Chapter Fifteen
Bloody War, Bitter Peace
Eastern Galicia
Austro-Hungarian Empire
December 1917
Adolf Hitler was working late into the night again, brigade headquarters empty except for the odd clerk, janitor or guard throughout the commandeered house. It had become a frequent occurrence of late. Mounds of documents laid before him, divided into specific piles of various matters. He had never realized how much paperwork and attached administrative nonsense his superiors had to wade through, but now he felt some inkling to the responsibilities they silently bore. If what Hitler was doing was mind numbing and frequent, the paperwork his superior was forced to do was worse.
It had been over three months since his return to the war and he still had not rejoined his comrades in the trench. Working within brigade headquarters showed him a larger picture of the war, which had proven to be very enlightening.
Lieutenant Colonel Olbrecht and he frequented the front regularly for first hand status updates, to raise morale and so forth, but always returned to tackle the misery of military administration that always seemed to await them. Requisition orders, supply manifests, and more flowed through the headquarters building, delivered to whichever department it belonged to. And as commander of the 87th Infantry Brigade, Olbrecht received an ungodly amount of missives, reports, and other communiques from the regiments within the brigade, other brigades, Third Army HQ and more.
It made him miss the front more so yet he dare not leave Olbrecht’s side and leave his commander weakened. If Olbrecht were to be drowned by his duties then the entire brigade would suffer, thousands of men who depended on Olbrecht and by extension of the commander, Hitler, needed him where he was to ensure the Austrian military machine was smooth and efficient and did not trouble the lives of the soldiery under the brigade’s command.
He had written to Lutjens and Gross, lamenting that he was away from the 21st Regiment but that he felt compelled to stay to assist Olbrecht as he felt he was doing more good from behind the scenes than in the trenches.
Gross was supportive as always, his understanding and governmental position silently affirming Hitler’s decision to remain on as Olbrecht’s adjutant. Lutjens he had been more worried about. He didn’t want his friend to feel he abandoned him for the relative safety of the rear lines and a warm bed but his friend and comrade of three years was more than understanding and congratulated Hitler on what Lutjens called a ‘well-earned promotion.’ Such understanding and acceptance firmed his resolve.
Not only was he aiding his commander, he had attended several Army-level briefings to discuss strategy and logistics, giving him insight and an understanding of the war on a tactical and strategic scale. Many at these conferences had eyed him, a mere Feldwebel, with curiosity and disdain as most adjustants for Brigade-level officers and above were captains or higher. Olbrecht seemed annoyed with how they treated his adjutant but Hitler did not overly mind. Let them sneer, let them look down on him, the medals adorning his chest were battle-earned, not bequeathed due to blueblood origin or back-patting that plagued the Austro-Hungarian military’s upper echelons.
He had earned all he held and none could take that from him.
“Adi, how are you still awake?” Lieutenant Colonel Olbrecht’s voice broke his train of thought. He looked up and saw Olbrecht walking towards him, two mugs of coffee in hand, steam rising from.
Hitler rose, coming to attention. “Sir.”
“Sit, sergeant, that’s an order,” his commander said kindly.
Hitler resumed his seat, eagerly accepting the proffered coffee, taking a deep drag of it, the heat warming him up to counter the freezing ice and snow that resided outside the two-story home that housed brigade headquarters.
“I couldn’t go to bed yet, sir. Too much work to do. Besides, it isn’t past midnight yet.”
“It's almost three o’clock in the morning.”
“Scheiße,” Hitler muttered, surprised. He turned to look up at the clock ticking away behind him, seeing that the time was in fact 02:56. “I lost track of time.”
“It appears that way doesn’t it,” Olbrecht said, amused. He took a sip of his coffee and leaned back in the chair he had sat down in. “Stop working, relax.”
“But, sir-” Hitler began, gesturing with one hand at the piles of paperwork.
“Leave it until you get some sleep. You’re no good to me or the brigade dead tired. Finish that cup, sergeant, and go to bed.”
