Archduke Eugen of Austria

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Archduke Eugen
Born(1863-05-21)21 May 1863
Gross-Seelowitz, Moravia, Austrian Empire
Died30 December 1954(1954-12-30) (aged 91)
Merano, Italy
HouseHabsburg-Lorraine
FatherArchduke Karl Ferdinand of Austria
MotherArchduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria

Archduke Eugen Ferdinand Pius Bernhard Felix Maria of Austria-Teschen (21 May 1863 – 30 December 1954) was an Archduke of Austria and a Prince of Hungary and Bohemia. He was the last Grand Master of the Teutonic Order from the Habsburg dynasty.

Early life

Eugen was the son of Archduke Karl Ferdinand of Austria (son of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen) and of his wife Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria. He was born at the castle of Gross Seelowitz in Moravia (today Židlochovice near Brno in the Czech Republic). At his baptism he was given the names Eugen Ferdinand Pius Bernhard Felix Maria. His education was Spartan in character. His country living at Gross Seelowitz and holidays at Gmund alternated with a sound education and strict instruction.

At the Palais Erzherzog Albrecht (Archduke Albrecht's Palace, also known as the Albrechtspalais) in Vienna, Eugen received instruction in all the military subjects in addition to languages, music and the history of art. At the age of 14 in keeping with the family tradition and like his elder brother Friedrich, he also began his military career with the Tyrolean Kaiserjäger Regiment and was commissioned as a Leutnant on 27 October 1877. Shortly thereafter he was transferred as an Oberleutnant to a hussar regiment and in the following years participated in many lengthy manoeuvres.

In 1882, Eugen took an examination before a commission assembled by Archduke Albrecht that verified his suitability to attend the military academy at Wiener Neustadt. Eugen became then the sole archduke to attend the several year long course at the academy (1883–1885) and subsequently successfully graduated as a fully trained general staff officer.

Military career

In 1885, Eugen was assigned to the

General der Kavallerie on 27 April 1901. This command simultaneously also made him the commanding general in Innsbruck and the defence commander for the Tyrol. He was appointed eight years later as an army inspector and senior defence commander for the Tyrol. When in 1909 the possibility of a war against Serbia was in the air he alongside Archduke Franz Ferdinand and General Albori
was named as a presumptive army commander.

Eugen also had exercised his influence in the field of personnel. He had urgently recommended

Feldmarschallleutnant Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, his divisional commander at Innsbruck as the successor to the retiring chief of the general staff — General Friedrich von Beck-Rzikowsky
. In 1911, the Archduke retired from active military service ostensibly for health reasons. Hötzendorf however suggested in his memoirs that Archduke Franz Ferdinand had become increasingly jealous of the importance of Eugen.

Archduke Eugen of Austria 1894 Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Inauguration Medal by Scharff, obverse
The coat of arms of Archduke Eugen on the reverse of this medal

In addition to his military career above all else, Eugen was called upon to perform his duty as the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. On 11 January 1887, Eugen entered the Teutonic Order as a professed knight. At the same time he was chosen to be the coadjutor of his uncle, Archduke Wilhelm, then Hoch- und Deutschmeister.

When Archduke Wilhelm suddenly died, Eugen was enthroned as the new Hoch- und Deutschmeister on 19 November 1894 and in this office he also proved himself very effective. He further developed the institution of the volunteer nursing care (Marianer), founded new hospitals and improved the training of the sisters. Finally he had the central archives of the order in Vienna sorted out and extended.

World War I

First World War Eugen immediately reported for active duty. At first he was palmed off with a relatively unimportant post as the patron of the voluntary war welfare organization. Finally he was transferred in December 1914 to replace Oskar Potiorek and assume the post of commander of the forces in the Balkans (Balkanstreitkräfte) with his headquarters at Peterwardein. Together with his chief of Staff, Feldmarschall-Leutnant Alfred Krauss, a very talented military theoretician with a decisive and vigorous character, he reorganized the hard hit 5th Army
.

On 22 May 1915, Eugen was promoted to

Heeresgruppe von Conrad
was not immediately subordinate.

Coat of arms of Archduke Eugen

During the First Battle of the Isonzo Eugen traveled back and forth behind the front. He attended many conferences, appeared on the front lines and encouraged the troops and in this way achieved great popularity. At the same time he managed the rear areas in order to guarantee the best possible supply to the forward troops.

