Heinrich von Pitreich

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Heinrich von Pitreich, photograph by Anton Huber (around 1905)

Heinrich Freiherr von Pitreich (born November 10, 1841 in Laibach ; † January 13, 1920 in Vienna ) was a general in the joint Austro-Hungarian army and Reich Minister of War of Austria-Hungary . He reformed the army by introducing machine guns and promoting the conversion to a more modern artillery park . During his tenure there was serious unrest caused by an order from Emperor Franz Josef to unify the armed forces. His attitude towards concessions to the Hungarians , such as B. Hungarian as the language before a military court, he came into conflict with the designated heir to the throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand . This led to his dismissal and the appointment of Conrad von Hötzendorf as the new chief of the general staff of the joint army.

Life

family

Heinrich von Pitreich's great-grandfather was Dr. jur. Michael Edler von Pitreich (1710–75, ennobled 1765), farmer of Carinthia, court and Schrannenavokat in Graz, Salzburg and Seckau, consistorial councilor and from 1769 dean of the University of Graz . The grandfather, Josef (1751–1809, appointed knight in 1791), was a farmer of Styria and councilor of the Supreme Court of Justice. His father, Vinzenz Ritter von Pitreich (1798–1869), was both imperial and royal court advisor to the Supreme Court and a member of the Carinthian state parliament . His mother was Marie b. Steiner, noble von Steinberg (1814–84). His brothers Anton and August also held high positions at the Military Court and Higher Regional Court, and his sons Hugo and Maximilian were also high-ranking officers.

Military career

Heinrich von Pitreich was retired in 1859 as a lieutenant at the Genieakademie in Klosterbruck near Znaim . From 1866 he was employed as a general staff officer in the general staff and in the defensive repairs to the fortresses in Cracow and Lemberg . In 1871 he was promoted to captain in the general staff, in 1876 assigned to the operations office of the general staff (1878 major , 1882 lieutenant colonel ). In 1883 Pitreich took over the management of the 5th General Staff Department in the Austro-Hungarian War Ministry . In 1885 he was promoted to colonel and in 1890 to head of the Presidential Office in the War Ministry and in 1891 to major general .

Then Heinrich von Pitreich returned to the troops, became commander of the 24th troop division in Przemyśl and, in 1895, a field marshal lieutenant . From 1896 he acted as deputy to the chief of staff Feldzeugmeister Freiherr Friedrich von Beck-Rzikowsky (* 1830, † 1920). During this time, the preliminary military talks about the Triple Alliance between the German Empire , Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy took place . His tasks included a. the planning of maneuvers for the mounted armies and the exercise regulations for the infantry.

On December 19, 1902, he was appointed Reich Minister of War; in this office he succeeded Baron Edmund von Krieghammer . In 1903 he applied for new drill regulations, which were approved by the Emperor, and ordered officers to know the respective national languages. Pitreich introduced machine guns to the Austro-Hungarian army and forced the conversion to a modern artillery park. In 1903 he became the Colonel of Infantry Regiment No. 63.

During his term of office there was a serious crisis with Hungary, which had been working towards the division of the common army since the compromise in 1867. After renewed advances in this regard, the monarch reacted on September 16, 1903 with the army order from the maneuvering place Chlopy in Galicia , in which, to the displeasure of Magyar exponents, he reaffirmed the common and unified army. (The general staff had already worked out plans for a troop deployment against Budapest ).

Pitreich reaffirmed the German language of command in the interests of his monarch, but advocated concession towards Hungary in other areas, such as B. better opportunities for advancement for Hungarian citizens; nor would he have objected to the use of the Hungarian language in military courts. With this he came into contradiction to Archduke heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand, who refused any concession towards the Magyars, and had to resign on October 23, 1906; In the same autumn, the heir to the throne succeeded in dismantling Chief of Staff Beck.

As a pensioner, Pitreich defended his intentions in memoranda and wrote articles on military issues in the Neue Freie Presse . Heinrich Freiherr von Pitreich died on January 13, 1920 in Vienna.

