Volkswehr lieutenants ” - demanded by Deutsch . He had always been outraged that the “youngest, insignificant secondary school leaver” was more likely to become an officer than a capable man from the crew . His short-term activity "came to a quick end with a speech in front of the officers 'corps on questions of citizenship ... Due to sharp attacks from the officers' corps, Boog soon withdrew from building up the people's armed forces" (Jedlicka). Only later was it recognized that he had sacrificed himself and his reputation in order, together with Julius Deutsch, to prevent radical forces from seizing power in the People's Army.

However, the main reason for the forced resignation Boog was the planned establishment of seven volunteer corps in addition to the people's militia . These were intended for the planned occupation of German West Hungary , i.e. today's Burgenland . In Boog's guidelines for recruiting these associations, there is the sentence: Do not take Jews and soldiers' councils . The former are a corrosive element, the latter unnecessary when the leaders are in place (Glaubauf, p. 82). These Boog's instructions close with the sentence: A German "Heil" for the success of our good cause. State Secretary Julius Deutsch , himself of Jewish descent, could by no means agree to this for many reasons - such as the anti-Semitic statement it contained , which was also a massive personal insult. He therefore caused Boog to resign as Commander in Chief of the People's Army.

This took place on May 27, 1919. Boog justified him threadbare in his resignation with the poor health of his motherless son after a surgical operation in the hearing area, but avoided factual, professional arguments completely in order not to endanger his pension entitlement.

Austrian military awards (as of December 31, 1918)

Web link

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Austria-Hungary's Last War, Volume I, Vienna 1930, p. 75
  2. ↑ Manfried Rauchsteiner : Die Gaswerfer von Flitsch , in: Die Presse , print edition from October 20, 2007 and online edition from October 19, 2007 , accessed on January 17, 2015

literature

  • Ludwig Jedlicka: An Army in the Shadow of the Parties , Graz-Cologne 1955
  • Peter Broucek: A general in the twilight. The memories of Edmund Glaises v. Horstenau , Vienna-Cologne-Graz 1980, Vol. 1, 263, footnote 444, ISBN 3205087402
  • o. V., 1918–1968, The Armed Forces of the Republic of Austria , catalog for the special exhibition in the Army History Museum, Vienna 1968
  • Karl Glaubauf : The People's Army 1918-20 and the founding of the Republic , Stöhr publishing house, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-901208-08-9 (standard work)
personal data
SURNAME Boog, Adolf von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian field marshal lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army
DATE OF BIRTH April 27, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH Belluno
DATE OF DEATH February 15, 1929
Place of death Vienna