Adolf von Boog (27 April 1866, Belluno — 15 February 1929, Vienna) was an Austro-Hungarian Army officer who served in World War I, holding senior positions in the General Staff and commanding field units, and later was briefly the commander-in-chief of the Volkswehr ("People's Defense") of the new postwar rump state of Austria.

Adolf von Boog
Birth nameAdolf von Boog
Born(1866-04-27)27 April 1866
Belluno, Kingdom of Italy
Died15 February 1929(1929-02-15) (aged 62)
Vienna, First Austrian Republic
Allegiance Austria-Hungary
1886–1918
Austria German-Austria
1918–1919
Service / branchAustro-Hungarian Army
Years of service1886–1919
Rank Feldmarschall-Leutnant (Lieutenant field marshal)
Commands93rd Infantry Division
25th Infantry Division
4th Infantry Division
Austrian People's Defense
Battles / warsWorld War I

Biography

edit

Adolf von Boog was born in the city of Belluno in 1866, formerly a possession of the Austrian Empire before it became part of the unified Kingdom of Italy. He spoke fluent German and Italian, along with some Bohemian, Hungarian, and Bosnian. Boog was commissioned as a lieutenant in a heavy artillery battery of the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1886. In 1892, Boog was appointed to the General Staff, where he remained until 1900. He then served in the 31st Infantry Regiment to 1901 before becoming part of the General Staff again, then serving in the 88th Infantry Regiment from 1907 to 1909. Boog became the chief of staff of XV Corps in 1910. In the period from then until 1911, he commanded an infantry regiment before returning to a senior staff position and then going to the War Ministry.[1]

By the time World War I broke out in August 1914, Adolf von Boog was a colonel in command of the 8th Infantry Brigade.[1] He served on the Eastern Front until being appointed as the chief of staff of 3rd Army in September 1914, a post he held until May 1915. Boog then commanded the 93rd Infantry Division on the Italian Front before returning to the east to lead the 25th Infantry Division in September. He would command that unit until May 1918, at which point he briefly served as the commander of the 4th Infantry Division towards the end of the war.[2]

On 7 November 1918, Lieutenant field marshal Adolf von Boog was named supreme commander of the Austrian Volkswehr (People's Defense), the military of the Austrian state after the collapse of the Dual Monarchy.[3] He retired from that position in 1919 and died in Vienna on 15 February 1929.[1]

Sources

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ a b c Adolf von Boog (in German). Weltkrieg.at. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  2. ^ Boog, Adolf von (in Czech). Valka.cz. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  3. ^ Dixon (1985), p. 41

Books

edit
  • Dixon, Joe (1985). Defeat and Disarmament: Allied Diplomacy and the Politics of Military Affairs in Austria, 1918-22. University of Delaware Press. ISBN 978-0874132212.
Military offices
Preceded by
Position created
Commander, 8th Infantry Brigade
1914
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of Staff, 3rd Army
1914—1915
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Position created
Commander, 93rd Infantry Division
1915
Succeeded by
Position abolished
Preceded by Commander, 25th Infantry Division
1915–1918
Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander, 4th Infantry Division
1918
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Hermann Kövess von Kövessháza
(Austro-Hungarian Army)
Supreme Commander, Volkswehr
1918–1919
Succeeded by
Rudolf Vidossich
(from 1922)