“Yes, sir,” Hitler took a sip, shrugging his shoulders to unwound the tightly bound muscles from hunching over too long. He rubbed one hand around his neck, massaging the muscle cords. “Mind if I ask you a question, sir?”
“Hmm,” Olbrecht said, drinking his coffee, but waved his free hand for Hitler to continue.
“What do you think about what’s happening in Russia?” Hitler asked carefully.
Olbrecht finished his sip and looked at Hitler for a moment. He seemed to stare into the sergeant’s soul.
“Are you asking due to political… affiliation to what is occurring in Russia?”
Hitler realized what he meant, “I am not a Communist.” The words were spat out vehemently. “We have served together for years, sir. In that time have I ever hinted that I am a radical revolutionary or a believer in Marxism? Do not insinuate such allegations, lieutenant colonel. It’s insulting.”
Olbrecht tilted his head in apology. “One cannot be too certain anymore. The things we keep hearing from Russia are… disturbing to say the least.”
Hitler leaned forward, hands clasped around the coffee mug. “Communism is a plague, mein Herr, a terrible plague loosed upon this world by Marx and Engels. And now that plague has taken root in Russia and is spreading.” Hitler lowered his voice as if someone was eavesdropping on their conversation. “Why have we not invaded Russia across the front? We need to destroy them before Lenin spreads it to the world.”
Olbrecht opened his mouth, “Adi, it is not so simple. You’ve seen the state of the Third Army, it isn’t much different across all of the Empire’s forces. We are in no shape to advance into Russia. And Petrograd is hundreds of kilometers away from the frontlines. If we pushed across the frontline today, launched a massive offensive, the Russians will do as they have always done, use their country’s vast territory to buy time, grind the enemy down. Look at what happened to Napoleon. He had all of Europe in his grasp and he threw it away on a gamble into Russia.”
“But the Russians are weak-”
“As are we,” Olbrecht interrupted. “There are shortages everywhere, most of the frontline is still within our own country.”
Hitler slammed his fist down, surprising the Austrian officer, “But they’re weaker,” he said fervently, “We only need to knock down the walls of their nation and it’ll all come crashing down. Then we can exterminate Communism and halt its spread. We would save the world from its insidious ideology.”
“It is simply not possible, Adi.”
“It should be,” he muttered. “It must be.”
“Sirs,” said a flustered corporal who bustled in, hand clutching a piece of paper. “Lieutenant Colonel Olbrecht, you’ll want to see this,” the corporal held the paper out.
Hitler was half-curious, though it was likely to be some missive from Third Army Headquarters. He drained the rest of the coffee, setting the mug down. He would head to bed soon. He was tired, so very tired. Sleep would be more than welcome, then it would be back here after a few hours snatched.
Olbrecht read the document and stood up suddenly. Hitler eyed his commander, seeing something akin to surprise and relief on the commander’s face.
“Sir?”
“An armistice,” he muttered. Olbrecht cleared his throat and spoke louder. “An armistice between the Central Powers and Russia has been put into place… Immediately all hostilities are to cease until otherwise instructed.” Olbrecht let out a sigh of relief. “Looks like the war is one step closer to ending, for better or worse.”
The corporal let out a whoop of relief, Olbrecht gave a small smile but Hitler… Hitler sat there in shocked disbelief, furious that the most opportune time to destroy Bolshevism in its infancy had been passed in favor of a what he knew would be a hollow peace.
Hitler privately vowed that day to correct such an oversight, no matter how long it took or the bodies it would leave in its wake.
+ + +
The armistice between the Central Powers and Russia, formally renamed the Russian Soviet Republic in early 1918, would last for nearly three months, with only sporadic fighting flaring up between the two sides, largely isolated and contained. Months of intense negotiation followed. The Soviet Russians, believing that the Central Powers would be willing to sign a quick peace, were initially overambitious, their diplomatic ambassador to the negotiations, Leon Trotsky, quickly established himself as arrogant and pompous to the German, Austro-Hungarian, Bulgarian and Ottoman representatives. Trotsky, like Lenin, believed that proletariat revolutions would sweep across Europe in the months following the October Revolution. But as winter passed into spring the Soviets realized the error of their zealous calculation and scrambled to cobble together a negotiated settlement that sated Germany and its allies but still left Russia in a position of relevant strength.
