Conrad Von Hotzendorf - fervent militarist or lost soul?

Conrad Von Hetzendorf was the Austro-Hungarian chief of general staff at the the outbreak of World War One.  He was a fanatic advocate of war against the Habsburg Empire's neighbours, such as Italy and Serbia.  His views were so extreme they undermined his credibility among civilian leadership; the cautious Emperor Franz Joseph and Foreign minister Aehrenthal, constantly disregarded his advice.  Following Conrad's calls to wage a war with Italy in 1911, despite Austria's commitments within the Triple Alliance, Franz Joseph fired Conrad at Aehrenthal's urging. He was to return in time to lead his nation in disastrous campaigns in Galacia and Serbia until 1917.

Conrad was in many respects the embodiment of the fatal militarism that led Europe to general war in 1914, however he was a much more complicated character than a simple warmonger like Von Moltke, the German Chief of staff.  He had deep and sincere doubts of his fitness to hold high office, and often toyed with resigning.  He was shy in elegant company and relished the solitude of walks in the mountains.  He produced melancholy sketches of steep hillsides shrouded in pines.  His self doubt was furthered by crippling bouts of depression, especially after his wife's death in 1905.

He sought an outlet in an affair with Gina Von Reininghaus, the wife of a Viennese arms manufacturer.  Conrad was obsessed with Gina, he wrote up to 7 love letters a day.  As he could not post these without precipitating a scandal, he collected them in an album called 'Diary of my suffering'. He wrote a total of 3,000 love letters from 1907-15, some letters were up to 60 pages long.

She was his sole joy and it is difficult to understate the importance of this obsessive relationship.  This overshadowed all of Conrad's political and military concerns.  It's disturbed nature explains much of his demeanour; he was willing to associate himself with extreme jingoistic positions, despite
 the risk to his career.  He even saw war as a means to sweep away the social obstacles between a union with his beloved. In a love letter, he envisioned returning victorious from a 'Balkan War... draped in the laurels of triumph' to make her his wife.

Conrad is a fascinating character, and evokes pathos despite his guilt in orchestrating the slaughter of the First World War.


Bibliography - 'The Sleepwalkers - How Europe went to war in 1914' - Christopher Clark