Imperial and Royal Hussars
Together with the Dragoons and Uhlans, the Imperial and Royal Hussars, made up the cavalry of the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1867 to 1918, both in the Common Army and in the Hungarian Landwehr, where they were known as the Royal Hungarian Hussars.
The Austrian monarchy, weakened by losing the war against Prussia in 1866, had to effectively guarantee the autonomy of Kingdom of Hungary in the so-called Compromise of 15 March 1867. As a result, the Hungarian half of the Empire immediately began to establish its own army, the Royal Hungarian Landwehr. The cavalry of the Hungarian Landwehr was made up of the Landwehr Hussars.
Following the signing of the Compromise, the Austrian half of the Empire also started to build an army, the Imperial-Royal Landwehr. The two new Landwehr forces thus existed alongside the Common Army, the imperial army of the whole Empire. In effect this meant that Austria-Hungary had three separate armies at the same time.
Organisation
The Common Army had 16 hussar regiments and the Royal Hungarian Landwehr had ten. By tradition, the majority of the hussars were recruited from the Hungarian lands. The regiments, with a few exceptions, were all stationed there.The Imperial and Royal Hussars in 1914
A list of the Imperial and Royal Hussars regiments in 1914 is given below by short title.- 1st Hussars (Emperor)
- 2nd Hussars (Frederick Leopold of Prussia's)
- 3rd Hussars (Count of Hadik's)
- 4th Hussars (Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn's)
- Count Radetzky's [5th Hussar Regiment|5th Hussars (Count Radetzky's)]
- 6th Hussars (King William II of Württemberg's)
- 7th Hussars (William II, German Emperor and King of Prussia's)
- 8th Hussars (von Terstyanski's)
- 9th Hussars (Count Nadasdy's)
- 10th Hussars (King Frederick William II of Prussia's)
- 11th Hussars (King Ferdinand I of the Bulgarians)
- 12th Hussars (vacant)
- 13th Hussars (Crown Prince William of the German Empire and Prussia)
- 14th Hussars (von Kolossvary's)
- 15th Hussars (Archduke Franz Salvator's)
- 16th Hussars (Count Üxküll-Gyllenband's)
Royal Hungarian Hussars
The regiments listed below were part of the Royal Hungarian Hussars, also known as the Royal Hungarian Honved Hussars, Honvéd being Hungarian for "Home-defender". English sources usually refer to regiments simply as e.g. the "1st Hussars" or "1st Honved Hussars".:- 1st Hussars
- 2nd Hussars
- 3rd Hussars
- 4th Hussars
- 5th Hussars
- 6th Hussars
- 7th Hussars
- 8th Hussars
- 9th Hussars
- 10th Hussars
Literature
- Johann C. Allmayer-Beck, Erich Lessing: Die K.u.k. Armee. 1848-1918. Verlag Bertelsmann, München 1974,.
- Stefan Rest: Des Kaisers Rock im ersten Weltkrieg. Verlag Militaria, Wien 2002, Das k.u.k. Heer im Jahre 1895 Schriften des Heeresgeschichtlichen Museums in Wien - Stocker Verlag, Graz 1997
- k.u.k. Kriegsministerium „Dislokation und Einteilung des k.u.k Heeres, der k.u.k. Kriegsmarine, der k.k. Landwehr und der k.u. Landwehr“ in: Seidels kleines Armeeschema - Herausg.: Seidel & Sohn Wien 1914
- k.u.k. Kriegsministerium „Adjustierungsvorschrift für das k.u.k. Heer, die k.k. Landwehr, die k.u. Landwehr, die verbundenen Einrichtungen und das Korps der Militärbeamten“ Wien 1911/1912