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Imperial and Royal Dragoons

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Dragoon officer in parade dress

Together with the Hussars and Uhlans, the Imperial and Royal Dragoons (German: k.u.k. Dragoner) made up the cavalry of the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1867 to 1914.

After 1867, Austria-Hungary had de facto three armies at the same time. This unique situation arose because the monarchy had been weakened by the losing the war against Prussia, and consequently had, in effect, to guarantee the autonomy of Kingdom of Hungary in the so-called Compromise of 15 March 1867. This led the Hungarian half of the Empire to immediately begin establishing its own army: the Royal Hungarian Honved (Hungarian: Magyar Királyi Honvédség). In response, the Cisleithanian half of the Empire also began to build its own army, the Imperial-Royal Landwehr. These two new forces thus existed alongside the Common Army (Gemeinsame Armee) that represented the empire as a whole.

However, unlike the hussars and uhlans, there were no dragoon units in either of the two Landwehrs.

Organisation

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The Common Army had 15 regiments of dragoons. By tradition, the dragoons recruited most of their troopers from the German- and Czech-speaking regions of the Empire. The regiments were all stationed in the Cisleithanian half of the Empire.

  • The Imperial and Royal Cavalry Regiments were each made up of 2 divisions (battalions) each of 3 squadrons (Eskadronen)

The Imperial and Royal Dragoons

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Colonel-in-chief of the 3rd Dragoons
King Frederick Augustus of Saxony
Archduke Albert K.H.
Colonel-in-chief in perpetuity of the 9th Dragoons
Colonel-in-chief in perpetuity of the 13th Dragoons
FM Prinz Eugen
helmet of an officer of Imperial and Royal Dragoner
Helmet of an Imperial and Royal Dragoon

Sources

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  • k.u.k. Kriegsministerium „Dislokation and Einteilung of the k.u.k Heeres, der k.u.k. Kriegsmarine, der k.k. Landwehr and der k.u. Landwehr“ in: Seidels kleines Armeeschema - Herausg.: Seidel & Sohn, Vienna, 1914
  • * k.u.k. Kriegsministerium „Adjustierungsvorschrift für the k.u.k. Heer, the k.k. Landwehr, the k.u. Landwehr, the verbundenen Einrichtungen and the Korps der Militärbeamten“, Vienna, 1911
  • Glenn Jewison, Jörg C. Steiner: The Austro-Hungarian Land Forces 1848-1918

Literature

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  • Johann C. Allmayer-Beck, Erich Lessing: The K.u.k. Armee. 1848-1918. Verlag Bertelsmann, Munich, 1974, ISBN 3-570-07287-8.
  • The k.u.k. Heer im Jahre 1895 Schriften of the Heeresgeschichtlichen Museums in Wien - Leopold Stocker Verlag, Graz, 1997
  • k.u.k. Kriegsministerium „Dislokation and Einteilung of the k.u.k Heeres, der k.u.k. Kriegsmarine, der k.k. Landwehr and der k.u. Landwehr“ in: Seidels kleines Armeeschema - Herausg.: Seidel & Sohn Vienna, 1914
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