Viktor Dankl von Krasnik

Viktor Dankl von Krasnik
Viktor Dankl von Krasnik
Born	(1854-09-18)18 September 1854 Udine, Austrian Empire
Died	8 January 1941(1941-01-08) (aged 86) Innsbruck, Austria
Allegiance	Austro-Hungarian Army
Years of service	1874—1918
Rank	Generaloberst
Battles/wars	First World War
Awards	Military Order of Maria Theresa

Count Viktor Dankl von Krasnik (German: Viktor Graf Dankl von Krasnik, born as Viktor Dankl on September 18, 1854, in Udine, died January 8, 1941 in Innsbruck) was a highly decorated career Austro-Hungarian officer who reached the pinnacle of his service during World War I with promotion to the rare rank of Colonel General (Generaloberst). His successful career met an abrupt end in 1916 due to both his performance on the Italian front and health issues. After the war he would be a vocal apologist for both his country's war record and the dethroned Habsburg monarchy.

Viktor Dankl was born in the then Imperial Austrian province of Venetia (since 1919 in Italy). His father was a Captain in the army from nearby Venice. His secondary education would first take place in Gorizia, where his family relocated after his father's retirement, and then in Trieste. Both schools were German language Gymnasiums. In 1869, at the age of fourteen, he moved on to the Cadet Institute at St. Pölten, Lower Austria. From 1870 until 1874 he attended the Theresian Military Academy at Wiener-Neustadt, also in Lower Austria.

Upon completion of the academy, Dankl was assigned to the Third Dragoon Regiment as a second Lieutenant. After completion of the War School in Vienna, he became a general staff officer in 1880. For the next two decades he rose through the officer ranks, becoming the head of the central office of the Austro-Hungarian general staff in 1899. In 1903 he was promoted to the rank of major general and given command of the Sixty-sixth Infantry Brigade in Trieste. From 1905 until 1907 he would head up the Sixteenth Infantry Brigade, also in Trieste. After being promoted to a lieutenant Field Marshal (Feldmarschalleutnant), Dankl would receive command of the Thirty-sixth Division in Zagreb until 1912, at which point he was moved to Innsbruck to command the Fourteenth Corps. Later that same year, on October 29, Dankl was elevated to the rank of General of Cavalry.