Background
Alfred Krauss was born in Zara (Zadar), Dalmatia, on April 26, 1862.
Alfred Krauss was born in Zara (Zadar), Dalmatia, on April 26, 1862.
He attended the Military Academy from 1881 to 1883, and in 1891 in the grade of captain was assigned to the V Army Corps in Pressburg as General Staff officer.
Next came four years with the infantry in Graz, and by 1904 Colonel Krauss went to work to improve Austro-Hungarian field kitchens, mechanized vehicles, and infantry battle gear. In 1910 he was appointed commandant of the War Academy and promoted major general.
On August 28, 1914, Krauss was given command of the Twenty-ninth Infantry Division in Serbia, and on September 6 he defeated the Serb Timok Division near Sasinci. At that time Krauss criticized General Conrad von Hotzendorf's decision to launch an all-out strike against Serbia, blaming this dilution of strength for the overall lack of preparedness against Russia in the east. And when Archduke Eugene took over command of the southeastern front after General Oskar Potiorek's disastrous campaign in Serbia, Krauss joined the archduke on December 23, 1914, as chief of staff. Again, when Eugene was given command of the southwestern front on May 27, 1915, Krauss followed him to Marburg as chief of staff. Throughout this period the able Krauss built up the Austro-Hungarian defensive positions along the Isonzo front as well as in the Dolomites. Early in 1916 Archduke Eugene entrusted Krauss with the planning of a projected strike against the key railroad center at Padua; Krauss recommended an assault through the alpine passes, but Conrad brushed that aside in favor of a sweep from the high plains of Lavarone-Folgaria. The offensive, launched on May 15, proved a disaster and was compounded by General Aleksei Brusilov's offensive in the east.
Krauss was relieved as chief of staff of Army Group Archduke Eugene on February 28, 1917, and in mid-March was given command of the I Army Corps as part of General Hermann Kovess' Seventh Army in the Carpathians, the Bukovina, and Galicia. Krauss was promoted general of infantry on August 1, and midway through the following month was again transferred to the southwestern front as part of the right wing of the German Fourteenth Army. On October 25, 1917, Krauss finally got his chance to storm the alpine passes, breaking the Italian lines at Flitsch and rolling the enemy units up as far as Feltre and Monte Grappa in what became known as the battle of Caporetto. Krauss felt that the victory could have been even greater had General Svetozar Boroevic closed the trap on the fleeing Italians from the south.
Krauss was next considered for several administrative posts, including minister of food and agriculture, but on May 16, 1918, was given command of the East Army in the Ukraine and entrusted with the job of exploiting the food resources of this area. Not even the talented Krauss, however, could master this impossible task, and he was recalled to Vienna at the end of November 1918. In numerous writings Krauss became a sharp critic of the Austro-Hungarian conduct of the war. He died in Bad Goisem, Upper Austria, on September 29, 1938.