von Krasnik
Viktor Dankl was born in Udine, in the Friuli region of the Kingdom of Venezia, on 18 September 1854. When Viktor's father retired from the army in 1865, they moved to nearby Görz and he was able to enter the Gymnasium there and then the one in Trieste. Dankl entered the military academy at Wiener Neustadt in 1870, and completed it in 1874. The following timeline summarizes Dankl's military career:
1874 Part of the Central Soldiers’ Office until 1880
1879 Promoted to Oberleutnant
1880 Part of the General Staff until 1883
1883 Part of the Central Soldiers’ Office until 1888
1884 Promoted to Hauptmann, 1st Class
1888 Part of the General Staff until 1894
1891 Promoted to Major
1894 Part of the Central Soldiers’ Office
1894 Promoted to Oberstleutnant
1894 Part of the General Staff until 1903
1874 Promoted to Leutnant
1897 Promoted to Oberst
1903 Commander of Infantry Brigade No. 66 until 1905
1903 Promoted to Generalmajor
1905 Commander of Infantry Brigade No. 16 until 1907
1907 Commander of Infantry Division No. 36 until 1912
1907 Promoted to Feldmarschalleutnant
1912 Commander of XIV. Corps until 1914
1912 Promoted to General der Kavallerie
1914 Commander of 1. Army until 1915
1915 Commander of Defense Command Tirol until 1916
1916 Commander of the 11. Army until 1917
1916 Promoted to Generaloberst
1916 Guards Captain of the 1. Arcieren Life Guards until wars’ end
1918 pensioned
Dankl's big assignment came in 1896, when he was appointed Chief of Staff for the XIII. Corps in Agram. In February 1912, FML Dankl was granted command of the XIV. Corps, and he replaced GdI Johann Edler von Schemua. Dankl kept this command until wars' outbreak in August 1914.
Then, he was appointed to command the 1. Army and he surrendered his XIV. Corps to the Archduke Josef Ferdinand, who was ranked FML. Later, GdK Viktor Dankl surrendered control of the 1. Army on 23 May 1915, and travelled to the Tirol to oversee its defense. He was temporarily replaced by GdK Karl Graf von Kirchbach auf Lauterbach, who in turn was replaced by FZM Paul Puhallo von Brlog. Viktor Dankl was the commanding General of the Austrian 1. Army at the outset of the war, and was ordered to invade Poland—he then held the rank of General der Kavallerie. He was granted the surname "von Krasnik" in mid-August for winning the Battle of Krasnik (see below). Dankl commanded the 1. Army until May 23, 1915.
He surrendered the command to General Kirchbach auf Lauterbach, because of the Italian declaration of war on the Empire. He proceeded into the Trentino, where he organised the Defense Command Tirol on May 24, 1915, and secured the mountain heights south of Rovereto, thus halting the Italian advance. He supervised this force until 14 March 1916, when he was granted command of the newly formed 11. Army for the purpose of invading Venezia from the Tirol. General Josef Roth replaced him in the Defense Command Tirol. Dankl was elevated to the rank of Generaloberst on May 1, 1916. He continued to command the 11. Army in the Trentino until 18 June 1916, when his ailing health caused him to bow out of the war. He was replaced by General Rohr. Dankl was "Protektor des Baues des Heldendenkmals im Äußeren Burgtor" in Vienna after the war.
Viktor Dankl von Krasnik died on 8 January 1941 in Innsbruck.
GWS, 1/01 [rev. 5/05]
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Polish Front August 1914
I. Armee, General der Kavallerie Viktor Dankl
I. Korps, Gen. d. Kav. Karl von Kirchbach auf Lauterbach
V. inf. div., Feldmarschalleutnant Scotti
XLVI. inf. div., Feldmlt. Nastopil
V. Korps, Feldzeugmeister Puhallo von Brlog
XIV. inf. div., Feldmlt. Hugo Martiny
XXXIII. inf. div., Feldmlt. von Rebracha
XXXVII. Honved inf. div., Feldmlt. Weber
X. Korps, General Meixner von Zweienstamm
II inf. div., Feldmlt. Anton Lipocsak
XXI. inf. div., Feldmlt. von Rudan und Poria
XLV. Schützen div., Feldmlt. Ljubicic
Support: XII. inf. div., Feldmlt. Kestranek
III. kav. div., Feldmlt. von Brudermann
IX. kav. div., Feldmlt. von Hauer
Dankl's I. Army was situated in central Galicia from Krakau to the river San. On Dankl's right flank was the 4. Army under the command of General Auffenberg. On Dankl's left, across the Vistula, were the K.K. Landsturm Corps of General Kummer and the German Landwehr Corps of General Woyrsch, whose task it was to raise revolt among the Poles against the Russians. This mission failed very early on, and soon Kummer's group was transferred to the left bank of the Vistula to help Dankl's effort.
Meanwhile, Dankl was to initiate General Conrad's plan "R" by invading Poland east of the river Vistula. The 1. Army was supposed to cover the 4. Army's left flank as both seized eastern Poland. The idea was to pin what Russian forces were to be found in Poland into a vise between the advancing Austrians and the Germans under the command of General Prittwitz in East Prussia. In mid-August, Dankl won the battle of Krasnik against the Russians, and he was awarded the title "von Krasnik," which he wore with aristocratic flair. Shortly, the 3. Army under General Brudermann caved under a tremendous and unexpected Russian advance, and all focus by the Army High Command shifted east. Both the 1. and 4. Armies were ordered out of Poland or face being surrounded by four Russian armies. Dankl soon felt the pressing weight of the Russians under General Plehve's 5. Army and Radko Dmitriev's 3. Army. By the first week of September, Dankl's 1. Army was fighting desperately to keep the Russians from splitting the 1. Army from the 4. Army, and causing them to collapse against the Carpathians.
