Rudolf Stöger-Steiner Freiherr von Steinstätten (26 April 1861 – 12 May 1921) was a colonel general in the Austro-Hungarian army and ögerSteinervonSteinstäserved as the last Imperial Minister for War not only to the Austro-Hungarian Empire but also to the ancient Habsburg monarchy which sat at its head.
Background and early life
Born as Rudolf Stöger in the village of Pernegg an der Mur, Styria, in the then Austrian Empire in 1861, Stöger-Steiner's father died when he was a young boy, leading his mother to marry a then in the Austrian Army, Joseph Steiner. Stöger-Steiner's stepfather, a veteran of the Danish campaign where he had been mentioned in dispatches to the Kaiser, had a profound influence on the young man's development and encouraged him to enlist in the Army.
Joseph Steiner saw that his stepson entered service as a cadet in the 9th Feldjägerbataillon upon joining the Army so as to prevent him being sent off to active service in Bosnia as a war volunteer, but rather than join his stepfather's old unit, Stöger-Steiner was accepted into the Infantry cadet institute at Liebenau for officer's training.
Having passed through officer training school with "good effort", the young Stöger-Steiner was commissioned as a lieutenant with the 9th Feldjägerbataillon on 1 November 1880.
Accepted into the Imperial Kriegsschule in Vienna, he graduated and was appointed to the general staff with the rank of Oberleutnant in 1886 before serving in the 50th infantry brigade, the 8th mountain brigade and the 18th infantry division before being promoted to Captain in 1890.
In 1891, he was formally adopted by his stepfather and changed his name to Stöger-Steiner, which allowed him to succeed to his father's noble title, "Edler von Steinstätten". Joseph Steiner transferred his noble title and coat of arms to his son on 25 October 1892, and the same year the newly ennobled young Stöger-Steiner married Maria Link in Graz, with whom he was to have a son and daughter.
Career
In the early 1890s, Stöger-Steiner held a number of staff appointments at the headquarters of a number of army corps, as well as an interval as company commander back at the 9th Feldjägerbataillon. From 1896 to 1899, he returned to serve as an instructor at the Kriegsschule in Vienna, where his efforts saw him receive promotion to the rank of Major and a command post in the 12th Infantry Regiment. For the six years between 1901 and 1907, he worked on the screening board of the Kommission zur Beurteilung der Stabsoffiziersaspiranten, which determined the suitability of persons for appointment to senior ranks in the Officer Corps. Having been promoted to the rank of Oberst in 1903, he was once again given a command role over an infantry regiment (the 74th) in 1907, and then the 56th Infantry brigade at Görz in 1909. Stöger-Steiner's next appointment to Generalmajor in 1909 saw him soon return to war-academy instruction as head of the Army School of Marksmanship (Armeeschießschule) in Bruck an der Leitha. In 1912, Stöger-Steiner received command of the 4th Infantry Division stationed at Brünn and promotion to the rank of Feldmarschall-Leutnant.
With war's outbreak following the July Crisis, and now well connected at court, Stöger-Steiner remained in command of the now mobilized fourth Infantry posted to Galicia as part of Auffenberg's Fourth Army. In Galicia, the fourth infantry took part in the Battles of Krasnik, Zamość, Komarów and the retreat to Tuckow, for which Stöger-Steiner received decorations in recognition of his initiative and outstanding leadership. In late 1914, the 4th infantry was redeployed to Krakow and attached to the First Army before being enlarged to become "Kombinierte Division Stöger-Steiner", a combined tactical force which took part in 1915's May Offensive and captured Annopol and Josefów.
Transferred from the Russian front, on 26 July 1915, he took command of the newly constituted Gruppe Stöger-Steiner at the Isonzo in May 1915 only to be promoted to the command of XV Corps (also on the Isonzo) that same summer. Over the next two years, XV Corps was to take part in 8 of the 12 battles of the Isonzo, and its commander, Stöger-Steiner, was promoted to the rank of General der Infanterie in late 1915.
In 1916, as part of his evaluation of Stöger-Steiner's performance, his commander Feldzeugmeister Scheuchenstuel stated the General was:
"A versatile useful senior general with a comprehensive military education with outstanding leadership qualities. Quiet, determined, full of self confidence. Has proved his worth in difficult situations. Owing to his special qualities he is also especially suited for a senior position within the military command."