Svetozar Boroević from Bojna

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Svetozar Boroević [ Boroˈɛwitsch ], from 1905 Boroević von Bojna (born December 13, 1856 in Umetić near Castanowitz in the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia , Austrian Empire ; † May 23, 1920 in Klagenfurt , Republic of Austria ) was an Austro-Hungarian field marshal in World War I. .

Along with Field Marshal Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, Boroević was one of the most important, but also controversial, Austrian-Hungarian military leaders in World War I. His name is mainly associated with the twelve battles of the Isonzo and the Battle of the Piave .

Field Marshal Svetozar Boroević von Bojna in 1918

Life

Svetozar Boroević von Bojna as a field marshal lieutenant

Svetozar Boroević was born in 1856 on the territory of the Croatian military border as a member of a Croatian - Serbian , Christian-Orthodox family. He followed in the footsteps of his father Adam, who served as a sergeant , and, like himself, decided to pursue a military career. He attended the military higher education center in Peterwardein and then the infantry cadet school in Liebenau near Graz , which he graduated on November 1, 1874 with the rank of cadet .

His homeland, the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia , was one of the countries of the Hungarian crown from the settlement between Austria and Hungary in 1867 .

On May 1, 1875, he was assigned as a lieutenant to the 52nd Hungarian Infantry Regiment in Graz. He took part with his regiment in the occupation campaign in Bosnia in 1878 and was actively involved in the capture of Sarajevo . For his initiative in the conquest of Sarajevo, he was awarded the Military Merit Cross on October 20, 1878 .

After he was promoted to first lieutenant on May 1, 1880 , he attended the Austro-Hungarian War School in Vienna and was then assigned to the 63rd Infantry Brigade as an officer of the General Staff . 1887-1891 he was a trainer at the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt . On May 1, 1892 he was promoted to major and on May 1, 1895 to lieutenant colonel. On April 16, 1896, he received his first command of the 4th Battalion of the 17th Infantry Regiment . On November 1, 1897, he was promoted to colonel .

After various management positions (17th, 18th and 27th Infantry Divisions) he was Chief of the General Staff of the 8th Corps in Prague from 1898 to 1904 and was awarded the Order of the Iron Crown, 3rd class. He then received command of the 14th Infantry Brigade in Peterwardein and was promoted to major general on May 1, 1904 .

In 1905 he was ennobled by Franz Joseph I in his capacity as King of Hungary and was given the addition of "de Bojna". He then received command of the VII Croatian-Slavonian Landwehr District and was promoted to Lieutenant Field Marshal on May 1, 1908 . He received the Leopold Order , on May 1, 1913, was appointed Colonel General and was appointed Colonel Owner of the 51st Infantry Regiment by the Emperor and King on December 21, 1913.

First World War

Kostanjevica na Krasu , monument in honor of Archduke Joseph August (left) and the so-called "Boroević throne" (right)

As the commander of the kuk VI. Corps he was deployed to the 4th Army under Moritz Ritter von Auffenberg when the war broke out. He took part in the Battle of Komarów in Galicia at the end of August 1914 . On September 3, 1914, during the Battle of Lemberg, the Emperor and King gave him supreme command of the hard-pressed 3rd Army . With her he successfully defended the Carpathian passes against Russian attacks in the winter of 1914/15 and was also involved in the battle of Gorlice-Tarnów in the initial phase .

At the end of May 1915, after Italy entered the war against Austria-Hungary, he was given the task of preventing the Italian army from entering the Isonzo front near today's Slovenian-Italian border. He took over the command of the 5th Army , with which he withstood several Italian attacks on the Isonzo . On 1 May 1916 he was appointed Colonel-General conveyed. In August 1917, after the Isonzo Army was divided, he was entrusted with the leadership of the Boroevic Army Group .

During these three years he proved himself in all twelve battles of the Isonzo and also in the Second Battle of the Piave (June 1918), although it ultimately failed. Because of his success in the Isonzo battles, he was nicknamed the "Lion of Isonzo".

