Austria-Hungary
Oskar Potiorek
1853–1933 Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1911–1914; commander, Balkan forces, 1914
Oskar Potiorek, born in Carinthia in 1853, spent much of his career on the Austro-Hungarian General Staff and from 1892 headed its operations office. In 1902 he became deputy to the Chief of the General Staff, but in 1906 the post went to Conrad von Hötzendorf. Potiorek became governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1911. He rode in the archduke's car when Franz Ferdinand visited Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, and the Austrian Biographical Lexicon holds him chiefly responsible for the poor security. Put in charge of the Balkan forces in August 1914, he led invasions of Serbia that failed, the last ending in a heavy defeat, and was removed in December. He died at Klagenfurt in 1933.