Karl Freiherr von
Pflanzer-Baltin
Karl Pflanzer was born at Fünfkirchen (Pecs) on the 1st of
June 1855 as the son of the later General-Auditor Wilhelm Pflanzer.
After three years at the Unterrealschule he attended the
cadet-institutes at Marburg and then at Eisenstadt. He graduated successfully
from the Military Academy at Wiener Neustadt with class mates like Karl Freiherr von
Kirchbach and Arthur
Giesl von Gieslingen. On the 1st of September 1875 he was
commissioned as a Leutnant in dragoon regiment number 1. During 1877/78 he attended
the brigade officers' school at Pardubitz and
from 1878 to 1880 the Kriegsschule at Vienna which he completed with "good success" followed by his promotion to
Oberleutnant on the 1st of November 1880. Oberleutnant Pflanzer
was assigned until 1889 in various staff appointments at Lemberg
(Lwów), Przemysl, Temesvár and with the 18th Infantry Division
at Mostar having been promoted to Hauptmann on the 1st of May
1884. In 1889 he was transferred for troop duty with ulan
regiment number 2 at Tarnów where he married Hedwig Feger with
whom he had two sons, one of whom was killed in action during the
1st world war. After successfully passing the senior officers' promotion examinations
Karl Pflanzer received his
promotion to Major on the 1st of May 1891 followed by the
appointment as an instructor at the Kriegsschule where he taught "operational general staff
duties" until 1895. On the
20th of March 1893 his father Wilhelm was ennobled as "Edler von" which was
also conferred on him on the 8th of
April. For his efforts as an instructor Karl Edler von Pflanzer,
meanwhile promoted to Oberstleutnant on the 1st of May 1894, was
honored with the award of the Military Merit Cross on the 15th of
October 1895. On the 1st of May 1897 he received his promotion to
Oberst followed by the appointment of chief of general staff of
the 11th corps at Lemberg in October of the same year. His
childless uncle, the retired Hauptmann Josef Freiherr von Baltin,
succeeded in getting permission to transfer his nobility and coat
of arms to Karl von Pflanzer on the 21st of February 1898. From then on he used the name Karl Freiherr von Pflanzer-Baltin.
For his performance at the headquarters in Lemberg he was
honored with the award of the 3rd class of the Order of the Iron
Crown on the 9th of April 1901 and the commander's cross of the
Order of the Star of Romania in November 1901. In March 1903 he
took over command of the 32nd infantry brigade followed by his promotion to Generalmajor on the 1st of May 1903. During all
these
years his annual evaluations from his commanding officers
contained excellent phrases like: very reliable, multitalented,
strong willed, fine character. In March 1907 Freiherr von
Pflanzer-Baltin assumed command of the 4th infantry division at
Brünn followed by his promotion to Feldmarschall-Leutnant on the
1st of November 1907 with seniority from the 30th of October. In the following four years at this post his main
task was to
increase the tactical knowledge of his troops. He was especially criticized for
instructing the lower ranks in tactics by some senior circles within the officer's corps but
with a powerful will he put his decisions in practice. Finally he was
successful with his ideas; for his achievements he was honored with
the knight's cross of the Order of Leopold on the 9th of March
1909 and he became General-Inspektor der Korps-Offiziersschulen
in October 1911 where he could continue to further his educational theories on a larger scale. It seems now that his career had come to an
end. He had received the Romanian jubilee medal of King Carol and
the Prussian Order of the Crown 1st class (1910) and received the honorary
promotion to General der Kavallerie mit Titel und
Charakter on the 29th of October 1912. In June 1914 he asked for
his release and prepared for his final retirement but the
outbreak of the war changed everything.
When the war started in the summer of 1914 the army could not do without senior Generals like Freiherr von Pflanzer-Baltin and
so his final retirement was postponed and he was called to duty
with the technical military committee. Already on the 1st of October
1914 he received his first field command shortly followed by the
substantive promotion to General der Kavallerie on the 1st of
November 1914 with seniority from the 21st of August 1914.
Assuming command over the troops in Siebenbürgen his main task was to defend the
Carpathians but his reorganization of his troops
was so successful that his wish to attack was soon granted . The
Armeegruppe Pflanzer-Baltin was enlarged with the addition of Corps Hoffmann
and the Polish Legion. With these reinforcements General Pflanzer-Baltin was able to stop the Russian advance and drive
them back to the peacetime frontier. On the 26th of December 1914
General Pflanzer-Baltin was honored with the award of the 1st
class of the Order of Leopold with war decoration for his
excellent leadership performed as commander of his army group.
Around Christmas 1914 he was able to occupy the important Uszok Pass, now dominating the whole area from Uszok to
Luczhina. During the offensive in February 1915, reinforced by
German troops, he was able to surmount the mountain range quickly
and to liberate Czernowitz. To halt Pflanzer-Baltin's further
advance the Russian General Brussilow planned to cut off the army
group and then destroy it. However Pflanzer-Baltin evaded and
was able to stop the Russian offensive near Okna on the 4th of
April 1915. These actions would be one of the main reasons for his award of the commander's cross of the Military Maria
Theresia Order in October 1918. Meanwhile General
Pflanzer-Baltin was honored with the grand cross of the Order of
Leopold with war decoration on the 1st of April 1915, the
honorary title of Geheimer Rat (Privy Councillor) on the 25th of
April 1915 and the Merit star of the decoration of the Society of
the Red Cross with war decoration on the 31st of May 1915. On the
13th of February 1915 he received a quiet unique kind of honor,
his seniority was changed to the 28th of October 1912! The German
allies honored him with the award of the Prussian Iron Cross 2nd
class on the 5th of May 1915 and the Iron Cross 1st class on the
14th of June 1915 but soon he would lose their favour.
After the battle of Tarnáw-Gorlice General Pflanzer-Baltin's
troops, meanwhile renamed as the 7th army, were able to advance to
the river Dnjestr. At the end of August 1915 during the general offensive the left wing of the
7th army had reached the river Sereth
but following the penetration of the German lines to the South his army was also
compelled to withdraw. General
Pflanzer-Baltin again conducted this withdrawal very skillfully with a
minimum of loss and confusion. During October and November 1915
the 160 kilometres long frontier was fixed by advanced trenches
which could stand the massive Russian attacks during December and
January with superior forces. On the 20th of December 1915 he was
honored with the title of Oberstinhaber of infantry regiment
number 93, on the 14th of February 1916 he received the Military
Merit Cross 1st class with war decoration and finally he received
his promotion to Generaloberst on the 1st of May 1916 with
seniority from the 8th of May 1916. The Ottoman Empire honored him
with the Golden and Silver Imtiaz medals and the University of
Czernowitz made him a honorary doctor of law. Generaloberst
Freiherr von Pflanzer-Baltin had now reached the pinnacle of his career He was known as
a Master of Skirmish Warfare and very
popular with his troops.
When the so-called Brussilo -Offensive started Generaloberst
Pflanzer-Baltin had to suffer his first setbacks. On the 4th
of June 1916 the Russian 7th and 9th armies joined the offensive
and were able to breakthrough the troops of Pflanzer-Baltin on
the 6th of June near Jastowic and on the 10th of June near Okna.
The Austrian 7th army had now to withdraw receiving heavy causalities. On the 18th of June 1916 the Russians
again captured
Czernowitz and forced the 7th army to relinquish the
eastern Bukowina and the way to the important Carpathian passes.
The German and Austro-Hungarian troops had to conduct several heavy battles
to again stabilize the eastern front in July 1916. During this
eventful fighting the German Headquarters started to criticize Generaloberst
Pflanzer-Baltin's way of leading his troops more and
more, finally they refused to subordinate German troops under Pflanzer-Baltin's command. All started with the rumor that German
units under his command had to suffer more causalities than his
Austro-Hungarian troops and at the end it became a power struggle
between the two Headquarters. Finally the Austro-Hungarian
Headquarter scarified the popular Generaloberst. Erzherzog
Friedrich wrote him a letter containing the plain truth:
"..For a long time the German high Command has repeatedly expressed it's
objections over the leadership of the 7th army and always resists, when it is a
matter of placing German troops under the command of your excellency. Now the
Headquarters of Army Group Erzherzog Karl also reports that there seems to be a certain feeling of insecurity
with your excellency. With a heavy heart and after long hesitation I have now
decided to give your excellency the well-intentioned advice to report sick and
to request your own relief from army command.... I need not assure your
excellency, how difficult it was for me, an old serving General, to write these
lines, but with the tremendous dimensions, which this, the largest war of all
times has assumed, personal factors must take second place." Generaloberst Pflanzer-Baltin followed this "advice"
and on the 8th of September 1916 he was relieved from his command and
on the 19th of November 1916 he was retired on "health grounds" at his "own
request". On the occasion of
his relief he received the special commendation of the Kaiser
which allowed him to wear the Large Golden Military Merit Medal
(Großes Signum Laudis) on the ribbon for merit in war. When the
swords were introduced he retroactively received them for this and
all other previously awarded decorations during the war.
But his retirement did not last long. On the 8th of March 1917
the new Kaiser Karl recalled the popular Generaloberst back to
duty. He received the appointment of General-Inspektor der
Fußtruppen, which was the new name for the
General-Infanterie-Inspektor, and he put all his efforts into the
instruction of infantry replacement troops. In the autumn of 1917 he was honored with the Ottoman War Medal, the so-called Iron
Crescent. On the 13th of July 1918 Generaloberst Pflanzer-Baltin again received a field command and took over the command of all
Austro-Hungarian troops in Albania. Only the fact of having a
new and popular commander gave these troops renewed vigour and with
only a few reinforcements they were able to stop the French-Italian
offensive. As was typical of Pflanzer-Baltin he started to
counter attack the superior enemy on the 24th of July 1918 and
was finally able to force them to withdraw to the south and east until August 1918. Only the huge
causalities caused by
Malaria forced him to stop his victorious offensive. On the 25th
of August 1918 Generaloberst Freiherr von Pflanzer-Baltin was
honored with the award of the grand cross of the Order of St.
Stephan and finally he received the commander's cross of the
Military Maria Theresia Order on the 2nd of October 1918 for his actions in the
Carpathians in 1914 and in the Bukowina and East-Galicia in 1914/15.
After the collapse of Bulgaria even a General like
Pflanzer-Baltin had no further chance to hold his positions. At the end
of October 1918 his troops reached in a systematic withdrawal the
old frontier near Cattaro. After the war he retired to Vienna
where he died on the 8th of April 1925. Generaloberst Karl
Freiherr von Pflanzer-Baltin was buried at the Hietzinger
Friedhof with full military honours and thousands of former subordinates paid this popular General their respects on his
final journey.
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