Awards

Works

  • The unity of the Austro-Hungarian army: military-political consideration of an old soldier. Translated from the Hungarian, CW Stern, Vienna 1905
  • My relations with the Hungarian army demands. Associated with the consideration of the international situation at that time, Braumüller, Vienna 1911
  • Response to the greeting from Professor Dr. Hermann Oncken on the commemoration of the Battle of Leipzig. ("Neue Freie Presse" of October 17, 1913) , Seidel, Vienna 1913

The kuk (Hungarian) infantry regiment Freiherr von Pitreich No. 63

kuk infantry drum (Hungarian adjustment)

In February 1860 the new Infantry Regiment No. 63 was set up in Innsbruck. For this purpose, the 3rd and the 2nd and 3rd Battalions from regiment No. 41 were detached from regiment No. 41 and merged into the new regiment. The focus of recruitment for the 63ers was Transylvania , at that time part of southern Hungary , now part of northern Romania . When the First World War broke out in 1914, 73% of the soldiers were ethnic Romanians, the remainder Transylvanian Saxons . During the First World War, the regiment fought first in Serbia under the command of the 2nd Austro-Hungarian Army, with the 1st Battalion subordinate to the 6th Army, which, according to the plan, should defeat Serbia quickly with the troops of the 2nd Army of Austria-Hungary. After the relocation of the army, the regiment was deployed on the front against the Russian tsarist army in Galicia from the end of August 1914, when the focus of operations was shifted to the north . During this time the regiment took part in the retreat to the Carpathian Mountains and Silesia and in the subsequent counter-offensive in 1915. When the Russian Brusilov offensive began in 1916 , most of the Austrian and German troops had to record incursions to the west Regiment could but with the XII. Army Corps hold its position. It was later moved to South Tyrol, where it arrived just in time for participation in the tenth Isonzo battle. After the end of the 11th and Isonzo battles and the end of the Piave battles in June 1918, the regiment of the reserve of the Austro-Hungarian Isonzo Army under Colonel General von Wurms was subordinated.

From March 1903 until the dissolution of the regiment in November 1918, Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich Freiherr von Pitreich was the owner of the colonel.

Regiment data
  • Established: 1860
  • Subordinated to: 35th Infantry Division - XII. Army Corps -
  • Nationalities: 73% Romanians - 27% other
  • Complementary district: Bistritz
  • Garrison: Staff, II., III., IV. Battalion: Bistritz - 1st Battalion: Mostar
  • Hungarian uniform - leveling color: orange-yellow - buttons: silver

literature

Web links

Commons : Heinrich von Pitreich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Gatti: History of the KK Ingenieur- und KK Genie-Akademie, 1717-1869. Vienna 1901.
  2. ^ Adam Wandruszka (editor): The Habsburg Monarchy 1848-1918 / The armed power. Volume V, Vienna, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1987, p. 622.
  3. ↑ Peter Urbanitsch / Helmut Rumpler (editor): The Habsburg Monarchy 1848-1918 / Constitution and parliamentarism: Constitutional law, constitutional reality, central representative bodies. Volume VII, PART 1, Vienna, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2000, p. 527.
  4. ^ Adam Wandruszka (editor): The Habsburg Monarchy 1848-1918 / The armed power. Volume V, Vienna, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1987, p. 553.
  5. ↑ Peter Urbanitsch / Helmut Rumpler (editor): The Habsburg Monarchy 1848-1918 / Constitution and parliamentarism: Constitutional law, constitutional reality, central representative bodies. Volume VII, PART 1, Vienna, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2000, p. 1174.
  6. ↑ Heinrich Freiherr von Pitreich: My relations with the army demands of Hungary joined dermaliger with the consideration of international situation. Vienna 1911, p. 11. In: Gunther Erich Rothenberg: The Army of Francis Joseph. Purdue University Press 1998, ISBN 9781557531452 .
personal data
SURNAME Pitreich, Heinrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pitreich, Heinrich Freiherr von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian officer, most recently General of the Austro-Hungarian Army
DATE OF BIRTH November 10, 1841
PLACE OF BIRTH Laibach
DATE OF DEATH January 13, 1920
Place of death Vienna