A small Austrian garrison in Przemyśl was formed in the early 1780s. It was only around 1802 that the number of soldiers grew to 700. A fundamental change in the nature of the garrison came when a fortress started to be built here in 1879 and the command of the X/10 Austro-Hungarian corps appeared in Przemyśl. In consequence, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries the Przemyśl garrison was among the largest ones in Austria-Hungary. The soldiers accounted for about 25% of the town population. The military factor contributed to the development and modernization of the town. The command tried to subdue the civil authorities in Przemyśl. The presence of the army made the town even more multinational and multiethnic than before. The Austrian garrison was often perceived to be an element of Germanization. The officers (mostly of German origin) distanced themselves from the civilians and socialized only within their own group. The town elites not attempt to get closer to them. The large garrison also brought about a lot of problems of political, ethnic and criminal nature. Military criminals went basically unpunished. In addition, thecommand provoked a fierce conflict with the local socialists, accusing them of anti-state activity. In he final stage of the Great War the garrison was used as the only guarantor of Austrian rule in the town. It disintegrated even before the fall of Austria-Hungary in the autumn of 1918.