Regular viewers of our channel will know that throughout the war so far we’ve seen a series
of great military blunders by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including huge failures against both
the Russians and the Serbs, but blame for none of these can be laid at the feet of perhaps
the greatest Austrian military leader of the war, Svetozar Boroevic von Bojna.
I’m Indy Neidell; welcome to our Great War bio series, “Who Did What in World War One?”,
today featuring Svetozar Boroevic von Bojna.
He was born in the village of Umetic in what is now Croatia December 13, 1856 but was then
part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father was a soldier and little is known of his mother.
Now, his father was a Serb, but Borojevic would state later in numerous letters that
he considered himself a Croat and Croatia his homeland.
At the age of nine he went away to military boarding school and followed that with military
high school and infantry cadet school. At 19 he was promoted to lieutenant and first
saw action in 1878 during the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was
also decorated there for the first time. In 1881 he became Oberleutnant and in 1886 Hauptmann,
or Captain. He spent a few years lecturing at a military academy before serving various
postings throughout the empire, rising to major, lieutenant colonel and finally, colonel-
Oberst- in 1897. After that he was stationed in Prague where he remained until 1904 when
he became Major General. Postings in Zagreb and Kosice followed, as did further promotions
to Field Marshal-Lieutenant and General of the Infantry. Just so you know, the speed
of his rise through the ranks was unusual in general, and almost unheard of for a Slav,
and when he reached the rank of Field Marshal during the war, he became the first and only
Southern Slav in the entire history of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to reach that rank.
So... the war. General Borojevic was sent to fight on the Eastern Front.
His first noticeable contribution was in October 1914 during the First siege of Przemysl when
his relief force reached the fortress, causing the Russians to retreat across the River San.
After later withdrawing to Limanova in the Western Carpathians, his forces blocked the
Russian advance in December and caused them to retreat again, suffering heavy casualties.
Throughout that winter, his Third Army took part in the repeated disastrous winter Carpathian
Offensives, as ordered by Austrian Army Chief of Staff Conrad von Hotzendorf. The Austrian
forces were ill-prepared and ill-equipped for winter mountain warfare and took huge
casualties as the Russian gained ground all winter.
All of that territory was soon re-taken in May during the early stages of the Austro-German
Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive, which kicked the Russians out of Hungary, but Borojevic wouldn’t
see much of that offensive, for he was transferred to the Italian Front May 25th, and it was
there that he really showed his skills.
His was given command of the Fifth Army, later known as the Isonzo Army, and his first task
was to organize his defenses.
Now, Conrad, his superior, wanted him to allow the Italians to cross the mountains into Carinthia
and Styria and to defend there in the valley of the Drava and Sava Rivers. Borojevic was
completely against this; as he hated the idea of letting the Italians into Slavic lands,
especially land near the heart of the Empire and within striking distance of Vienna. This
also made Borojevic popular with the Slovenes, who didn’t like the idea of the war taking
place on their territory either.
Borojevic won out and the front was set up further west on the Isonzo River and his attitude
toward what he had to do was “defense, defense, defense!” Losing the Italian front would
likely lose the war for the Empire, but his position initially was far from enviable.
Most of his time there he had fewer troops than Italian Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna
had in his armies. Cadorna also had more guns and by 1916 better equipment in general, but
Borojevic had the high ground and the territorial advantage.
It also helped that Cadorna repeated the same mistakes again and again, attacking tactically
unimportant positions, failing to coordinate artillery with infantry, and above all relying
on the “bravery” of his men to win battles and ordering them to pursue objectives that
they were physically incapable of doing.
As you are going to find out when you are following our show, there would be twelve
battles of the Isonzo River, and Boroevic’s greatest success was holding the line through
the first 11 of them over two and a half years before the great combined Austro-German Offensive
of the 12th, also known as the Battle of Caporetto, pushed back the Italians over 100 kilometers
and nearly reached Venice. For stopping the repeated Italian offensives, Boroevic was
repeatedly promoted, finally reaching Field Marshal February 1, 1918.
He could be, though, at times very difficult to have as a superior officer.
He could be arrogant, and he was very meticulous to details, but he expected everyone below
him to be the same. He couldn’t stand incompetence and hated senseless demands, like the Carpathian
Winter Offensives, and was in many ways the opposite of Conrad von Hotzendorf. From those
offensives, Boroevic became skeptical of bold offensive moves and tried to conserve his
forces as much as possible, but because of his arrogance and obstinacy he was nicknamed
“thick-headed Croat” by some of his men, who often had difficulty expressing their
opinion since he reminded them always of who was in command.
But he was diligent and observant and by the later stages of the war was no longer the
“thick-headed Croat” but the “Lion of the Isonzo.” He received many decorations
and honors during the course of the war.
But postwar things took a decided turn for the worse for Svetozar Borojevic von Bojna.
He had been a hero with statues built in his honor during the war, but he found himself
now being accused of wasting the lives of the Southern Slavic men in the defense of
a rotten Empire, a prison of nations.
His military career came to an end, his son drowned, and his property was confiscated
by the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes- which would soon be known as
Yugoslavia. This confiscation included his bank account, his decorations, and his personal
belongings. He fell into poverty and lived on a small stipend from the Military Order
of Maria Theresa. He tried and failed to gain citizenship in both the new Kingdom and the
new Austrian Republic, who refused his offers of service and his requests for a pension.
His former fame and allegiance to the Austro-Hungarian Empire made him persona non grata and a man
without a country, though he lived in Austria. He wrote a series of letters to his friend
Slavko Kvaternik, who served in the Yugoslav Army, and from them you can see his emotional
descent into instability and depression. Some of those letters are in the comments section
below.
In his last letter he wrote, “I will make my final attempt and ask Laginja that he as
the highest representative of my homeland does something about my pension in Belgrade.
If this fails, then I don’t bear responsibility for that which will eventually follow.”
He eventually gave up all hope of seeing his homeland again and the Lion of the Isonzo
died of a stroke May 23rd, 1920 and was buried with no military honors and only his wife
by his side.
It’s kind of sad that such a historical figure should be erased, but because of the
complicated history between Serbs and Croats, the way in which the Croats remember Austria-Hungary
and Yugoslavia, and his Serbian family, it was never politically useful to remember Borojevic,
and his story is a reminder that the horrors of a war never remain within the boundaries
of that war. Its effects are long-lasting and make no mistake the Great War did kill
Svetozar Borojevic von Bojna in the end.
If you want to find out more about von Bojna’s superior, click right here to watch our episode
about Conrad von Hötzendorf.
And for more pictures from the Italian Front like us on Facebook and Follow us on Instagram.
Don’t forget to subscribe, see you next time.