Before the great attack from the South Tyrol which took take place in the spring of 1916 Eugen assumed command as army group commander of the 11th and 3rd armies and took up headquarters at the estate of his cousin, the Graf von Bozen und Maurer, just outside Bozen (Bolzano). After initial success, the attack had to be broken off in consequence of the danger posed to the Russian front following the Brusilov offensive of June 1916 and the subsequent transfer of formations to that threatened front. However, after breaking off the offensive, Archduke Eugen successfully withdrew his troops in the second half of June 1916 into secure positions.

In the further course of the war Eugen had to transfer more and more of his troops to the hard fighting Isonzo Army so that he soon had to manage without reserves in his own theatre of operations. Although he had only a very limited forces holding the Tyrolean front, he never considered withdrawing further and shortening his line. He was too personally attached to the land to do that.

Eugen was promoted to Field Marshal on 23 November 1916 and in the middle of March 1917 again took up his work as the commander of the southwest front. During the Caporetto offensive, Eugen was the actual commander employing his complete energy in the process. He recognized that this was the last favorable opportunity for the Central Powers. The Archduke, who normally was no great flayer of the soldiers could on this occasion not push hard enough. There appeared temporarily to be great confusion in the issuing of orders. It is possible that many blamed Eugen and his staff for this.[who?]

Against the will of the chief of the general staff, Generaloberst Baron

Piave
. With his very senior rank, Eugen could only be a commander in chief. Eugen was forced to go as the Emperor Karl himself took up the supreme command.

Eugen still enjoyed high renown and at the end of the war at the beginning of November 1918, the idea of Eugen becoming a regent was introduced. The last foreign minister Graf Andrassy and the member of parliament Dr. Franz Dinghofer of the German nationalist party had discussed this. However, Eugen would never have accepted such an offer without the consent of the emperor.[citation needed]

Military awards

Amongst the Archduke's considerable number of Austro-Hungarian awards here are the most important:

He also received the Swords to both his Large Military Merit Medal and Bronze Military Merit Medal at a later date to the original awards.

Additionally he was the possessor of a host of foreign awards and decorations:

Later life

Tombs of Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria (1558–1618) and Archduke Eugen of Austria (1863–1954) in St Jacob's Cathedral, Innsbruck

Following the collapse of the monarchy Eugen first settled in Lucerne and then at Basel where he lived modestly in a hotel from 1918 to 1934. In order to safeguard the existence of the Teutonic Order, Eugen voluntarily resigned his position as the Hoch- und Deutschmeister in 1923. He had been the last hereditary grand master of the order. In this way the possessions of the order were saved.

In 1934, Eugen settled at the order's convent at

Anschluß
of Austria to Germany in 1938 the Teutonic Order was dissolved and its possessions confiscated.

Eugen received, probably with the intervention of

Second World War
. In 1945, he fled to the Tyrol where he received through the French occupying power a small rented villa at Igls. On 21 May 1953, the whole of Innsbruck celebrated the field marshal's 90th birthday.

Eugen died on 30 December 1954 at

Archduke Maximilian III
(1558–1618).

Ancestry

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Archduke Eugen of Austria.
  • Rác, Robert. Arcivévoda Evzen Habsbursko-lotrinský 1863-1954: velmistr Rádu nemeckých rytíru. Sovinec/Eulenburg: Esmedia, 2005.
  • Schildenfeld, Zoë von. Erzherzog Eugen, 1863-1963: ein Gedenkbuch. Innsbruck: F. Rauch, 1963.
  • Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). "Eugene, Archduke" . Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company.

References

  1. ^ "Real y distinguida orden de Carlos III". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1907. p. 153. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Schwarzer Adler-orden", Königlich Preussische Ordensliste (supp.) (in German), vol. 1, Berlin, 1886, p. 5 – via hathitrust.org{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. Royal Thai Government Gazette (8 January 1898). "พระราชทานเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์ ที่ประเทศยุโรป" (PDF) (in Thai). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help
    )
  4. ^ Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish), 1905, p. 440, retrieved 2 February 2021 – via runeberg.org
  5. ^ "Real y distinguida orden de Carlos III". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1908. p. 155. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  6. ^ "No. 28170". The London Gazette. 21 August 1908. p. 6145.
  7. ^ a b "Foreign Pour le Mérite Awards: Foreign Awards During World War I". pourlemerite.org. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
Archduke Eugen of Austria
Born: 21 May 1863 Died: 30 December 1954
Religious titles
Preceded by Hochmeister
1894–1923 		Succeeded by
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