Imperial and Royal Uhlans

Last updated
Colonel Maximilian Ritter von Rodakowski and the 13th Uhlans in the Battle of Custoza. (1908 painting by Ludwig Koch. Oil on linen, Army History Museum, Vienna) HGM Koch Oberst Rodakowski in der Schlacht bei Custozza 1866.jpg
Colonel Maximilian Ritter von Rodakowski and the 13th Uhlans in the Battle of Custoza. (1908 painting by Ludwig Koch. Oil on linen, Army History Museum, Vienna)

Together with the Dragoons and Hussars, the Imperial and Royal Uhlans (German : k.u.k. Ulanen), made up the cavalry of the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1867 to 1918, both in the Common Army and in the Austrian Landwehr, where they were known as the Imperial-Royal Landwehr Uhlans (k.k. Landwehr-Ulanen).

Contents

The Austrian monarchy, weakened by losing the war against Prussia in 1866, effectively had to guarantee the autonomy of the Kingdom of Hungary in the so-called Compromise of 15 March 1867. As a result, the Hungarian half of the Empire immediately began to establish its own army, the Royal Hungarian Landwehr (Hungarian: Magyar Királyi Honvédség).

Following the signing of the Compromise, the Austrian half of the Empire also started to build an army, the Imperial-Royal Landwehr (German: k.k. Landwehr). The two new Landwehr forces thus existed alongside the Common Army (Gemeinsame Armee), the imperial army of the whole Empire. In effect this meant that Austria-Hungary had three separate armies at the same time.

Organisation

The Common Army has 11 Uhlan regiments and the Austria Landwehr 6 regiments. By tradition the majority of Uhlans were recruited from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. The regiments were also stationed there, with few exceptions.

The Imperial and Royal Uhlans (11 regiments)

Uhlan in winter marching order K.u.k. Ulan in Wintermarschadjustierung.png
Uhlan in winter marching order
Czapka of a subaltern of the 2nd Uhlans Tschapka k.k.Ulanen subaltern.jpg
Czapka of a subaltern of the 2nd Uhlans

Imperial-Royal Landwehr Uhlans

Assigned as divisional cavalry:
1 and 2 Sqns: 11th Infantry Division
3 and 4 Sqns: 30th Infantry Division
5 and 6 Sqns: 43rd Landwehr Infantry Division
Nationalities: 65 % Ruthenians - 30 % Polish - 5 % various
Recruiting district: Lemberg
Garrison: Lemberg
Assigned as divisional cavalry:
1+2 Sqns: 26th Landwehr Infantry Division
3+4 Sqns: 29th Infantry Division
5+6. Sqns: 10th Infantry Division
Nationalities: 58 % Czechs - 42 % various
Recruiting district: Leitmeritz
Garrison: Hohenmauth
Assigned as divisional cavalry:
1+2 Sqns: 45th Landwehr Infantry Division
3+4 Sqns: 24th Infantry Division
5+6. Sqns: 2nd Infantry Division
Nationalities: 69 % Poles - 26 % Ruthenians - 5 % various
Recruiting district: Przemysl
Garrison: Rzeszów
Assigned as divisional cavalry:
1+2 Sqns: 5th Infantry Division
3+4 Sqns: 12th Infantry Division
5+6. Sqns: 46th Landwehr Infantry Division
Nationalities: 85 % Poles - 15 % various
Recruiting district: Krakau
Garrison: Olmütz
Assigned as divisional cavalry:
1+2 Sqns: 4th Infantry Division
3+4 Sqns: 25th Infantry Division
5+6. Sqns: 13th Landwehr Infantry Division
Nationalities: 97 % Germans - 3 % various
Recruiting district: Vienna
Garrison: Stockerau
Assigned as divisional cavalry:
1+2 Sqns: 3rd Infantry Division
3+4 Sqns: 8th Infantry Division
5+6. Sqns: 44th Landwehr Infantry Division
Nationalities: 60 % Germans - 39 % Czechs - 1 % various
Recruiting district: Prague
Garrison: Wels


Sources

Literature

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austro-Hungarian Army</span> Land force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918

The Austro-Hungarian Army was the land force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army, the Imperial Austrian Landwehr, and the Royal Hungarian Honvéd.

This is the complete order of battle of the French and Third Coalition armies during the Battle of Austerlitz.

The 13th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in November 1816 in Münster in Westphalia as a troop brigade and became the 13th Division on September 5, 1818. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the VII Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited primarily in the Prussian Province of Westphalia and two small principalities in the Westphalian region, Lippe-Detmold and Schaumburg-Lippe.

The 2nd Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in Danzig in March 1816 as a Troop Brigade (Truppen-Brigade). It became the 2nd Division on September 5, 1818. In 1890, the headquarters of the division was relocated to Königsberg, then the capital of East Prussia. In 1899, the headquarters was moved to Insterburg, further inland and closer to the border with the Russian Empire. From the latter's formation in 1820, the division was subordinated in peacetime to the I Army Corps. The 2nd Division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.

The 3rd Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in Stettin in May 1816 as a Troop Brigade (Truppen-Brigade). It became the 3rd Division on September 5, 1818. From the corps' formation in 1820, the division was subordinated in peacetime to the II Army Corps. The 3rd Division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.

