Radomir Putnik

Radomir Putnik

Chief of Staff Putnik in his office, August 1914

Radomir Putnik (* 24. January 1847 in Kragujevac , Serbia ; † 17th May 1917 in Nice , France ) was a field marshal in the Kingdom of Serbia during the Balkan wars and the First World War . From 1903 to 1915 he was Chief of Staff of the Serbian Army. He played a considerable part in the creation of a modern Serbian army.

Early years

Radomir Putnik was born on January 24, 1847 in Kragujevac . His father Dimitrije was a teacher by profession. Putnik went to school in his hometown and then attended high school there. In 1861 he entered the Belgrade Military Academy and focused on artillery. In 1866 he became a deputy lieutenant and in 1869 commander of the 4th field battery. As a deputy lieutenant he saw the need to modernize the Serbian armed forces and gave the first instructions in 1868. Although Prince Michael introduced general conscription and a standing army, the Serbian army remained a militia army in many ways . After the Serbian-Ottoman War from 1876 to 1878, Putnik became an adjutant to the chief of staff. He wrote numerous military textbooks and carried out other reforms in the army. Here he often exceeded his competencies, which is why he retired early in 1896 and was discharged from the army. Putnik was supposed to be reactivated in 1903, and in the meantime he went to France , where he passed exams for major. In addition, he wrote textbooks that would later serve for the training of general staff officers.

Chief of Staff

After the so-called May coup in 1903, Radomir Putnik was reactivated and appointed as the new chief of staff. At first he had doubts about the overthrow, as important military officers had also fallen victim to the conspiracy, but finally agreed because of the prospect of his reforms being implemented. From 1904 to 1912 he was Minister of War three times . In the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 and in World War I , he led the Serbian army with Field Marshal General Živojin Mišić .

When the war broke out on July 28, 1914, he was taking a cure in Bad Gleichenberg, Styria . The commander of the Austro-Hungarian IV. Corps General of the Cavalry Carl Tersztyanszky informed the Hungarian Prime Minister Tiza that they intended to arrest Putnik, which should bring some advantages for the Austro-Hungarian Army. Tiza agreed, but wanted to get the opinion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but it didn't arrive in time. Vojvode was locked in the Budapest military casino, and Austria-Hungary had a valuable hostage. But Berchtold's opinion began to change the following day, which was justified by the fact that on July 26th there was no state of war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Of course, the attitude of Emperor Franz Joseph was likely to have been decisive, because he prompted the immediate release of the Serbian Chief of Staff. As if that weren't enough, a letter addressed to War Minister Krobatin in which, among other things, it said: Regardless of who issued the order to stop, “you will immediately have to express my fullest disapproval. I expect all generals in high positions to act independently, quickly, but always tactfully and never carelessly. "

Although suffering from a chronic lung disease, Putnik distinguished himself as responsible for the tactics of the Serbian armed forces in 1914 and 1915, which u. a. produced great successes such as the battle of Cer or the Battle of the Kolubara .

Putnik remained Chief of Staff until the end of 1915. In the following year he fell ill again with emphysema and went to Nice in France for a cure , where he was received with honor by the French government and a villa was made available at state expense. Radomir Putnik died there on May 17, 1917.

Trivia

The family name "Putnik" (traveler, wanderer) was allegedly given to his grandfather when he moved from Kosovo to the Banat .

Radomir Putnik was considered a passionate guitar player. At school he regularly received bad marks in the foreign language German, although he was fluent in the language. The real reason was that he kept asking his teachers questions or correcting them. In Canada , Mount Putnik is named after him.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Manfried Rauchsteiner: The death of the double eagle . 1993, ISBN 3-222-12116-8 . P. 118.

Web links

Commons : Radomir Putnik  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Newspaper article about the arrest: Heiteres von der Woche .. In:  Die Bombe , August 2, 1914, p. 2 (online at ANNO ).
• Biography on firstworldwar.com