After he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa by Emperor Karl I in 1917 , he was entitled to an increase in his title of nobility to Hungarian baron. But Boroević, well known for his personal vanity, refused and demanded the title of Count. However, this request was rejected by the authorities and finally by the emperor and king, and so he ultimately received neither of the two rank enhancements. Nevertheless, he is referred to as a baron in the inscription on his crypt in Vienna.

On February 13, 1918, the official Wiener Zeitung reported that Emperor Karl had appointed Colonel General Boroević as field marshal .

End of war and post-war period

Grave of Svetozar Boroević von Bojna in the Vienna Central Cemetery

At the end of October 1918, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy was already in full dissolution, and the Hungarian units set off on their own journey home on the orders of the new Hungarian Minister of War. Boroević initially withdrew the line behind the Tagliamento to close the gaps that had arisen. When the armistice was announced by Villa Giusti on November 3, 1918, he withdrew with the few remaining troops to Velden in Carinthia .

There he offered Emperor Karl I to march with his troops to Vienna and prevent the proclamation of the republic, but this was refused on behalf of the emperor, who was not informed of the offer. On November 11, 1918 in Austria and on the 13th for Hungary, Karl renounced any share in state affairs . In December 1918, Boroević, a native Croatian Serb, tried to make himself available to the newly formed South Slavic SHS state, but was prevented from entering the country.

Boroević then lived - impoverished and embittered that the only Austro-Hungarian field marshal that the southern Slavs had ever produced was rejected by the new politicians in his closer homeland - in Klagenfurt, where he died of a stroke on May 23, 1920 .

The field marshal was buried on October 26, 1920 at the Vienna Central Cemetery in his family crypt in the arcades immediately to the right of the cemetery church of St. Karl Borromeo (group NAR, crypt no. 62). The crypt was paid for by the former Emperor Karl, who was represented at the burial by Section Head Albin Schager-Eckartsau (1877–1941; Habsburg-Lothringensche Asset Management). He laid down a wreath on the bow of which read: To the loyal field marshal of the old army - Karl . A number of high-ranking former kuk officers took part, as did the former kuk Foreign Minister Stephan Burián . A total of about 2000 mourners came. The large grave monument was unveiled in June 1931 in the presence of the widow.

His son Fritz Boroević (February 15, 1901 to September 28, 1918, the same burial date as the Field Marshal; in the grave site search of the Vienna city cemeteries with the first name Miroslav) and Boroević's wife (since 1899) and widow Leontine are also in the crypt born Rosner (July 7, 1877 to February 12, 1963) is buried. The field marshal's only son was a frequent visitor to the cadet school in Marburg (correct: military high school) and fell from the Draubrücke and drowned. He wanted to traverse the interrupted bridge, only connected by beams, with a comrade who survived the adventure. The survivor did not report the fatal accident until eight days later.

Awards (selection)

The list of his awards contains a special feature because he was first awarded the Commander's Cross of the MMTO, and later posthumously in 1931 with the Lower Knight's Cross of the MMTO.