The 10th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in Posen in November 1816 as a brigade, became the 9th Division on September 5, 1818, and was renumbered the 10th Division on February 28, 1820. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the V Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919, during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited primarily in the Province of Posen.

The 14th Division was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. It was formed in November 1816 in Trier as a troop brigade and became the 14th Division on September 5, 1818, also relocating its headquarters to Düsseldorf. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the VII Army Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited in the Prussian Province of Westphalia and the Rhine Province, primarily in the densely populated Lower Rhine region.

The 23rd Division, also known as the 1st Division No. 23 was a unit of the Saxon and then Imperial German Army. The division was headquartered in Dresden. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the XII Army Corps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">20th (2nd Württemberg) Uhlans "King William I"</span> Cavalry regiment of the Army of Württemberg

The 20th Uhlans "King William I" was a cavalry regiment of the Army of Württemberg. The regiment was formed as dragoons in 1809, and was reorganized as uhlans in 1871. The regiment took part in Napoleon's Russian campaign, the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian war. In World War I it served as divisional cavalry for the 26th Division. Formally disbanded on May 1, 1919, the regiment existed until September 1920 as Abwicklungsstelle. The 1st Squadron/18th Horse bore the regiment's tradition in the new Reichsheer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8th Bohemian Dragoons (Count Montecuccoli's)</span> Military unit

The regiment was a cavalry unit raised in the 17th century for the Imperial Habsburg Army. Over the course of time, this unit became the 8th Bohemian Dragoons (Count Montecuccoli's) (Böhmischen Dragoner-Regiment „Graf Montecuccoli“ Nr. 8) within the "Common Army" that formed part of the Austro-Hungarian Army. From 1888 the unit was to bear this new title "in perpetuity".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imperial and Royal Dragoons</span>

Together with the Hussars and Uhlans, the Imperial and Royal Dragoons made up the cavalry of the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1867 to 1914.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imperial and Royal Hussars</span>

Together with the Dragoons and Uhlans, the Imperial and Royal Hussars, made up the cavalry of the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1867 to 1918, both in the Common Army and in the Hungarian Landwehr, where they were known as the Royal Hungarian Hussars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common Army</span>

The Common Army as it was officially designated by the Imperial and Royal Military Administration, was the largest part of the Austro-Hungarian land forces from 1867 to 1914, the other two elements being the Imperial-Royal Landwehr and the Royal Hungarian Honvéd. However, it was simply known as the Army (Heer) by the Emperor and in peacetime laws, and, after 1918, colloquially called the k.u.k. Armee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imperial-Royal Landwehr</span>

The Imperial-Royal Landwehr, also called the Austrian Landwehr, was the territorial army of the Cisleithanian or Austrian half of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1869 to 1918. Its counterpart was the Royal Hungarian Landwehr. The two Landwehrs, together with the Common Army and the Imperial and Royal Navy, made up the armed forces of Austria-Hungary. While the name, "Imperial-Royal", might seem to suggest a link between the "Imperial" (Cisleithanian) and "Royal" halves of the Empire, in this context "Royal" actually refers to the Kingdom of Bohemia - not a sovereign kingdom on par with the Kingdom of Hungary, but a crownland of Cisleithanian Austria-Hungary and possession of the Habsburgs, who remained formally entitled to kingship. In this sense, the Kingdom of Bohemia was comparable in status to the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria and the Kingdom of Dalmatia.

Royal Hungarian <i>Honvéd</i> One of the four armed forces of the Austro-Hungarian Army

The Royal Hungarian Honvéd or Royal Hungarian Landwehr, commonly known as the Honvéd, was one of the four armed forces of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918, along with the Austrian Landwehr, the Common Army and the Imperial and Royal Navy. The term honvéd was used to refer to all members of the Hungarian land forces in 1848-49, but it was also used to refer to enlisted private soldiers without a rank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imperial-Royal Mountain Troops</span>

The Imperial-Royal Mountain Troops were founded in 1906 as part of the Austrian Landwehr, the territorial army of the Cisleithanian half of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a result, the abbreviation "k.k." was used and not "k.u.k." which would have implied a connexion with the Hungarian half of the Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Guards Uhlans</span> Military unit

The 2nd Guards Uhlan Regiment was a cavalry regiment of the Prussian Army formed in 1819 in Potsdam, Prussia, and served as a Guards regiment garrisoned in Berlin.

The First Army was a Prussian formation during the Austro-Prussian War. Being a wartime organization of the Prussian Army; it afterwards was demobilized.

The Second Army was a formation of the Prussian Army during the Austro-Prussian War. Being a wartime formation, afterwards the field army was demobilized.

The Imperial Austrian Army formed the land forces of the Austrian Empire. It arose from the remains of the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor after its dissolution and in 1867 was reformed into the Common Army of Austria-Hungary and the Imperial-Royal Landwehr after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. In addition to the army, there was also the Austrian Navy. The army took part in the Napoleonic Wars until 1815, the First Italian War of Independence, the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Second Italian War of Independence, the Second Schleswig War, the Third Italian War of Independence and the Austro-Prussian War. Notable generals were Josef Radetzky, Karl Philipp of Schwarzenberg, Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, Frederick Bianchi and Julius von Haynau.