There was a show of defiance, rumors were whispered that Russia would resume hostilities if pushed too hard but these have never been proven with historical sources. In the end the Soviet Russians knew they had to throw in the towel or risk mass social unrest at home, which was already beginning to worsen due to the ongoing civil conflict.
And so they did, defanging themselves in the process.
On March 3rd, 1918 the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed between the Central Powers and the Russian Soviet Republic. Vast tracts of land were to be militarily or economically dominated by the Central Powers, specifically Germany and Austro-Hungary. The Ukraine, in the form of the short-lived Ukrainian People’s Republic, would be a part of the infamous “Peace for Bread” policy that saw Ukraine empty its grain silos to satisfy the hungry demands of its former enemies. Some within the Entente would use the punishing Brest-Litovsk Treaty as inspiration for the Treaties of Versailles, Trianon and Saint Germain-en-Laye.
Small territorial adjustments would be made, with Germany benefiting the most by far, while Austro-Hungary saw minute gains while the exclusion of Polish representatives who sought to create an independent Poland saw to many Poles, once pro-Austrian, become militantly anti-Austrian and would plague German and Austrian military forces until the end of the war in guerilla tactics while many Polish military units within the Austro-Hungarian Empire defected to the Russians to take part in the Russian Civil War there, largely fighting on the side of the Whites.
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk came at a critical juncture of the First Great War. The Central Powers neared military exhaustion, fighting a war on several fronts proved disastrous to these resource-starved empires and stretched their limited manpower to its breaking point. With the entry of the Americans into the war many within the Central Powers believed the war to be unwinnable but with the collapse of the Russians into civil war and their desire to withdraw from the war it gave the leaders of Germany and Austro-Hungary a brief surge of hope.
Now was the time to strike, the Germans argued. One last great offensive to knock France out of the war, forcing the Entente to sue for peace before the United States could properly deliver its vast industrial might and fresh soldiers to Europe.
While the Germans assembled hundreds of thousands of soldiers freshly arrived from the Eastern Front to begin their Kaiserschlacht, a million more were tied down occupying the territory ceded to the Germans in the Treaty. The Austro-Hungarians on the other hand turned their attention to their two remaining fronts: the Italian and Macedonian (the Romanians having sued for peace following Russia’s withdraw from the war with the Treaty of Bucharest temporarily concluding the fighting on that front until the final hours of the war) as well as using a significant proportion of their military forces as an occupying garrison in western Russia and the Ukraine.
While the Macedonian Front received little in the way of Austro-Hungarian soldiers in mid to late 1918, the Italian Front on the other hand would receive the lion’s share of the Empire’s remaining viable strength, especially following the decisive victory at the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo. Many still believed that with Russia out of the war that the war could be brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
Yet times were becoming increasingly more dire in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The economy was nearing collapse from the burden of continuing the war, food stores were practically nonexistent and many across the Empire starved or survived off half-rations. The military had proven itself to be a bloated and ineffective force, ever shamefully in the shadow of its more successful German brother to the north. Ethnic nationalism rose to new heights across Austro-Hungary, causing already tense relationships amongst its populace to become ever more strained and violent.
It would not be long until the Empire collapsed though none could imagine it would happen in the fashion it did. It would be in this chaotic environment of low morale, starvation, wounded national pride, and the impending threat of defeat in the Great War that radicalized Adolf Hitler, at the time a non-important sergeant in the Austrian Landwehr assigned to what had been the Eastern Front. He was nothing more than a cog in the military machine of a dying Empire, but within only a few years he would prove to be a force to be reckoned with in the First Austrian Republic.
-excerpt from From Empire to Fascism: the Rise of the Austrian State
by Gerald Stourzh, PhD in Modern History (1974)