literature

Web links

Commons : Svetozar Boroëvić von Bojna  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Since Boroević was a Hungarian citizen in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, his title of nobility was officially written “de Bojna”, as can be seen on his crypt. “Bojna” in turn means “battle” in Croatian .
  2. ^ Mario Morselli: Caporetto, 1917: victory or defeat? Routledge, 2001, ISBN 0-7146-5073-0 , p. 41; and Alan Palmer: Victory 1918. Grove Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8021-3787-3 , p. 185; and Spencer Tucker: The European powers in the First World War. Taylor & Francis, 1996, ISBN 0-8153-0399-8 , p. 762; and David F. Burg: Almanac of World War I. University Press of Kentucky, 2004, ISBN 0-8131-9087-8 , p. 67; and Michael S. Neiberg: Warfare & society in Europe: 1898 to the present I. Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-32718-0 , p. 47.
  3. ^ Gerhard Hirschfeld (Ed.): Encyclopedia First World War. Schöningh, Paderborn 2003, ISBN 3-506-73913-1 , p. 71; and biography at Austrian Commanders (English); and Gert Sudholt: Deutsche Annalen. Volume 27, Druffel-Verlag, 1998, p. 111; and Adam Wandruszka, Peter Urbanitsch (ed.): The Habsburg Monarchy 1848–1918. Volume 3, Part 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1980, ISBN 3-7001-0217-8 ; and Stephan Verosta: Theory and Reality of Alliances. Heinrich Lammasch, Karl Renner and the Dual Alliance (1897–1914). Europa-Verlag, Vienna 1971, ISBN 3-203-50387-6 , p. 249; and Rolf Wörsdörfer: Adria hot spot 1915–1955. Construction and articulation of the national in the Italian-Yugoslav border area. Schöningh, Paderborn 2004, ISBN 3-506-70144-4 , p. 94; and John R. Schindler: Isonzo. The forgotten sacrifice of the Great War. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, ISBN 0-275-97204-6 , p. 46.
  4. ↑ a b c d Svetozar Boroević from Bojna on weltkriege.at
  5. ↑ a b c Spencer Tucker (Ed.): The Encyclopedia of World War I. A Political, Social and Military History . ABC-Clio Verlag, Santa Barbara 2005, ISBN 1-85109-420-2 , pp. 218f.
  6. ^ Gerhard Hirschfeld (Ed.): Encyclopedia First World War. Schöningh, Paderborn 2003, ISBN 3-506-73913-1 , p. 390.
  7. ↑ a b http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/biog/boroevic.htm
  8. ^ Funeral funeral of Field Marshal Svetozar v. Boroevic. Neue Freie Presse of October 27, 1920, p. 6, middle.
  9. ↑ Marijan Brajinovic: On the trail of the Croatians in Austria. Verlag Österreichisch-Croatische Gesellschaft, Vienna 1996, p. 11.
  10. ↑ Left: At the Vienna Central Cemetery (...). In:  Wiener Bilder , No. 24/1931 (XXXVI. Volume), June 14, 1931, p. 5 middle. (Online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrb
  11. ↑ Data for Fritz and Leontine Boroevic according to information on the grave monument
  12. ^ Alois Schönburg-Hartenstein in a letter dated November 13, 1918, quoted in Rudolf Neck (Ed.): Austria in 1918. Reports and documents. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1968, p. 124.
  13. ↑ Peter Broucek: A General in the Twilight. The memories of Edmund Glaise von Horstenau. Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne / Graz 1980, p. 469 .
  14. ↑ Jörg C. Steiner: “Schematism of the generals and colonels of the Austro-Hungarian army; Status: December 31, 1918 “, Edition S & M, Vienna 1992, ISBN 3-901215-01-8
  15. ↑ http://www.coresno.com/index.php/ordensritter/159-mischa-orden/2957-mto-rk
  16. ↑ http://www.coresno.com/index.php/ordensritter/159-mischa-orden/2956-mto-kk
  17. ↑ Biographical Lexicon (ÖBL), Volume 1, Lfg. 2, p. 103
  18. ↑ Spencer C. Tucker (Ed.): "World War I: Encyclopedia - A Political, Social, and Military History", Volume 1, Verlag ABC-CLIO Inc., Santa Barbara, California 2005, pp. 218f
  19. ↑ Schematism for the imperial and royal army and for the imperial and royal navy, KK Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1907, p. 165
  20. ↑ Ernest Bauer: The Lion from Isonzo: Field Marshal Svetozar Boroević de Bojna. Styria, Graz 1985, ISBN 3-222-11650-4 , p. 156 f.
personal data
SURNAME Boroević from Bojna, Svetozar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Borojevic from Bojna, Svetozar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian field marshal
DATE OF BIRTH December 13, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Umetić near Kostajnica
DATE OF DEATH May 23, 1920
Place of death Klagenfurt