Competition for the Leadership of the Great General Staff during the Balkan Crisis and the Neutrality Period (1912-1916)
Competition for the Leadership of the Great General Staff during the Balkan Crisis and the Neutrality Period (1912-1916)

Summary/Abstract: The study analyses the competition for the position of Chief of the General Staff during the Balkan crisis (1912-1913) and during Romania’s neutrality (1914-1916). The position was very important and enjoyed an increased prestige because it created the conditions for standing out on the battlefield and, implicitly, for winning military glory. Therefore, the number of competitors was quite high. However, the major decision-maker regarding the appointment of the Chief of the General Staff, which, during the war, was transformed into the General Headquarters, was the political factor, namely the ruling party and the king, who was “the head of the armed power”.The solution chosen at the beginning of the world conflict, which worked even after Romania entered the war, with General Vasile Zottu as Chief and General Dumitru Iliescu as Deputy Chief, actually leading the Romanian armed forces operations, was inefficient. The right person to lead the General Headquarters, namely General Constantin Prezan, was found only at the beginning of December 1916.

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