Alfred Edler von Schenk (born Alfred Schenk; 5 July 1863 – 12 October 1952) was an Austrian general and later Czechoslovakian government advisor.
Early years and military career
Von Schenk was born in Laibach now Ljubljana in Slovenia, into a Roman Catholic middle-class family, to Moriz, a retired senior civil servant, and Eulalia Zwierzina. His mother descended from a long line of military officers. The young Alfred received his fundamentals in Ljubljana, and moved to Praha in Bohemia to complete his education, where thanks to his German-Austrian sounding last name, was able to join the local and prestigious Gymnasium. Life in Prague was very good at the time and being a German Austrian he could have lived well enough, even without speaking the local Czech language, but notwithstanding, he became very fluent in Czech, a fluency described next to be a bilingual, showing a great attitude, in learning languages, an ability he was to exploit with success, during the assignment, in the Balkans and in Russia, to the intelligence and counterintelligence unit.
After having successfully completed three of the eight classes, on 11 July 1880, he volunteered into the Common Army and was assigned to the 21st Infantry Regiment “Freiherr von Mondel” then based in Prague. On 18 September 1880 he was promoted Sergeant, and on 18 August 1881 he entered into the Cadet Company of the 24th Feldjager (Rifles) Battalion. His personal files described him as an excellent marksman, with a calm and relaxed personality, with a high sense of duty and a strong morality. A disciplinarian with his juniors, he was, however, very attentive to their problems.
The early months of 1882 Alfred von Schenk saw action during the suppression of the second Krivošije uprising in southern Dalmatia. His commission was highly recommended by Colonel Paul Hostinek. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the 91st Infantry Regiment “Ritter von Fröhlich” on 1 May 1884, then promoted to 1st Lieutenant on 1 November 1888. A year later he was assigned to the 9th Infantry Brigade staff in Olomutz, and on 24 November 1891 he was a staff Officer of the 2nd Mountain Brigade in Trebinjie (now Bosnia and Herzegovina). During this assignment he was to become familiar with the Istria, Kraina, Carinthia and Styria regions, and also improved his knowledge on south-west Hungary and Turkey, while attached to military missions. In the meantime, he also learned French. On 5 May 1892 he was promoted Captain and assigned to staff of the 12th Army Corps in Hermannstadt, today Sibiu in Rumania. He started the study of Russian language, and from 1 May 1895 until 14 May 1896 he was in Kazan, presently the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, officially to study the language, but in reality serving as an undercover Agent.
Promoted to the rank of Major on 1 November 1898, he was assigned as Chief of Staff of the 16th Infantry Division. On 1 May 1902 he was made Lieutenant Colonel and assigned to the 1st Bosnian Herzegovinian Infantry Regiment, becoming its commander on 13 April 1907. On 27 November 1905 he was promoted to Colonel.
Ennoblement and World War I
In February 1911, Schenk was ennobled and thus he added the predicate “von” to his last name; the following 11 May he was promoted to Generalmjor. In February 1914 at the approach of World War I, he was commanding the 97th Infantry Brigade in Vienna and with the coming of war against Russia he was an army rear area commander. In late August 1914 he was appointed commander of the 15th Infantry Division. And the promotion to Feldmarschall-leutnant or Field Marshal Lieutenant arrived on 1 November 1914.