The Supreme Commander of the Imperial and Royal Armed Forces (; ) was the ultimate authority of the

Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces The Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces ( or ''Wehrmacht''; ) or Imperial and Royal Armed Forces were the military forces of Austria-Hungary. It comprised two main branches: The Austro-Hungarian Army, Army (''Landstreitkräfte'') and the Austr ...

– which comprised the

Army 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 ...

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

and Aviation Troops of

Austria-Hungary 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#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

Highest Commander-in-Chief

The Supreme Commander was usually the

Emperor of Austria The emperor of Austria (, ) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The hereditary imperial title and office was proclaimed in 1804 by Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorr ...

as Highest Commander-in-Chief (''Allerhöchste Oberbefehl''; ''Legmagasabb Főparancsnok''). The Emperor ran the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

(''Bewaffnete Macht'' or ''Wehrmacht'') through the Military Chancellery of His

Imperial and Royal The phrase Imperial and Royal (, ) refers to the court/government of the Habsburgs in a broader historical perspective. Some modern authors restrict its use to the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. During that period, it in ...

Majesty the Emperor-King (''Militärkanzlei Seiner Majestät des Kaisers and Königs''; ''Őfelsége a Császár-Király Katonai Kancelláriájá'') that was established on 11 July 1867. Amongst its heads, who usually bore the title Adjutant General ('' Generaladjutant''), were: *

Friedrich von Beck-Rzikowsky Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

(11 Jul 1867–1881) * Arthur Freiherr von Bolfras (1889–5 Jan 1917) In his old age

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 ...

only rarely exercised the function of supreme commander in person. Instead, in 1905 after the death of Field Marshal Archduke Albert — who had taken over the post in 1866 from General Benedek and held it until his death in 1895cf. Lit. — he appointed Archduke Friedrich of Austria-Teschen as his representative using the style: ''At the disposal of the Supreme Commander - His Imperial and Royal Highness General of Infantry and Inspector of the Army Archduke Friedrich'' (''Zur Disposition des Allerhöchsten Oberbefehls - se. k.u.k. Hoheit General der Infanterie und Armeeinspektor Erzherzog Friedrich''). Besides Friedrich, whose duties were mainly ceremonial, Archduke Franz Ferdinand had a great influence on the armed forces in the last years of the monarchy, and worked hard to keep them united and to expand them. In 1898, after a career as an officer, he was appointed "at the disposal of the Supreme Commander" (''zur Disposition des Allerhöchsten Oberbefehles''), Lit. Franz Joseph already decided in 1908 that when the time came, he would assign the high command to his heir. in order to oversee the army as a whole as well as the navy. To that end, from 1899, he maintained his own military chancellery (headed from Dec 1905 to autumn 1911 by

Alexander Brosch von Aarenau Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

and from autumn 1911 to June 1914 by

Carl von Bardolff Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...

), at

Belvedere Palace The Belvedere is a historic building complex in Vienna, Austria consisting of two Baroque palaces (the Upper and Lower Belvedere), the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the third district of t ...

, which was successively expanded by Brosch into a secondary government (''Nebenregierung''). In 1913 the heir to the Emperor was appointed as Inspector General of the Armed Forces (''Generalinspektor der gesamten bewaffneten Macht'');Friedrich Weissensteiner: ''Franz Ferdinand. Der verhinderte Herrscher'', Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna, 1983, , pp. 200 ff. at his request Franz Joseph I appointed General Conrad as Chief of the General Staff (1906–1911 and 1912–1 Mar 1917). The CGS, since the reform of 1895 called the CGS of the Armed Forces (''Chef des Generalstabs für die gesamte bewaffnete Macht''), had the right to a personal audience with the monarch (without the presence of the Minister of War), whereby the CGS was superior to the Defence Ministry as well as the Imperial Chancellery, and the Inspector General of Troops was subordinated to him; only the heir apparent outranked him. At the onset of

World War I 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 ...

, the Emperor appointed Friedrich as commander in chief, following the usual practice in times of crisis to appoint a serving officer to exercise high command of the army. Friedrich assumed this function until 2 Dec 1916, when the new Emperor, Charles I, took over supreme command himself. Charles himself gave up the supreme command at the end of the war, in order not to have to sign the peace treaty and terms of surrender personally.31 Oct: disbandment of the Common Army, 11 Nov: demobilisation, pensioning off the generals by 1 Dec 1818; detailed to command November 1918, see:

Lit.

List of officeholders

Supreme commanders

Deputies

, -style="text-align:center;" , colspan=8, Vacant
Feb 1895 – 1898 , -style="text-align:center;" , colspan=8, Vacant
1913 – 1916 , -style="text-align:center;" , colspan=8, Vacant
Feb 1917 – Nov 1918

Notes

References

Literature

* * ''The Army of Francis Joseph'' by Gunther E. Rothenberg {{Chief of the army by country High command *!High command High command, Austria-Hungary