Archduke Peter Ferdinand | |||||
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Head of the House of Habsburg-Tuscany | |||||
Reign | 1921 - 8 November 1948 | ||||
Predecessor | Archduke Josef Ferdinand | ||||
Successor | Archduke Gottfried | ||||
Born |
Salzburg, Austria-Hungary |
12 May 1874||||
Died | 8 November 1948 St. Gilgen, Salzburg, Austria |
(aged 74)||||
Spouse | Princess Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies | ||||
Issue |
Archduke Gottfried Helena, Duchess of Württemberg Archduke Georg Rosa, Duchess of Württemberg |
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House | Habsburg-Lorraine | ||||
Father | Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany | ||||
Mother | Alice of Bourbon-Parma |
Full name | |
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German: Peter Ferdinand Salvator Karl Ludwig Maria Joseph Leopold Anton Rupert Pius Pancraz Italian: Pietro Ferdinando Salvatore Carlo Lodovico Maria Gieuseppe Leopoldo Antonio Roberto Pio Pancrazio |
Archduke Peter Ferdinand Salvator Karl Ludwig Maria Joseph Leopold Anton Rupert Pius Pancraz of Austria, Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, Prince of Tuscany) (12 May 1874, Salzburg, Austria-Hungary – 8 November 1948, St. Gilgen, Salzburg, Austria) was an Austro-Hungarian Archduke and an Army Commander in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. He was also the titular Grand Duke of Tuscany from 2 May 1921 to 8 November 1948.
Peter Ferdinand was the fourth child and third-eldest son of Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his wife Alice of Bourbon-Parma. His two elder brothers married morganatically.
Peter Ferdinand had a career in the army. In 1908 he was a Colonel, in 1911 Major General and on 23 April 1914 he was promoted to Feldmarschall-Leutnant. At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, he was commander of the 25th Infantry Division, with which he fought against Russia in Galicia and southern Poland, as part of the Austro-Hungarian II Corps. General Moritz von Auffenberg later blamed Peter Ferdinand to have prevented by his actions the encirclement of the entire 5th Russian army during the Battle of Komarów. In June 1915, Peter Ferdinand was relieved of command and the 25th Division was taken over by Major General Joseph Poleschensky.
On April 17, 1917 he was reinstated and, as a General of the Infantry, put in command of an Army Corps on the Italian front. His Corps first defended the Ortler Range and then covered the flank of the 14th German Army during its advance in the Battle of Caporetto. On August 15, 1918 his Corps, now stationed in Trentino, was renamed to V Army Corps. From October 26, 1918, in the last days of the war, he commanded the 10th Army in Trento on behalf of Field Marshal Alexander von Krobatin.