An Austro-Hungarian soldier posing for the camera, leaning on his rifle, bayonet at his waist. He is from the k.u.k (kaiserlich und königlich/imperial and royal) Landsturm Battalion No. 83, a reserve militia of men 34 to 55, some of whom saw active duty.
Reverse:k.u.k (kaiserlich und königlich/imperial and royal) Landsturm Bataillon No. 83k.u.k (kaiserlich und königlich/imperial and royal) Landsturm Battalion No. 83Emil Lorenz, Photograph. Böhm Leipa Herrengasse 243
"Austro-Hungarian losses were astonishingly high; between 1st and 25th September their force in the East fell from 500,000 to 200,000, and the proportions of loss were also remarkable—in IV Army, 30,000 'missing', 10,000 wounded, 7,000 sick, 2,000 killed. It was already notable that, in the Austro-Hungarian army, twice as many officers reported sick as were wounded. In the German army, this proportion was reversed. It was good evidence of the different quality of the allied armies."
The great German-Austro-Hungarian Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive had achieved the aims of German Commander-in-Chief Erich von Falkenhayn, leaving Russia in no position to launch an offensive for the foreseeable future. Falkenhayn had called a halt in early August. Claiming to misunderstand Falkenhayn, German commanders Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff pushed on at the northern end of the front. To the south, Austro-Hungarian Commander-in-Chief Conrad von Hötzendorf, chaffing under German command, but helpless without German aid, carried on his own Hapsburg offensive, his own until he had to turn, once again, to Germany for aid.
The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 by Norman Stone, pp. 190, 191, copyright © 1975 Norman Stone, publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons, publication date: 1975
1915-09-28, 1915, September
