title: Der General der k.u.k. Armee und Geheime Rat Maximilian Csicserics von Bacsány
Creators: name: Eder, Hans
Publisher: name: :none
Year: 2010

description: Nicht angegeben
description: Of the thesis paper regarding the Imperial Counsellor General Maximilian Csicserics von Bacsány The subject goes back to a suggestion by Dr. Peter Broucek, the former director of the Viennese Archive of War. Dr. Broucek adversely critisized the fact that there was no thorough biography existing for this so important man of the k.u.k. army. The academic guardian of this paper Herr O.Prof. Dr. Horst Haselsteiner, approved of this theme. The Viennese Archive of War and the National Archive of Croatia in Zagreb are holding a rich legacy handwritten by Csicserics himself covering his life from his birth until the end of the First World War. His private life after the War was at that time fully in the dark. But scrutinous investigation and thereby finding the grandchildren of the generals wife their whole life could be completely disclosed. Maximilian von Csicserics is a descendant of a family of Croatian army officers from the Military Border. He was an intelligent and very diligent pupil and later he was a likewise diligent student at the Military Academy of Wiener Neustadt where he finally got promoted to Lieutenant of the Infantry despite the early death of his father and luckily overcoming a serious lack of growth of his body. His career was developing smoothly and got him finally into the General Staff as a Staff Officer. There he received the order to go to the city of Kazan' in Zaristic Russia for a year of training in the Russian language. He then continued working for the Office of Evidence in the General Staff where he helped to develop a data base concerning the probable main enemy in an expected new war. He was exellently prepared for this assignment because of his perfect language skills and by extensive studies of Russian affairs he also was up to date at any time. His most decisive experience in all his life was for Csicserics his commissioning as Military Attaché at the court of the Zar serving in Mandchuria the war area of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905/06. Here modern warfare of the future was demonstrated and the Russians were given bitter lectures. But the newly won understanding Csicserics of the new ways of the military future did not find the necessary interest and support of the General Staff. Conrad 355 von Hötzendorf the head of the staff and his followers did'nt listen to him instead didn't take him serious and even laughed at him. Csicserics became a lonely man. His consequences from the war with Japan were not accepted or even thought about. A power consuming fight with numerous repulsions started. For example as one of the few war experienced commanders he got no command at the beginning of the First World War exept a shameful command for organizing a few bridgeheads along the Danube. No one simply understood his new views or may be didn't even want to do so. But on the other hand they didn't give him the opportunity to put everything down to paper or to allow him to talk about what would be essential for the survival of the army. His conclusions were: The empty (cleaned up) battle ground (No enemy was to be seen any longer for they used to shoot under cover). Howitzers were again in demand. Especially important became the concerted action of artillery and infantry. Digging in in front of the enemy was common practice. Fortresses were deemed useless because they didn't offer enough cover any more, the developed new artillery broke the thickest walls and fortresses were therefore simply wasted money. He asked twice for permission to hand over his commands. The one incident occurred before the war during manoeuvers, when he was rebuked because of his new ideas. The other one happened during the Serbian war when Csicserics asked to be drawn back from an impossible command as corpscommander. He anticipated a terrible disaster for the whole ordered battle was poorly prepared and he hated to be made responsible for a tragedy. As was proven later the battle ended in a complete disaster and unnecessary bloodshed. When in 1915/16 the Russian Army crossed the Carpaths and advanced right into the heart of the Monarchy the Empire suffered heavy losses. Almost one million troops and 75% of the officers fell so afterwards there was no original k.u.k. Army was fighting. It was mainly reserves in officers and badly trained troops which continued the war under great losses. The Russian dread became so dangerous the General Staff in Vienna said: "So let Csicserics come in and let him show his capabilities." He was given command over a smitten and discouraged Corps. So he started to reorganize and stock up his army which was largely robbed of arms and soldiers by neighboring Corps. He trained his troops in the new ways of fighting the Russians whom he knew so well and thus drove them from victory to victory probing far into the enemies home territory. He did all this under a German Commander and was everywhere in high esteem. In 1917 he had to exchange his 13. Corps with the 23. Corps in northern Italy. The old 356 commander lost two battles at the Isonzo river with heavy casualties and left him a similarly run down Corps like Csicserics found when he took over the 13. Corps. Csicserics reorganized the 23. in considerable speed trained his Troops with the new regime in proven ways and won himself gloriously two Isonzo battles fending off the Italian Army far beyond the Piave valley. Out of these successes the Emperor called him into a peace mission as his personal envoy and that of the Austro-Hungarian Army in the peace talks in Brest-Litovsk between December 1917 until March 1918. He was to report to the King and Emperor Karl about the conduct of the unpredictable Foreign Secretary Count Czernin. There Csicserics was promoted to General and to Emperial Counsellor. Finishing this task he came back into his former command and managed it again succesfully. The closing war saw him securing the retreat of the army into Austria via Lubljana, Slovenia, by the order of the General Staff. Also this order he handled with calm and efficiency. He knew the new people in Slovenia very well and they trusted him. He came back to Vienna with the army and was demobilized there on 1st of January 1919. He decided to become in Jugoslavia a Croatian Citizien. In 1928 he married Gabriele Jagodics de Kernyécsa in Rumania where they stayed until 1942. Then they moved to Zagreb, Croatia to secure his pension. He died there in 1948 a poor (Tito didn't pay his pension any more) blind and broken man. The blindness startet to develop in 1938 and in his last five years he become completely blind and helpless. His phantastic and heroic wife kept him alife and has used up all her means to enable him an endurable life. He and his wife (she died in 1966) are burried in an still existing grave in the Cemetary Mirogoj in Zagreb. Her, Gabis grandchildren Ilona (79) and Denes (82) are living today in Budapest and have contributed heavily with essential details of their family life and history to enable this biography of their "Uncle Max" General Maximilian Csicserics von Bacsány and his wife Gabriela.