By the end of the first week in September, the Russians had sealed off General Kusmanek in Przemysl, and Dankl was making extreme efforts to force a break in the Russian offensive from behind the river Dunajec. This line would be revisited several times by the 1. Army in the coming months.
GWS, 10/00 [rev. 5/05]
I. Armee, Gen. d. Kav. Dankl von Krasnik
II. Korps, Feldmarschal Johann von Kirchbach
XXV. inf. div., Feldmlt. Erzherzog Peter Ferdinand
IV. inf. div., Feldmlt. Stöger-Steiner von Steinstätten
I. Korps, Gen. d. Kav. Karl von Kirchbach auf Lauterbach
V. inf. div., Feldmlt. Habermann
LXVI. inf. div., Feldmlt. Brandner
Martiny Group, Feldmlt. Martiny
XIV. inf. div., Generalmajor von Willerding
CVI. k.k. Landsturm inf. div., Feldmlt. Kletter
XCI. Schützen brigade, Genmj. Urbanski von Ostrymiecz
II. kav. div., Feldmlt. von Ziegler
Immediately preceding the Dunajec Offensive
I. Armee, Gen. d. Kav. Viktor Dankl
Chief of Staff, Genmj. Edl. v. Kochanowski
I. Korps, Gen. d. Kav. Karl Frh. v. Kirchbach
Chief of Staff, Oberst Demus
92. Schützen brig., Genmj. Haas
16. kav. brig., Oberst v. Kirsch
46. Schützen div., Genmj. v. Czapp
91. Schützen brig., Genmj. v. Urbanski
46. field art. brig., Oberst Exner
2. KD., Genmj. Ritt. v. Ursyn-Pruszynski
3. kav. brig., Genmj. Frh. v. Abele
II. Korps, Feldmlt. Johann Frh. v. Kirchbach
Chief of Staff, Oberst Gf. Szeptycki
25. inf. div., Feldmlt. Archduke Peter Ferdinand
49. inf. brig., Genmj. Edl. v. Severus
50. inf. brig., Genmj. Ritt. v. Bolberitz
25. field art. brig., Genmj. v. Jemrich
4. inf. div., Genmj. Edl. v. Bellmond
8. inf. brig., Oberst Mietzl
4. field art. brig., Oberst Machaczek
1. brig. d. poln. Legion: Oberst Josef Pilsudski
Immediately following Italy's declaration of war against the Empire
Southwestern Front, Generaloberst Archduke Eugen
Tirol Defense Command, Gen. d. Kav. Dankl
Chief of Staff, Genmj. Kletus Pichler
Rayon I (Ortler)
53., hus. brig., Obstlt. Hradezny
Sperren Nauders und Gomagoi
Rayon II
54. hus. brig., Oberst Stiller
Sperren Tonale, Pejo Günther
Rayon III (Südtirol)
91. inf. div., Feldmlt. v. Können-Horak
50. hus. brig., Oberst Spiegel
detachment Riva. fortress detachment command, Genmj. Schiesser
181. inf. brig., Genmj. Englert
180. inf. brig., Genmj. Edler v. Verdross
52. hus. brig., Oberst Edl. v. Kreschel
Rayon IV (Fleimstal)
90. inf. div., Feldmlt. Edl. v. Scholz
55. mtn. brig., Oberst Frh. v. Concini
179. inf. brig., Oberst Schiessler
Sperren Paneveggio und Moena
Rayon V (Pustertal)
Komb. div. Pustertal, Feldmlt. Ludwig Goiginger
51. mtn. brig., Oberst Edl. v. Sparber
56. mtn. brig., Genmj. Bankowski
Sperren Corte, Ruaz, Tre Sassi, Plätzwiese, Landro, Mitterberg, Haideck
Fortress Trient, Feldmlt. Edl. v. Gusek
k.k. 5. Landsturm matrosen brig., Genmj. v. Jonak
3. fort. art. brig., Oberst Kleinschnitz
Immediately preceding the Tirol Offensive
Army Group Archduke Eugen, GO Archduke Eugen
Chief of Staff, Feldmlt. Alfred Krauss
XI. Army, GO Viktor Dankl
VIII. Korps, FZM Viktor Scheuchenstüel
57. Inf. Div., Feldmlt. H. Goiginger
59. Inf. Div., Genmj. Kroupa
48. Inf. Div., Feldmlt. Gabriel
Border detachment 4
XX. Korps, Feldmlt. Archduke Karl Franz Josef
Chief of Staff, Obst. Alfred Frh. v. Waldstätten
3. Inf. Div., Feldmlt. Edler v. Horsetzky
8. Inf. Div., Feldmlt. Fabini
58. Mtn. Brig., Obst. v. Merten
180. Inf. Brig., Feldmlt. Edler v.Verdross
III. Korps, Feldmlt. Ritter v. Krautwald
6. Inf. Div., Feldmlt. Fst. v. Schönburg-Hartenstein
22. Schützen Div., Genmj. Edler v. Kochanowski
43. Schützen Brig., Obst. Ritter v. Ellison
18. Inf. Brig., Obst. W. Laxa
22. F.A. Brig., Obst. Nobile di Giorgi
5. Kompanie
28. Inf. Div., Feldmlt. Schneider v. Manns-Au
