Viktor Dankl von Krasnik Count Viktor Dankl von Krasnik ( , born as Viktor Dankl on September 18 , 1854 , in Udine , died January 8 , 1941 in Innsbruck ) was a highly decorated career Austro - Hungarian officer who reached the pinnacle of his service during World War I with promotion to the rare rank of Colonel General ( " Generaloberst " ) . His successful career met an abrupt end in 1916 due to both his performance on the Italian front and health issues . After the war he would be a vocal apologist for both his country ' s war record and the dethroned Habsburg monarchy . Early life & career . Viktor Dankl was born in the then Imperial Austrian province of Venetia ( in present day Italy ) . His father was a Captain in the army from nearby Venice . His secondary education would first take place in Gorizia , where his family relocated after his father ' s retirement , and then in Trieste . Both schools were German language Gymnasiums . In 1869 , at the age of fourteen , he moved on to the Cadet Institute at St . Pölten , Lower Austria . From 1870 until 1874 he attended the Theresian Military Academy at Wiener - Neustadt , also in Lower Austria . Upon completion of the academy , Dankl was assigned to the Third Dragoon Regiment as a second Lieutenant . After completion of the War School in Vienna , he became a general staff officer in 1880 . For the next two decades he rose through the officer ranks , becoming the head of the central office of the Austro - Hungarian general staff in 1899 . In 1903 he was promoted to the rank of major general and given command of the Sixty - sixth Infantry Brigade in Trieste . From 1905 until 1907 he would head up the Sixteenth Infantry Brigade , also in Trieste . After being promoted to a lieutenant Field Marshal ( Feldmarschalleutnant ) , Dankl would receive command of the Thirty - sixth Division in Zagreb until 1912 , at which point he was moved to Innsbruck to command the Fourteenth Corps . Later that same year , on October 29 , Dankl was elevated to the rank of General of Cavalry . Service during World War I . At the beginning of war in the summer of 1914 , Dankl was put in command of the Austro - Hungarian First Army . That August the First Army , along with the Fourth Army , would compose the northwestern flank of Austro - Hungarian Chief of Staff , Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf ' s , push towards Russian forces in Russian Poland and the Galicia region . On August 22 , after crossing the San River , Dankl ' s army would engage the Russian Fourth Army at the Austro - Hungarian town of Kraśnik . The ensuing battle of Kraśnik ended three days later with Dankl victorious and the Russian Fourth Army retreating back towards the city of Lublin in Russian territory . Dankl pursued his opponents after the battle but was ultimately forced to withdraw after a series of defeats further southeast along the Austro - Hungarian lines in the largescale battle of Galicia . For his victory at Kraśnik , the first for Austria - Hungary in the war , Dankl would later be decorated with the Commander ' s Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order on August 17 , 1917 ( see below ) . Dankl experienced a good deal of fame and popularity after the battle , becoming something of a national hero until his once rising star would be tarnished by setbacks later on in the war . After being driven back by Russian forces Dankl and his First Army were part of a renewed offensive in October 1914 that was undertaken with the German forces to the north and west . Gains made during this drive proved to be only temporary as more or less of a stalemate developed in Dankl ' s area . The First Army did not see much action during the winter of 1914 - 15 and were held as reserves for more active Carpathian part of the front further east . During the following spring Dankl would lead his third and final offensive with the First Army . The Gorlice – Tarnów Offensive in May 1915 enjoyed early success and Dankl ' s First Army had once again achieved an advance . However , his renewed success would be cut short by a loss at the battle of Opatów which stalled any further push . On May 23 , 1915 , Italy declared war on Austria - Hungary and Dankl was soon reassigned to the resulting new front in Austria - Hungary ' s southwest . He would be made commander - in - chief of the defense of Tyrol , his headquarters in Bolzano . Like much of the Austro - Hungarian Army during the war , the forces under his command were poorly supplied and had inferior equipment . Furthermore , they were outnumbered . Throughout the remainder of 1915 and into early 1916 , Dankl was able to hold the line , halting numerous Italian attempts to breakthrough into Austria - Hungary . This bought important time for the front to be reinforced . His forces were able to overcome their disadvantages due to their often superior leadership and experience . In March 1916 Dankl was given command of the Eleventh Army and on May 1 he was promoted to colonel general . Later that month he would be part of the Asiago offensive , a plan masterminded by Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf , the architect of the 1914 Austro - Hungarian advance in Galicia . Dankl and the Eleventh Army were assigned the critical task of making an initial breakthrough that could be exploited by additional reinforcements ( the Third Army ) . The attack commenced on May 15 and initially Dankl was quite successful . He managed to cut through the first and second Italian lines and move south of Rovereto to the Posino Valley . On May 20 this surge stalled due to the inability of artillery to negotiate the treacherous snowy mountain roads . It was not until June that the Austro - Hungarians were able to try a largescale advance . By this time the Italians had regrouped and some Austro - Hungarian forces were siphoned off to the Eastern Front . As a result a stalemate set in . Once again Dankl had produced an impressive advance that would prove to be short - lived . His role in the offensive would prove to be his undoing as a combat commander and he would be sidelined for the remainder of the war . Resignation , later career , and retirement . Dankl was criticized both by Army Group Command ( Archduke Eugen ) and by the Austro - Hungarian Supreme Command ( Conrad ) . He had ignored an order given by Archduke Eugen to advance at a faster pace , disregarding the lack of artillery . How much Dankl ' s slow and steady style contributed to the stalling of the Asiago offensive is debatable . These charges and complaints , coupled with his very real health problems , caused the general to send a letter of resignation . On June 17 , 1916 he was dismissed from command . His Eleventh Army chief of staff , Major General Pichler , was also relieved of his position . After undergoing an operation on his throat , specifically a goitre , he was assigned command of the First Arcièren - Leibgarde , part of the Imperial Guards , on January 21 , 1917 . Dankl rose to commander - in - chief of the Imperial Guards in February 1918 until he was replaced at that post by Conrad , his former superior officer during his time at the front , the following summer . He returned to the First Arcieren - Leibgarde , where he remained until the end of the Habsburg rule over Austria - Hungary . He was retired from the army on December 1 , 1918 and moved to Innsbruck . In 1925 Dankl would assume the chancellorship of the Maria Theresa Order . This time he would be replacing a position held by Conrad , who left the vacancy upon his death that year . For the next six years he would be in charge of decorating Austro - Hungarian soldiers from World War I . He undertook this task with much enthusiasm , becoming an outspoken apologist of not only his fellow veterans but of Austria - Hungary in general . He even went so far as to advocate the return of the monarchy , putting himself at odds with the growing support of Austrian Nazi groups for Hitler and Germany . He was a firm opponent of the Anschluss , favoring an Imperial Austria under Habsburg to a Nazi German Reich under Hitler until the end . He refused totalitarianism , fascism , antisemitism and the Second World War . By the time of his death he was seen as a stark anachronism , out of step with the new era of the Greater German Reich . On January 8 , 1941 , Viktor Dankl died at the age of eighty - six . His wife had died a mere three days earlier . He was buried in Wilten cemetery in Innsbruck and his grave can still be visited . Due to his well known anti - Nazi stance , the Wehrmacht chose not to honor Dankl with any sort of military ceremony . Honors and decorations . Throughout his mostly distinguished career , Dankl was the recipient of a large amount of military and non - military awards . Despite his reputation as being somewhat short tempered , he was noted as one of Austria - Hungary ' s finer generals of World War I by Conrad . On August 17 , 1917 Dankl was decorated with the Commander ' s Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order in recognition of his services during the battle of Kraśnik . In accordance with the statutes of this order , Dankl became a baron in his country ' s nobility and was since styled " Freiherr von Dankl " . In 1918 , Emperor Charles I further advanced him to the degree of count and granted him the territorial title of " Kraśnik " , after which he was styled " Graf Dankl von Krasnik " . This makes Dankl a rare example of a person in Austria who was born a commoner but rose to the title of count . In 1925 , he was appointed as Chancellor of the Military Order of Maria Theresa as a successor to Conrad . His military awards include : the Commander ' s Cross of the Military Maria Theresa Order , the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold with War Decoration , the Military Merit Cross First Class with War Decoration , the German Iron Cross of 1914 , First and Second Class , the Marianer Cross of the Teutonic Order , and the Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Red Cross with war decoration . Civilian honors include an honorary PhD from an Innsbruck university in philosophy , the naming of a " Dankl " street in Innsbruck and honorary membership in the German Student Corps " Danubia Graz " .