Karl Kuk

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Karl Kuk (* 1. December 1853 in Trieste ; † 26. November 1935 in Vienna ) was an Austrian general and in the First World War, military governor of the General Government Lublin .

Feldzeugmeister Karl Kuk (1915, Oskar Brüch )

Life

Kuk graduated from the genius department of the Military Academy in Vienna from 1872 to 1876 and then held officer ranks in numerous genius departments of the Austro-Hungarian army . In 1878 he was involved in military road and bridge construction in Bosnia as part of the occupation campaign. After commanding the fortresses of Peterwardein and Komorn , he was fortress commander of Kraków from 1912 to 1916 . He was able to successfully defend this important fortress in November and December 1914 against the Russian attack in the context of the Battle of Cracow and Limanowa . For this he was appointed Feldzeugmeister in February 1915 .

On May 1, 1916, Kuk was appointed military governor of the Lublin General Government , the Austrian occupied territory of conquered Russian Poland . From Lublin he set up a military administration for the area and, with his Prussian counterpart Hans von Beseler , proclaimed the reign of Poland on behalf of the monarchs of Germany and Austria . He was also involved in the establishment of the Provisional Polish Council of State.

On April 23, 1917, he was removed from his post because it had not been possible to recruit a significant number of Polish soldiers for the Central Powers in the occupied territory. In addition, the Poland Club had called for a military governor of Polish nationality in the Vienna Imperial Council . There were also constant tensions with the German military government.

Retired after the war, he wrote military science publications. Kuk is buried in a grave of honor in the Hietzinger Friedhof (group 49, number 233).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Rainer Egger:  Kuk, Karl. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 4, Publishing House of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1969, p. 337 f. (Direct links on p. 337 , p. 338 ).
  2. ↑ Tabular service files on weltkriege.at
  3. ^ Rainer Egger:  Kuk, Karl. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 13, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-428-00194-X , p. 271 f. ( Digitized version ).
  4. ↑ Graves of honor at Hietzing Cemetery
personal data
SURNAME Kuk, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian general and military governor in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH December 1, 1853
PLACE OF BIRTH Trieste
DATE OF DEATH November 26, 1935
Place of death Vienna