''Landwehr'' (), or ''Landeswehr'', is a

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

term used in referring to certain national

armies An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, or

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

s found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large-scale, low-strength fortifications. In German, the word means "defence of the country"; but the term as applied to an insurrectional militia is very ancient, and ''lantveri'' are mentioned in '' Baluzii Capitularia'', as quoted in

Henry Hallam Henry Hallam (9 July 1777 – 21 January 1859) was an English historian. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, he practised as a barrister on the Oxford circuit for some years before turning to history. His major works were ''View of th ...

's ''Middle Ages'', i. 262, 10th edition.

Austria-Hungary

Austrian ''Landwehr''

The Austrian ''Landwehr'' was one of three components that made up the

ground forces An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by p ...

of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

between 1868 and 1918, and it was composed of recruits from the

Cisleithania Cisleithania, officially The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council (), was the northern and western part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in the Compromise of 1867—as distinguished from ''Transleithania'' (i.e., ...

n parts of the empire. Intended as a national defence force alongside the Royal Hungarian ''Landwehr'' (or ''Honvéd''), the ''Landwehr'' was officially established by order of Emperor

Franz Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

on 5 December 1868. Yet while the Hungarian force was generously supported early on by the parliament in Budapest, legislators in Vienna generally failed to advance the cause of the ''Landwehr'', leaving it by the 1870s as a skeletal force with only the appearance of parity. In 1887, Archduke Albert wrote that ''Landwehr'' units were not ready, in terms of training or discipline, for use in the first two weeks of a war. Yet the 1880s saw an expansion in the force's numbers, as the high command was unable to obtain increases in manpower for the joint

Imperial and Royal Army 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 (of Au ...

and sought to increase overall numbers through the ''Landwehr''. Additionally, Austrian fears of the development of the ''Honvéd'' caused the Austrian '' Reichsrat'' to vote to increase the ''Landwehr's'' strength to 135,000. These nationalist interests led to a gradual strengthening and improvement of the force, so that by the start of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, ''Landwehr'' units were considered equal to the units of the joint army in readiness and equipment. Additionally, in

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

and

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

, three units of the ''Landwehr'' were specially trained and equipped for

mountain warfare Mountain warfare or alpine warfare is warfare in mountains or similarly rough terrain. The term encompasses military operations affected by the terrain, hazards, and factors of combat and movement through rough terrain, as well as the strategies ...

. The Austrian ''Landwehr'' and other components of the Austro-Hungarian Army were all full-time standing armies.

Hungarian Landwehr

The Royal Hungarian ''Landwehr'' (, , colloquially called the ''Honvéd'') or Royal Hungarian ''Honvéd'', was the standing army of the Kingdom of Hungary, established as one of four armed forces (''Bewaffnete Macht'' or ''Wehrmacht'') of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. The others were its counterpart the Austrian ''Landwehr'', the Common Army, and the Austro-Hungarian Navy, Imperial and Royal Navy. In the wake of fighting between the Austrian Empire and Hungarian rebels during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, and the two decades of uneasy co-existence following, Hungarian soldiers served either in mixed units or were stationed away from Hungarian areas. With the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 the new tripartite army was brought into being. It existed until the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire following World War I in 1918. The Hungarian ''Landwehr'' should not be confused with its successor, the Royal Hungarian Army, which went by the same Hungarian name, but existed from 1922 to 1945.

Prussia

A royal edict of 17 March 1813 first established the Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian ''Landwehr'', which called up all men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five capable of bearing arms and not serving in the Prussian Army, regular army, for the defense of the kingdom. After the Treaty of Paris (1815), peace of 1815 this force became an integral part of the Prussian Army, each brigade being composed of one Line regiment, line and one ''Landwehr'' regiment. This, however, slowed the mobilisation of brigades, as ''Landwehr'' regiments had to be called up, diminishing the value of the first line. By the re-organisation of 1859, the ''Landwehr'' troops were relegated to the second line.

Nazi Germany

During the Weimar Republic, Germany was not allowed a standing army of more than 100,000 men. Thus conscription had been abolished. In the course of the German rearmament, rearmament of Germany, the ''Landwehr'' was reestablished on 21 May 1935 comprising all Germans liable for military service under the new law older than 35 years of age and younger than 45 years. In effect only one ''Landwehr'' division (the 205th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht), 14th ''Landwehr'' Division) was called up, the remainder of the ''Landwehr'' was used either to fill out the 3rd wave infantry divisions or formed ''Landesschützen'' battalions used for guard and occupation duty.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, the ''Landwehr'' used to be a second line force, in which all citizens served for twelve years. It was abolished after the army reform in 1965. As a reference to this past, a number of Swiss Concert band, wind bands bear the name "''Landwehr''" in their titles.

Baltic ''Landeswehr''

The Baltische Landeswehr, Baltic ''Landeswehr'' was the name of the armed forces of the puppet government of Latvia established by the Baltic German nobility, Baltic nobility. The Baltic state was designed to be established from territories that were ceded by Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918, but collapsed in the Estonian War of Independence in 1919.

Footnotes

References

* * {{Authority control Austro-Hungarian Army Militias in Europe