Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria


Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria, Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, Prince of Tuscany was an Austro-Hungarian archduke and an army commander in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. He was also the titular Grand Duke of Tuscany from 2 May 1921 to 8 November 1948.

Family

Peter Ferdinand was the fourth child and third-eldest son of Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his wife Alice of Bourbon-Parma. His two elder brothers married morganatically.

Life

Peter Ferdinand had a career in the army. In 1908 he was a colonel, in 1911 major general and on 23 April 1914 he was promoted to Feldmarschall-Leutnant. At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, he was commander of the 25th Infantry Division, with which he fought against Russia in Galicia and southern Poland, as part of the Austro-Hungarian II Corps. General Moritz von Auffenberg later blamed Peter Ferdinand's actions for preventing the encirclement of the entire 5th Russian army during the Battle of Komarów. In June 1915, Peter Ferdinand was relieved of command and the 25th Division was taken over by Major General Joseph Poleschensky.
On 17 April 1917 he was reinstated and, as a General of the Infantry, put in command of an army corps on the Italian front. His troops first defended the Ortler Range and then covered the flank of the 14th German Army during its advance in the Battle of Caporetto. On August 15, 1918 his Corps, now stationed in Trentino, was renamed to V Army Corps. From 26 October 1918, in the last days of the war, he commanded the 10th Army in Trento on behalf of Field Marshal Alexander von Krobatin.

Marriage and issue

Peter Ferdinand married Princess Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, daughter of Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta and his wife Princess Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, on 8 November 1900 in Cannes, France. They had issue: