Austro-Hungarian General Staff

Imperial and Royal General Staff
k.u.k. Generalstab
General Staff building on Ringstraße, Vienna
Active 1867–1918
Country  Austria-Hungary
Allegiance Austro-Hungarian Army
Branch Active duty
Type Staff
Part of Ministry of War
Garrison/HQ Ringstraße, Vienna
Commanders
First Chief of the General staff Feldmarschall-Leutant Franz von John
Last Chief of the General Staff Generaloberst Arthur Arz von Straußenburg

The Imperial and Royal General Staff (German: k.u.k. Generalstab) of Austria-Hungary was part of the Ministry of War. It was headed by the Chief of the General Staff for the Whole Armed Forces (Chef des Generalstabes für die gesamte bewaffnete Macht), who had direct access to the Emperor.

Responsibilities

The general staff was responsible for planning and preparations, while the Armeeoberkommando (AOK) was the operational high command. In fact, since the AOK was under the direct command of the Emperor and the Chief of the General Staff was his chief adviser, in practice the AOK was under the control of the Chief of the General Staff.

List of chiefs of the general staff

† denotes people who died in office.

№ Chief of the General StaffTook officeLeft officeTime in office
1
von John, FranzFeldmarschall-Leutant
Franz von John
(1815–1876)		20 December 186718691–2 years
2
von Gallina, Josef WilhelmFeldmarschall-Leutant
Joseph von Gallina
(1820–1883)		186918744–5 years
3
von John, FranzFeldzeugmeister
Franz von John
(1815–1876)		187425 May 1876 †1–2 years
4
von Schönfeld, AntonFeldmarschall-Leutant
Anton von Schönfeld
(1827–1898)		4 June 187618814–5 years
5
von Beck-Rzikowsky, FriedrichFeldzeugmeister
Friedrich von Beck-Rzikowsky
(1830–1920)		1881190624–25 years
6
von Hötzendorf, Franz ConradGeneral der Infanterie
Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf
(1852–1925)		190619114–5 years
7
Schemua, BlasiusGeneralmajor
Blasius Schemua
(1856–1920)		3 December 191112 December 19121 year, 9 days
8
von Hötzendorf, Franz ConradGeneralfeldmarschall
Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf
(1852–1925)		12 December 19121 March 19174 years, 79 days
9
von Straußenburg, Arthur ArzGeneraloberst
Arthur Arz von Straußenburg
(1857–1935)		1 March 19173 November 19181 year, 247 days

Bibliography

  • Lackey, Scott W. The Rebirth of the Habsburg Army: Friedrich Beck and the Rise of the General Staff. Greenwood Press, 1995.
  • Rothenberg, Gunther E. The Army of Francis Joseph. Purdue University Press, 1998.
  • Sondhaus, Lawrence. Franz Conrad Von Hötzendorf: Architect of the Apocalypse. Humanities Press, 2000.

See also

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