Military history of Austria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From 1804 until 1867 - Imperial and Royal Army (Kaiserlich-königliche Armee) and navy were those of the Austrian Empire (1804-1867)

• Imperial and Royal Army during the Napoleonic Wars (1773-1815)

From 1867 until 1918 - The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was composed of the common army (recruited from everywhere), the Austrian Landwehr (recruited only from Cisleithania), and the Hungarian Honvéd (recruited only from Transleithania).

The official names in German were:

Regiments of the common army were "Imperial and Royal" - kaiserlich und königlich (k.u.k.)

Austrian Landwehr regiments were "Imperial Royal" - kaiserlich königlich (k.k.).

Hungarian Honvéd regiments were "Royal Hungarian" - königlich ungarisch (k.u.)

This army existed from establishment of the Dual Monarchy in 1867 until the end of World War I in 1918.

The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The official name in German was the Kaiserlich und königliche Kriegsmarine (Imperial and Royal Navy, also known by the acronym K.u. K).

From 1918 until 1921 - Volkswehr (peoples defence).

From 1921 until to today (except World War II, 1938-45) - The name of the Military of Austria is Bundesheer ("Federal Army"). The branches are Land Forces (KdoLdSK) and Air Forces (KdoLuSK).

In 1955, Austria declared her everlasting neutrality and made neutrality a constitutional law. The main purpose of the Austrian military since then has been the protection of Austria's neutrality.