The Imperial and Royal General Staff (german: k.u.k. Generalstab) of

Austria-Hungary 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 ...

was part of the

Ministry of War Ministry of War may refer to: * Ministry of War (imperial China) (c.600–1912) * Chinese Republic Ministry of War (1912–1946) * Ministry of War (Kingdom of Bavaria) (1808–1919) * Ministry of War (Brazil) (1815–1999) * Ministry of War (Estoni ...

. 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 An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Responsibilities

The general staff was responsible for planning and preparations, while the ''

Armeeoberkommando ''Armeeoberkommando'' ("Army Higher Command"; AOK) was a command level in the German and Austro-Hungarian armies, especially during the World War I and World War II. It was equivalent to a British, French, American, Italian, Japanese, or Imperial ...

'' (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.

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.

Responsibilities

List of chiefs of the general staff

Bibliography

See also