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 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

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 (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

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, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

there were three ''general of the branch'' ranks: * (en: General of the Infantry) * (en: General of the Cavalry) * (en: General of the Artillery) The rank of was introduced in 1908, prior to this both infantrymen and gunners were appointed as Feldzeugmeisters. Historically, the rank of general of artillery (; literally "battlefield ordnance master"; "gun master";The term is

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also 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 force co ...

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

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

"), and ''-zeug-'' refers to the

gun A gun is a device that Propulsion, propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or water cannon, cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). So ...

s used by the artillery in Hungarian ''Táborszernagy'') was equivalent to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 the battlefield, who was norma ...

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

Philip VI of France Philip VI (; 1293 – 22 August 1350), called the Fortunate (), the Catholic (''le Catholique'') and of Valois (''de Valois''), was the first king of France from the House of Valois, reigning from 1328 until his death in 1350. Philip's reign w ...

. The English position of

Master-General of the Ordnance The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855–1895 and 1939–1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was ...

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 the branch. These were the generals of the infantry (), of the cavalry (), of the jaegers () and of the artillery (). The title is now merely honorific, and only one 4-star general is active at any one time in the modern Finnish military.

General of the Infantry

Adolf Ehrnrooth Adolf Erik Ehrnrooth (9 February 1905 – 26 February 2004) was a Finnish general who served during the Winter War, Winter and Continuation War, Continuation wars. He also competed in Equestrian at the 1948 Summer Olympics, two equestrian events ...

Erik Heinrichs Axel Erik Heinrichs (21 July 1890 – 16 November 1965) was a Finnish military general. He was Finland's Chief of the General Staff during the Interim Peace and Continuation War (1940–1941 and 1942–1944) and Chief of Defence for a short ...

* Kaarlo Heiskanen * Yrjö Ilmari Keinonen * Taavetti Laatikainen * Armas-Eino Martola * Oiva Olenius * Aarne Sihvo * Sakari Simelius *

Paavo Talvela Paavo Juho Talvela (born Paavo Juho Thorén; 19 February 1897 – 30 September 1973) was a Finnish general of the infantry, Knight of the Mannerheim Cross and a member of the Jäger movement. He participated in the Eastern Front of World Wa ...

Kustaa Tapola Kustaa Anders Tapola (29 March 1895 – 2 April 1971) was a Finnish General of Infantry and Knight of the Mannerheim Cross. He participated in the Finnish Civil War, the Winter War and the Continuation War. In addition to commanding formations u ...

Rudolf Walden Karl Rudolf Walden (1 December 1878 in Helsinki – 25 October 1946) was a Finnish industrialist and a military leader. Education Walden received his military education at the Hamina Cadet School and graduated in 1900. He was dismissed from s ...

Martin Wetzer Martin Wetzer (7 August 1868 – 29 September 1954) was a Finnish jurist and general. He fought in World War I and during the Finnish Civil War fought on the side of the White movement. He also commanded Finnish volunteers in the Estonian War of ...

Karl Fredrik Wilkama Karl Fredrik Wilkama (27 March 1876 – 15 July 1947), born Wilkman, was a Finnish General of the Infantry. He was the supreme commander of the Finnish Defence Forces. Wilkama became an officer in the Imperial Russian Army in 1899. According ...

General of the Cavalry

* C.G.E. Mannerheim, later

Marshal of Finland In the Finnish Defence Forces, Field Marshal (, ) is officially not an active military rank but an honorary rank that can be bestowed upon 'especially distinguished General officer, generals'. So far the only holder of this title has been Baro ...

* Ernst Linder

General of the Artillery

* Vilho Nenonen

Germany

Wehrmacht

In the German ''

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

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

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

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

three-star rank Military star ranking is military terminology, used in mainly English speaking countries, to describe general and flag officers. Within NATO's armed forces, the stars are equal to OF-6–10. Star ranking One-star A one-star rank is usual ...

s of

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many 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. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

in the Nazi ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi 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 military branch, branche ...

'', 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 formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

was usually of this rank. In our time this rank might be comparable to NATO

OF-8 Military star ranking is military terminology, used in mainly English speaking countries, to describe general and flag officers. Within NATO's armed forces, the stars are equal to OF-6–10. Star ranking One-star A one-star rank is usually ...

. ;Heer: * General of the artillery () * General of the mountain troops () *

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) General of the Infantry (, abbr. ) is ...

() *

General of the cavalry General of the Cavalry () 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 of equivalent rank were called ...

(''General der Kavallerie'') * General of the communications troops () * General of the panzer troops () * General of the engineers () * General of the medical corps () * 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 , 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'', , 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 later became a successful memoirist. A pioneer and advocate of the "blitzkrieg" approach, he played a central role in the development of ...

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 Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

as ''General roda Voysk''.

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

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 Imper ...

and general of cavalry in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

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 () was a formal list of positions and ranks in the military, government, and court of Imperial Russia. Peter I of Russia, Peter the Great introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a struggle with the existing hereditary ...

Notes

References

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