A general of the branch, general of the branch of service or general of the ... (where instead of the ellipsis an appropriate name of the military branch is being put) is a

three 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

or four-star general officer rank in some armies. Several nations divide — or used to divide — their senior

general officer A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

ranks by the branch of troops they are qualified to command, or simply as an honorific title.

Austria-Hungary

In the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

there were three ''general of the branch'' ranks: *

General der Infanterie General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Imp ...

(en: General of the Infantry) *

General der Kavallerie General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers o ...

(en: General of the Cavalry) *

Feldzeugmeister ''Feldzeugmeister'' was a historical military rank in some German and the Austro-Hungarian armies, especially in use for the artillery. It was commonly used in the 16th or 17th century, but could even be found at the beginning of the 20th century i ...

(en: General of the Artillery) The rank of General der Infanterie was introduced in 1908, prior to this both infantrymen and gunners were appointed as Feldzeugmeisters. Historically, the rank of general of artillery (german: Feldzeugmeister; literally "battlefield ordnance master"; "gun master";The term is

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

. ''Feld-'' means

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

field, as used in the German ''Feldmarschall'' ("

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

"), and ''-zeug-'' refers to the guns used by the artillery in Hungarian ''Táborszernagy'') was equivalent to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

. In

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, the equivalent expression was ''grand maitre d'artillerie'', used since the time of

Philip VI of France Philip VI (french: Philippe; 1293 – 22 August 1350), called the Fortunate (french: le Fortuné, link=no) or the Catholic (french: le Catholique, link=no) and of Valois, was the first king of France from the House of Valois, reigning from 13 ...

. The English position of Master-General of the Ordnance was similarly derived.

Bulgaria

The Third Bulgarian State from its inception in 1878 had a highest military rank of "general" (Bulgarian: генерал), but in 1897 this rank was split into three grades - general of infantry (генерал от пехотата), of cavalry (генерал от кавалерията) and of artillery (генерал от артилерията). The rank was replaced after World War II, when Bulgaria fell into the Soviet sphere of influence, with the all-encompassing rank of general.

Finland

Full generals (4 star; NATO OF-9) in the Finnish military were classified as generals of infantry (''jalkaväenkenraali''), cavalry (''ratsuväenkenraali''), jaeger (''jääkärikenraali'') and artillery (''tykistönkenraali''). The title is now merely honorific, and only one 4-star general is active at any one time in the modern Finnish military.

Germany

Wehrmacht

In the German ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

'' a General of a branch (german: General der Waffengattung) was linked to service arms of the '' Heer'' (army) and ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

'' (air force), depending on where the officer served and what troops he (nominally) commanded. It was equivalent to the

three-star rank An officer of three-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-8. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, three-star officers hold the ...

s of

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

in the Nazi ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'', and '' SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS'' in the ''Waffen-SS''. A commander-in-chief (''Kommandierender General'' or ''Befehlshaber'') of a German

army corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

was usually of this rank. In our time this rank might be comparable to NATO OF-8. ;Heer: *

General of the artillery General of the Artillery is/was a general officer of artillery, and may be: *General of the Artillery (Germany) and Austria-Hungary * General of the Artillery (Imperial Russia) * General of the Artillery (Poland) *Feldzeugmeister (OF-8) of the Austr ...

(german: General der Artillerie) * General of the mountain troops (''General der Gebirgstruppe'') *

General of the Infantry General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Imp ...

(''General der Infanterie'') *

General of the cavalry General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers ...

(''General der Kavallerie'') * General of the communications troops (''General der Nachrichtentruppe'') * General of the panzer troops (''General der Panzertruppe'') * General of the engineers (''General der Pioniere'') * General of the medical corps (''Generaloberstabsarzt'') * General of the veterinary corps (''Generaloberstabveterinär'') ;Sequence of ranks ascending: ;Luftwaffe: * General of the parachute corps (''General der Fallschirmtruppe'') * General of the anti-aircraft artillery (''General der Flakartillerie'') * General of the aviators (''General der Flieger'') * General of the air force communications corps (''General der Luftnachrichtentruppe'') *

General of the air force General of the Air Force (GAF) is a five-star general officer rank and is the highest possible rank in the United States Air Force. General of the Air Force ranks immediately above a general and is equivalent to General of the Army in the Unit ...

(''General der Luftwaffe'') ;Waffen-SS: * SS-Obergruppenführer and general of the Waffen-SS (''SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS'')

Bundeswehr

When the contemporary German Army, the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

, was founded (on November, the 12th 1955) some of the names for general ranks were replaced with the current ones. The denomination ''General der Panzertruppen'', ''General der Infanterie'', ''General der Artillerie'' and ''General der Fernmeldetruppe'' are still around, but they are not longer ''ranks'' but ''positions''. These positions seem to roughly correspond to the pre-Bundeswehr ''Inspekteur der …''. For example

Heinz Guderian Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (; 17 June 1888 – 14 May 1954) was a German general during World War II who, after the war, became a successful memoirist. An early pioneer and advocate of the "blitzkrieg" approach, he played a central role in th ...

had the position of ''Inspekteur der Panzertruppen'' for a while.

Poland

In the Polish armed forces the rank equivalent to lieutenant general is ''generał broni'' ("general of a branch").Polish ''broń'' means both "weapons, firearms" and "branch of troops"; in this context the meaning is clearly "general of a branch of troops", not "general of weapons"

Russian Empire

General of the Branch is known in Russian as ''General roda Voysk''.

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

created the ranks of

general of infantry General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Im ...

and

general of cavalry General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers o ...

in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

in early 1700s, though for much of the 18th century a single rank of '' general-en-chef'' was used instead. It was Class 2 in the

Table of Ranks The Table of Ranks (russian: Табель о рангах, Tabel' o rangakh) was a formal list of positions and ranks in the military, government, and court of Imperial Russia. Peter the Great introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a ...

Notes

References

{{General ranks of the Wehrmacht Three-star officers Military ranks of Germany Military ranks of Poland Military ranks of Russia