PT Journal
AU Szajko, V
   Jirasek, Z
TI Colonel Karl von Tegetthoff and Telegraphy in the Service of Imperial and Royal North Army in 1866
SO Historica Olomucensia
PY 2016
BP 105
EP 127
VL 50
IS 1
DI 10.5507/ho.2016.006
DE Karl von Tegetthoff; imperial and royal army; Austro-Prussian War 1866; electric telegraphy; communication; Military Intelligence; espionage
AB In the year 1866, a dispute over the leading position in the German Confederation between Prussia and Austria came to the final resolution. The war, of which also Italy went to on the side of Prussia, was noticeably influenced by the technical progress of the industrial era. Military campaigns would finish in a different way without a telegraph and also the crucial battle (3rd July 1866 near Hradec Kralove) would occur under the totally different prerequisites and conditions. Just at that time, fates of the whole monarchy and Colonel Karl von Tegetthoff, the excellent soldier and the military intelligence chief, came closer. He and his colleagues were successful in tapping the lines of a Prussian filed telegraph and they obtained the information about the advancement of the 2nd Prussian Army to the immediate vicinity of the battlefield near Hradec Kralove. However, Commander of the imperial and royal North army Benedek was not able to utilize the information for his benefit. The lost crucial battle casted a complete shadow over a little bit in which the Austrian army succeeded in 1866. Karl returned to the infantry where he spent the majority of his career. Despite he obtained a better post, in 1880 he retired at his own request. As soon as he found out he had cancer, he committed suicide. It was the year 1881. His voluntary departure from this world was motivated by health problems, any other information is necessary to reject.
ER