The 1st Army (german: k.u.k. 1. Armee) was a

field army A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and with ...

-level command in the

ground forces An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The army fought in Galicia and

Russian Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

in 1914–15 before being briefly dissolved in the summer of 1916. Shortly afterwards, it was reformed and sent to fight in the Romanian Campaign for the next two years. The 1st Army was demobilized in April 1918 due to its heavy losses, following

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

's surrender.

History

The 1st Army was formed in 1914 as part of

's mobilization following its declaration of war on

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, carrying out the prewar plans for the formation of six

field armies A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and with ...

. Just as all Austro-Hungarian field armies, it consisted of a headquarters and several corps, along with some unattached units.John Dixon-Nuttal
THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ARMY 1914-18. Chapter 4: The Army in the Field
/ref> The 1st Army was put under the command of

General of the Cavalry General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers o ...

Viktor Dankl von Krasnik Viktor Julius Ignaz Ferdinand Graf Dankl von Kraśnik (Born as Viktor Dankl; 18 September 18548 January 1941) was a highly decorated Austro-Hungarian officer who reached the pinnacle of his service during World War I with promotion to the rare r ...

and was composed of the I, V, and X Corps, originating from

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

Presburg Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

and

Przemyśl Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was pr ...

, respectively. Under his command, the units of the 1st Army scored the first Austro-Hungarian victory of

during the defense of Galicia by defeating the Russian 4th Army at the

Battle of Krasnik A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in 23–25 August 1914. However, due to the critical situation on other parts of the

front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...

, Krasnik was forced to withdraw south along the

Dunajec The Dunajec (); Goral dialects: ''Dónajec'') is a river running through northeastern Slovakia and southern Poland. It is also regarded as the main river of the Goral Lands. It is a right tributary of the Vistula River. It begins in Nowy Targ at t ...

river to the area north of

. During the winter of 1914 the 1st Army took part in the

Battle of the Vistula River The Battle of the Vistula River, also known as the Battle of Warsaw, was a Russian victory against the German Empire and Austria-Hungary on the Eastern Front during the First World War. Background By mid-September 1914 the Russians were driv ...

, reaching

Ivangorod Ivangorod ( rus, Иванго́род, p=ɪvɐnˈɡorət; et, Jaanilinn; vot, Jaanilidna) is a town in Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the east bank of the Narva river which flows along the Estonia–Russia inte ...

. In May 1915, General Krasnik was transferred to the Italian Front. He was replaced by General of the Cavalry

Karl Kirchbach von Lauterbach Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austri ...

for a couple of months before command of the 1st Army was given to

General of the Artillery General of the Artillery is/was a general officer of artillery, and may be: *General of the Artillery (Germany) and Austria-Hungary * General of the Artillery (Imperial Russia) * General of the Artillery (Poland) *Feldzeugmeister (OF-8) of the Austr ...

Paul Puhallo von Brlog Paul Freiherr Puhallo von Brlog (21 February 1856 - 12 October 1926) was a general of Austria-Hungary. During World War I, he commanded the Austro-Hungarian Army's 3rd and 1st Armies. Biography Early life Puhallo's family came from the vicinity o ...

. The 1st Army did not take part in the

Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive The Gorlice–Tarnów offensive during World War I was initially conceived as a minor German offensive to relieve Russian pressure on the Austro-Hungarians to their south on the Eastern Front, but resulted in the Central Powers' chief offensiv ...

, remaining in

Volodymyr-Volynskyi Volodymyr ( uk, Володи́мир, from 1944 to 2021 Volodymyr-Volynskyi ( uk, Володи́мир-Воли́нський)) is a small city located in Volyn Oblast, in north-western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of the Volodymyr R ...

during that time. Romania-WW1-1

In the aftermath of that operation the 1st Army under Puhallo seized the bridgeheads at

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; la, Sandomiria) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (as of 2017), situated on the Vistula River in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Provi ...

and Tarlo-Jozefow, assigned to be part of Army Group Böhm-Ermolli for the first half of 1916. It was the transferred to the

Bug river uk, Західний Буг be, Захо́дні Буг , name_etymology = , image = Wyszkow_Bug.jpg , image_size = 250 , image_caption = Bug River in the vicinity of Wyszków, Poland , map = Vi ...

region and was part of

Army Group Linsingen The Army Group Mackensen (german: Heeresgruppe Mackensen, HGr. Mackensen) which operated in Poland between 22 April 1915 and 8 September 1915 during World War I under the command of Field Marshal , was an army group of the Imperial German Army. On ...

