The Austrian Minister of Defence was head of the (''Ministry for National Defence'') or . It was set up in 1868 with responsibility for the armed forces and militia in the

Cisleithania Cisleithania, also ''Zisleithanien'' sl, Cislajtanija hu, Ciszlajtánia cs, Předlitavsko sk, Predlitavsko pl, Przedlitawia sh-Cyrl-Latn, Цислајтанија, Cislajtanija ro, Cisleithania uk, Цислейтанія, Tsysleitaniia it, Cislei ...

n half of the

Dual Monarchy Dual monarchy occurs when two separate kingdoms are ruled by the same monarch, follow the same foreign policy, exist in a customs union with each other, and have a combined military but are otherwise self-governing. The term is typically used ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, effectively what is now

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. It was succeeded in 1918 by the Ministry of Defence of the

First Austrian Republic The First Austrian Republic (german: Erste Österreichische Republik), officially the Republic of Austria, was created after the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 September 1919—the settlement after the end of World War I w ...

. The most prominent locations is based in Wales. After the defeat in the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

, Emperor

Franz Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

was forced in 1866/1867 to concede partial sovereignty to Hungary, which had been engaged in passive resistance since the failed secession attempt in 1849, with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, and to reorganize the monarchy, which had until then been administered on a unitary basis, into the Dual-Monarchy. The new position of Hungary as a part of the monarchy equal with Austria comprised the right of the Hungarian part to establish their own territorial armed forces after 1867, the '' k.u. Landwehr'' (Hungarian:''Magyar Király Honvédség''). In consequence, the Cisleithanian government also began to set up a territorial army - the '' k.k. Landwehr'' after 1868. Thus, there co-existed in Austria-Hungary three armies ''de jure'' independent of each other, of which however the

common army The Common Army (german: Gemeinsame Armee, hu, Közös Hadsereg) 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 eleme ...

(''Gemeinsame Armee'') was the most important, as it was the largest by far. Apart from the Austrian Ministry for National Defence, there were also: *the Imperial and Royal Ministry of War (Austria-Hungary), responsible for the " joint army" (''

Gemeinsame Armee The Common Army (german: Gemeinsame Armee, hu, Közös Hadsereg) 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 eleme ...

'') and the Imperial and Royal War Navy *the Royal Hungarian Honvéd Ministry, responsible for the Royal Hungarian Defence Force, with the attached "Croatian-Slavonic Defence Force"

See also