Last updated War Ministry building on Ringstraße, Vienna
The Imperial and Royal Minister of War (German: K.u.k. Kriegsminister), until 1911: Reich Minister of War (Reichskriegsminister), was the head of one of the three common ministries shared by the two states which made up the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary from its creation in the Compromise of 1867 until its dissolution in 1918.
According to the Delegation Law of 21 December 1867, the Minister of War, together with the Minister of Finance and the Minister of the Imperial and Royal House and of the Exterior formed the Council of Ministers for Common Affairs under the direction of the Foreign Minister. The three Imperial and Royal ministers were appointed and relieved from office by the Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary himself.
Until 1911, the ministers were called Reich Ministers of War. Upon the accession of Moritz von Auffenberg, following Hungarian wishes not to be summarized under an Austrian realm that did not consist of the Hungarian lands at that time, the ministers were called Imperial and Royal (k.u.k.) Ministers of War.
The influence of the Austro-Hungarian War Minister was limited, due to the rivalry between the Austrian Minister-President and the Prime Minister of Hungary. Moreover, it was the Emperor who acted as commander-in-chief of the Imperial and Royal Armed Might, served by his personal military chancellery and represented by an Inspector General, a position held by Field Marshal Archduke Albert of Austria-Teschen from 1869 to 1895. His successor General of the Cavalry and Admiral Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este in 1906 achieved the dismissal of Minister Pitreich and 76-year-old Chief of the General Staff Friedrich von Beck-Rzikowsky, who was replaced by Franz Ferdinand's confidant Field Marshal Lieutenant Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf. Dismissed in 1911 but again appointed together with Minister Alexander von Krobatin during the 1912 Balkan Wars, Conrad acted autonomously, being directly responsible to the emperor. In the 1914 July Crisis upon the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, he and Minister Krobatin declared the Austro-Hungarian armed forces 'prepared for war'.
On 30 October 1918, Emperor Charles I of Austria assigned the Naval command to the newly established Yugoslavian State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. After the Kingdom of Hungary left the real union with Austria the next day, the last Austro-Hungarian minister Stöger-Steiner had to supervise the liquidation of the remaining Cisleithanian troops. Upon the resignation of Emperor Charles on 12 November, he was answerable to an Army state secretary of the republican German-Austrian government under Chancellor Karl Renner. The 'War Ministry in Liquidation' was renamed 'Military Liquidation Agency' in 1920, when the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Army was established. It was not dissolved until 1931.
The War Ministry
Austrian war ministry building, Am Hof, demolished in 1913
From 1909 to 1913, the imposing Neoclassical Imperial and Royal War Ministry headquarters on Ringstraße boulevard, the department's final home, was erected according to plans designed by architect Ludwig Baumann, who had also built the Oriental Academy, the current US embassy. Dedicated on 1 May 1913 during the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph I and Minister Krobatin's tenure, it can still be seen in Vienna today; it is officially called Government Building (Regierungsgebäude) and is used as seat of the Minister for Economy, the Minister for Social Affairs and the Minister for Agriculture and Environment. In front of the ministry building Am Hof as well as, since 1913, of the existing building stands the equestrian monument of Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky, the most venerated military leader of the Austrian monarchy, designed by Kaspar von Zumbusch.
The Navy Section of the ministry (k.u.k. Marinesektion) had its own building at Vordere Zollamtsstrasse, corner of Marxergasse, behind the headquarters and is still existing, too. At the outside of this building the coats of arms of 16 Imperial and Royal ports on the Adriatic Coast are displayed.
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War and was dissolved shortly after its defeat in the First World War.
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his death on 21 November 1916. In the early part of his reign, his realms and territories were referred to as the Austrian Empire, but were reconstituted as the dual monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. From 1 May 1850 to 24 August 1866, he was also president of the German Confederation.
Franz Xaver Josef Conrad von Hötzendorf, sometimes anglicised as Hoetzendorf, was an Austrian general who played a central role in World War I. He served as K.u.k. Feldmarschall and Chief of the General Staff of the military of the Austro-Hungarian Army and Navy from 1906 to 1917. He was in charge during the July Crisis of 1914 that caused World War I. For years he had repeatedly called for preemptive war against Serbia to rescue the multiethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was, he believed, nearing disintegration. Later on, he came to believe that the Dual Monarchy had taken action at the eleventh hour. The Army was also unprepared and he had resorted to politics to further his goals. He was unaware that Germany would relocate the majority of his forces to the Eastern Front, rather than in the Balkans. Conrad was anxious about invading Russia and when the Tsar's armies had captured the Carpathian mountain passes and were on the verge of invading Hungary, Italy entered the war on the side of the Allies. Nevertheless, the Austro-Germans cleared Galicia and Poland during the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive in the summer of 1915 and later conquered Serbia in October with the help of Bulgaria. From 1915 his troops were increasingly reliant on German support and command. Without support from its German allies the Austro-Hungarian Army was an exhausted force.
Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg was the wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Their assassination in Sarajevo sparked a series of events that led, four weeks later, to World War I.
The Emperor of Austria was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A hereditary imperial title and office proclaimed in 1804 by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and continually held by him and his heirs until Charles I relinquished power in 1918.
Archduke Albrecht Friedrich Rudolf Dominik of Austria, Duke of Teschen, was an Austrian Habsburg general. He was the grandson of Emperor Leopold II and one of the chief military advisors of Emperor Francis Joseph I. As Inspector General for 36 years, he was an old-fashioned bureaucrat who largely controlled the Austro-Hungarian Army and delayed modernization. He was honored with the rank of Field Marshal in the armies of Austria-Hungary (1863) and Germany (1893).
The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy were designated SMS, for Seiner Majestät Schiff. The k.u.k. Kriegsmarine came into being after the formation of Austria-Hungary in 1867, and ceased to exist in 1918 upon the Empire's defeat and subsequent collapse at the end of World War I.
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground 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.
Ernest Karl Franz Joseph Thomas Friedrich von Koerber was an Austrian liberal statesman who served as prime minister of the Austrian portion of Austria-Hungary from 1900 to 1904 and again in 1916.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I.
The Order of Saint Stephen was an order of chivalry founded in 1764 by Maria Theresa. In 1938, Miklós Horthy took the rights and activities of Grand Master as Regent of Hungary. The name of the Order changed to the Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen. The Order was terminated at the time of the proclamation of the Second Hungarian Republic in 1946. It was recreated in 2011 as the Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen, and to this day remains the highest order in Hungary.
Archduke Rainer Ferdinand Maria Johann Evangelist Franz Ignazof Austria, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and nephew of Emperor Francis II, was an Austrian politician who served as Minister-President of Austria from 1861 to 1865. Later in his life, he took up the collection of preserved papyri, largely from Egypt, and served as a benefactor and patron while working with the Oriental studies department of the University of Vienna. His purchases of papyri from Egypt formed the Rainer collection at the Austrian National Library.
Konrad Maria Eusebius Prinz zu Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst was an Austrian aristocrat and statesman. He briefly served as Prime Minister of Austria (Cisleithania) in Austria-Hungary in 1906.
The Imperial and Royal Foreign Ministry was the ministry responsible for the foreign relations of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the formation of the Dual Monarchy in 1867 until it was dissolved in 1918.
The Austrian Minister of Defence was head of the Ministerium für Landesverteidigung or Landwehrministerium. It was set up in 1868 with responsibility for the armed forces and militia in the Cisleithanian half of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, effectively what is now Austria. It was succeeded in 1918 by the Ministry of Defence of the First Austrian Republic. The most prominent locations is based in Wales.
Together with the Hussars and Uhlans, the Imperial and Royal Dragoons made up the cavalry of the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1867 to 1914.
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 Landwehr. 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.
The Supreme Commander of the Imperial and Royal Armed Forces was the ultimate authority of the Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces – which comprised the Army, Navy and Aviation Troops of Austria-Hungary.
In the history of the Austria-Hungary, trialism was the political movement that aimed to reorganize the bipartite Empire into a tripartite one, creating a Croatian state equal in status to Austria and Hungary. Franz Ferdinand promoted trialism before his assassination in 1914 to prevent the Empire from being ripped apart by Slavic dissent. The Empire would be restructured three ways instead of two, with the Slavic element given representation at the highest levels equivalent to what Austria and Hungary had at the time. Serbians saw this as a threat to their dream of a new state of Yugoslavia. Hungarian leaders had a predominant voice in imperial circles and strongly rejected Trialism because it would liberate many of their minorities from Hungarian rule they considered oppressive.
Austria-Hungary did not have a common flag. However, the black-gold flag of the ruling Habsburg Dynasty was sometimes used as a de facto national flag and a common civil ensign was introduced in 1869 for civilian vessels. Until 1918, the k.u.k. War Fleet continued to carry the Austrian ensign it had used since 1786; and the regiments of the k.u.k. Army carried the double-eagle banners they had used before 1867, as they had a long history in many cases. New ensigns created in 1915 were not implemented due to the ongoing war. At state functions, the Austrian black-yellow and the Hungarian red-white-green tricolor were used.
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