The military veterinary service of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy at the begin of World War I

The assassination of the heir presumptive of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy, Archiduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajewo on June 28, 1914, and the reluctance for a diplomatic solution of the crisis, was the reason for World War I. Until 1918, the k.u.k. monarchy recruited 8 Mio soldiers, 1 Mio died in the battle fields, 480.000 as prisoner of war. The veterinary military service was only a small wheel in a gigantic apparatus. Military veterinarians counted about 290 in the prewar times, they were low in rank, were not consigned as officers and were in lower salary groups. Their number increased to about 400 in the first weeks due to a recruitment system. The army veterinarians served with the cavalry, mounted artillery and train units, with restricted possibilities during the first months. About 220.000 horses on two fronts needed veterinary service, beside numerous horses remounted locally. Main problems were death caused by exhaustion and battle casualties, less difficulties were observed in horse shoeing. Mange and pleuropneumonia turned into a problem during the trench warfare. A considerable number of veterinary publications out of 1914 are printed in literature.