Austro-Hungarian Army

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

k.u.k. Austro-Hungarian Army wearing the dark blue uniform colour introduced in 1867

The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy (1867 - 1918). It was composed of the common army (recruited from everywhere), the Austrian Landwehr (recruited only from Cisleithania), and the Hungarian Honvédség (recruited only within the Kingdom of Hungary).

The official names in German were:

regiments of the common army were "Imperial and Royal" - "kaiserlich und königlich" (k.u.k.)/"Császári és Királyi"
Austrian Landwehr regiments were "Imperial Royal" - "kaiserlich königlich" (k.k.) or "császári Királyi"
Hungarian Honvéd regiments, or "Honvédség," were "Royal Hungarian" - "königlich ungarisch" (k.u.)/"Magyar Királyi"

This army was organized after the establishment of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy in 1867 and existed until the end of World War I in 1918. Prior to 1867, Austria's ground forces were those of the Austrian Empire. The Hungarian military (light cavalry, infantry, and artillery) waged a successful War of Independence against the imperial army from 1848 until its surrender to Czarist army dispatched to help out the kaiserlich army in 1849. After the surrender, the Hungarian units were either disbanded or dislocated and national Hungarian military units could not be organized again until 1867 Ausgleich, or Compromise.

In terms of the Compromise, the Imperial and Royal (k. und k.) units had the priority of training and access to the new equipments, the Landwehr and the Honvédség have only inferior equipment. The longstanding white colour for infantry uniforms was replaced with a dark blue one which would remain the standard for subsequent decades until a pike grey uniform, to be used during World War I, was introduced in 1909. Serving in the Honvédség or even the Landwehr had little prestige among the officers and the best trained ones could be found in the k.u.k. army. The units of the Honvédség, on the other hand, had the full combat strength only in war-time periods, when the empty places were filled with reserves.

1 Ranks
2 Note
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Ranks

Austro-Hungarian POWs in Russia; a 1915 photo by Prokudin-Gorskii

Korporal / Tizedes
Feldwebel / Altiszt
Kadett / Növendék
Kadettoffiziersstellvertreter / Tisztjelölt
Leutnant / Hadnagy
Oberleutnant / Főhadnagy
Hauptmann 1. Kl. / Százados, kapitány
Major / Őrnagy
Oberstleutnant / Alezredes
Oberst / Ezredes
Generalmajor / Vezérőrnagy
Feldmarschalleutnant / Altábornagy
General der Infanterie / Fegyvernemi (gyalogsági, lovassági, tüzérségi) tábornok
Generaloberst / Vezérezredes
Feldmarschall / Tábornagy

[edit] Note

The ranks displayed after the "/" are the Hungarian equivalents of the Austrian ranks, since they were used in this format in the Magyar Királyi Honvédség (Royal Hungarian Home Defence Forces).