Constantin Cristescu

Constantin Cristescu

Constantin Cristescu (born December 2, 1866 in Păduresţi am Argeş , † May 9, 1923 in Bucharest ) was a Romanian general . During the First World War, he alternated between army commander and chief of staff .

Life

Cristescu attended the École polytechnique in France around 1890 , then the Artillery School of Fontainebleau and until 1894 the higher war school in Paris. Cristescu was director of the Higher War School in Bucharest from 1910 to 1912.

As the successor to General Averescu, he took over the position of Chief of Staff of the Romanian Army for the first time on December 2, 1913 . In this function he had an influence on the operations of the Serbs in the Second Balkan War and, together with his successor General Vasile Zottu, when Romania entered the First World War. After the failure of the large-scale invasion of Transylvania , he lost support. In September 1916 he acted briefly as chief of staff of the defeated Romanian 3rd Army and, after its dissolution, in the same position with the 2nd Army and Army Group Averescu. In late November 1916, he succeeded by Constantin Prezan commander of the eastern Carpathians standing 4 (North) -Armee been appointed.

In June 1917 he was appointed commander of the Romanian 1st Army . At the request of the Russians, he took command of the Dniester during the summer battles of 1917 . On August 6, 1917, an unsuccessful counterattack by the Central Powers began in the Battle of Mărăşeşti . The opposite Romanian 1st Army held their positions until August 30th, only then could the Gerok army group break into the Romanian front about 2–6 km deep. In several days of swaying battles with the German I. Reserve Corps (Group Morgen ) a Romanian defensive success became apparent. The newly appointed army leader Major General Jeremia Grigorescu , previous leader of the Romanian VI. Corps, supported the Russian troops on the western bank of the river.

After Romania had to enter into a provisional peace treaty with the Central Powers in Buftea on March 5, 1918 , Cristescu was reinstated as Chief of the General Staff on April 1. When, at the end of the world war, Prime Minister Marghiloman, who stood up for neutrality, was forced to resign, Cristescu had to vacate his position in the high command again. On April 1, 1920 he filled the position again and died while in office in May 1923.

Web links

Commons : Constantin Christescu  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

1. ^ Romanian Cultural Foundation, 2000: Romanian Civilization , Volume 8, Issue 3, p. 31. ( limited preview on Google Book Search ).