Austro-Hungarian General Staff

Colonel General Friedrich von Beck-Rzikowsky, longest-serving Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff, in office from 1881 to 1906.

The Imperial and Royal General Staff (German: k.u.k. Generalstab) of Austria-Hungary was part of the Ministry of War. It was headed by the Chief of the General Staff for the Whole Armed Forces (Chef des Generalstabes für die gesamte bewaffnete Macht), who had direct access to the Emperor. The general staff was responsible for planning and preparations, while the Armeeoberkommando (AOK) was the operational high command. In fact, since the AOK was under the direct command of the emperor and the chief of the general staff was his chief adviser, in practice the AOK was under the control of the chief of the general staff.

List of chiefs of the general staff

#	Name	Image	Born–Died	Rank	Start	End	Note
1	Franz von John		1815–1876	Feldmarschalleutnant	1867	1869	1st Term
2	Josef Wilhelm von Gallina		1820–1883	Feldmarschalleutnant	1869	1874
3	Franz von John		1815–1876	Feldzeugmeister	1874	1876	2nd Term. Died in office
4	Anton von Schönfeld		1827–1898	Feldmarschalleutnant	1876	1881
5	Friedrich von Beck-Rzikowsky		1830–1920	Colonel General	1881	1906
6	Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf		1852–1925	Generalfeldmarschall	1906	1911	1st Term
7	Blasius Schemua		1856–1920	Major General	1911	1912
8	Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf		1852–1925	Generalfeldmarschall	1912	1917	2nd Term
9	Arthur Arz von Straußenburg		1857–1935	Colonel General	1917	1918

Bibliography

• Lackey, Scott W. The Rebirth of the Habsburg Army: Friedrich Beck and the Rise of the General Staff. Greenwood Press, 1995.
• Rothenberg, Gunther E. The Army of Francis Joseph. Purdue University Press, 1998.
• Sondhaus, Lawrence. Franz Conrad Von Hötzendorf: Architect of the Apocalypse. Humanities Press, 2000.

See also

• Supreme commanders of the Imperial and Royal Armed Forces