, under the overall command of

August von Mackensen Anton Ludwig Friedrich August von Mackensen (born Mackensen; 6 December 1849 – 8 November 1945), ennobled as "von Mackensen" in 1899, was a German field marshal. He commanded successfully during World War I of 1914–1918 and became one of t ...

, but saw little action until the end of the Russian

Great Retreat The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western Fr ...

, at which point the front lines became static. In the summer of 1916, Puhallo and the 1st Army were forced to withdraw during the Brusilov Offensive, and according to the general staff, "the former 1st army was in the course of events dissolved on grounds of expediency and by and by divided amongst neighboring armies, the headquarters thereby becoming superfluous and was disbanded." In August, however, the 1st Army was formed once again, this time under

General of the Infantry General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Impe ...

Arthur Arz von Straussenburg Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more ...

also entered the war on that month, and the reformed 1st Army under Straussenburg managed to hold off a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

on 28 August, despite its numerical inferiority. It continued to fight alongside the German 9th Army, as well as

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

and Ottoman troops, over the next several months as the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

entered Romania proper and occupied a large portion of it. During that time it was subordinated to Army Group Archduke Karl. When the archduke became Emperor

Karl I Charles I or Karl I (german: Karl Franz Josef Ludwig Hubert Georg Otto Maria, hu, Károly Ferenc József Lajos Hubert György Ottó Mária; 17 August 18871 April 1922) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary (as Charles IV, ), King of Croatia, ...

of Austria-Hungary in November, he assigned Straussenburg to replace

Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf Franz Xaver Josef Conrad von Hötzendorf (after 1919 Franz Conrad; 11 November 1852 – 25 August 1925), sometimes anglicised as Hoetzendorf, was an Austrian general who played a central role in World War I. He served as ''K.u.k. Feldmarschall' ...

as chief of the general staff. As a result,

Colonel General Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...

Franz Rohr von Denta Franz Freiherr Rohr von Denta (30 October 1854 – 9 December 1927) was an Austro-Hungarian field marshal and field commander who served as the last commander of the Austro-Hungarian First Army. Early life Born in Arad, Kingdom of Hungary, Aus ...

became the new 1st Army commander in February 1917. The army stayed in Romania for much of the year and took part in the continued fight against the Romanian forces, subordinated to Army Front Archduke Joseph, Barrett (2013), p. 127 including the

Third Battle of Oituz The Third Battle of Oituz was a confrontation between Romanian and, to a lesser extent, Russian forces on one side and German and Austro-Hungarian forces on the other, during the Romanian Campaign of World War I. The battle took place primar ...

. The actions during the summer of 1917 near

Oituz Oituz (formerly ''Grozești''; hu, Gorzafalva) is a commune in Bacău County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It is composed of six villages: Călcâi (''Zöldlonka''), Ferestrău-Oituz (''Fűrészfalva''), Hârja (''Herzsa''), Marginea, Oituz and Poi ...

, spearheaded by the VIII Corps, resulted in the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army taking significant casualties and only advancing 2-6 kilometers.Third battle of Oituz (August 1917)
WorldWar2.ro In February 1918 it was subordinated to Army Front Kövess. Austro-Hungarian casualties were extremely high on the Eastern Front, and the casualty-struck 1st Army had to be disbanded on 15 April 1918, as conclusion of the peace treaty with Romania was imminent.

Order of battle on formation

Upon mobilization in August 1914, the 1st Army consisted of three corps, along with three divisions and some smaller units under the direct command of the army headquarters.

Order of battle in October 1916

The 1st Army consisted of the following formations while in Romania, by late October 1916. *XXI Corps *VI Corps *Group Stein **71st Infantry Division **1st Cavalry Division ** 8th Bavarian Reserve Division

Order of battle at the Third Battle of Oituz

By July 1917, the 1st Army in Romania was composed of the following: *Group Gerok **VIII Corps ***70th Infantry Division ***71st Infantry Division *** 117th German Infantry Division ***7th Cavalry Division ***8th Cavalry Division *VI Corps *Group Liposcék

Commanders

The 1st Army had the following commanders until it was demobilized in 1918.John Dixon-Nuttal
THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ARMY 1914-18. Chapter 6 App. B: Armeen
/ref>

Chiefs of staff

The 1st Army had the following chiefs of staff until it was demobilized in 1918.1. armáda (1916-1918)

References

Books

* * {{Military of Austria-Hungary Field armies of Austria-Hungary 1914 establishments in Austria-Hungary Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 1918 disestablishments in Austria-Hungary