, image = Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806).svg , image_size = 150 , caption = , dates = 1422–1806 , country = , allegiance = , branch =

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, size = , command_structure = , garrison = Vienna , garrison_label = Headquarters , nickname = , motto = , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles =

Ottoman–Habsburg wars The Ottoman–Habsburg wars were fought from the 16th through the 18th centuries between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy, which was at times supported by the Kingdom of Hungary, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Habsburg Sp ...

Franco-Dutch War The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War (french: Guerre de Hollande; nl, Hollandse Oorlog), was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-No ...

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phi ...

French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

War of the Polish Succession The War of the Polish Succession ( pl, Wojna o sukcesję polską; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II of Poland, which the other European powers widened in pursuit of their ...

, anniversaries = , decorations = , battle_honours = , commander1 = , commander1_label = , commander2 = , commander2_label = , notable_commanders = Nicholas, Count of Salm

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Inf ...

Johann Tserclaes von Tilly

Albrecht von Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...

Raimondo Montecuccoli Raimondo Montecuccoli (; 21 February 1609 – 16 October 1680) was an Italian-born professional soldier, military theorist, and diplomat, who served the Habsburg monarchy. Experiencing the Thirty Years' War from scratch as a simple footsoldier ...

Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg Count Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg (12 January 1638 – 4 January 1701) was military governor of Vienna from 1680, the city's defender during the Battle of Vienna in 1683, Imperial general during the Great Turkish War, and President of the ...

Eugene of Savoy
Count de Mercy
Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller
Leopold Joseph von Daun

Ernst Gideon von Laudon Ernst Gideon von Laudon, since 1759 Freiherr von Laudon (originally Laudohn or Loudon; 13 February 171714 July 1790), was a Baltic German-born Austrian generalisimo and one of the most successful opponents of the Prussian king Frederick the Grea ...

Franz Moritz von Lacy
Archduke Charles , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label = , identification_symbol_2 = , identification_symbol_2_label = The Army of the Holy Roman Empire (german: Reichsarmee, ''Reichsheer'' or ''Reichsarmatur''; la, exercitus imperii) was created in 1422 and came to an end when the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

was dissolved in 1806 as a result of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

. The Army of the Empire did not constitute a permanent

standing army A standing army is a permanent, often professional, army. It is composed of full-time soldiers who may be either career soldiers or conscripts. It differs from army reserves, who are enrolled for the long term, but activated only during wars or ...

which was always at the ready to fight for the Empire. When there was danger, an Army of the Empire was mustered from among the elements constituting it, in order to conduct an imperial military campaign or ''Reichsheerfahrt'' during an Imperial War (''Reichskrieg'') or an Imperial Execution (''Reichsexekution''). It could only be deployed with the consent of the Imperial Diet and should not be confused with the Imperial Army (''Kaiserliche Armee'') of the Emperor. In practice, the various forces of the Army of the Empire often had stronger local allegiances than their loyalty to the Emperor.

History

Prompted by the threat posed by the

Hussite The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Huss ...

s, the Imperial Diet of 1422 held in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest c ...

created the Army of the Empire by demanding specific contingents of troops from the various parts of the Empire. The

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Ca ...

continued from 1420 to 1434, by which point the army had proved its worth. Over the next hundred years, the size of the Army was controlled either by the number of serving men being strictly regulated or by limits on the money that paid for it. At the

Diet of Worms The Diet of Worms of 1521 (german: Reichstag zu Worms ) was an imperial diet (a formal deliberative assembly) of the Holy Roman Empire called by Emperor Charles V and conducted in the Imperial Free City of Worms. Martin Luther was summoned to ...

in 1521 a commitment was made to keep the strength at 20,063

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mari ...

and 4,202

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...

. This was later simplified to 20,000 and 4,000. The monthly cost of paying for an army of this size was known as the Roman Month (''Römermonat''). The Imperial Register (''Reichsmatrikel'' or ''Heeresmatrikel'') determined the contributions of the individual states making up the Empire, the first being the Register of 1422. Contrary to popular belief, the Army of the Empire did not take part in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

of 1618 to 1648. The Emperor participated in this war with the Imperial Army (''Kaiserliche Armee'') instead. The Constitution of the Army of the Empire (''Reichsdefensionalordnung'') of 1681 finally determined the composition of the army, fixing the contingents to be provided by the various Imperial Circles. The simple total strength (called in Latin the ''Simplum'') was now fixed at 40,000 men, consisting of 28,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry, including 2,000

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

s (that is,

mounted infantry Mounted infantry were infantry who rode horses instead of marching. The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', "Mounted rifles are half cavalry, mounted infantry merely specially m ...

). In emergencies, the size of the army could be increased by doubling or tripling the contingents. Such multiples were called in Latin the ''duplum'' and the ''triplum''. The figures for the contingents to be supplied by each Imperial Circle were little altered until the demise of the Empire. In practice, they were organized into a number of separate

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripte ...

s. In some cases, money was provided instead of men to fulfil these military obligations to the Emperor.

Campaigns

Between the 1590s and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the Army fought in the wars directly affecting the Empire, usually with units of the Imperial Army of the Empire and other local territorial forces. It did not take part in the

of 1618 to 1648. *

Austro-Turkish War (1663–1664) The Austro-Turkish War (1663–1664) or fourth Austro-Turkish War was a short war between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman aim was to resume the advance in central Europe, conquer Vienna and subdue Austria. The Otto ...

(1673–1679) *

(1688–1697) *

(1701–1714) *

(1734–1735) *

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that succ ...

(1792–1797) *

War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on periodisation) was the second war on revolutionary France by most of the European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria and Russia, and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, ...

(1798–1801)

End

In 1804, the imperial forces originating from the lands of the new

Emperor of Austria The Emperor of Austria (german: Kaiser von Österreich) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A hereditary imperial title and office proclaimed in 1804 by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the Ho ...

, a title created that year, became the Imperial and Royal Army (''Kaiserlich-königliche Armee''), which was defeated by the French at the battles of Ulm and Austerlitz in 1805. In 1806 the victorious French organized much of the former empire into the

Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria an ...

, a grouping of

client state A client state, in international relations, is a state that is economically, politically, and/or militarily subordinate to another more powerful state (called the "controlling state"). A client state may variously be described as satellite state, ...

s of the French Empire, with a common federal army.Michael Hughes, ''Early modern Germany, 1477-1806'' (1992), p. 182

Notes

External links

{{commons category, Military of the Holy Roman Empire Military history of the Holy Roman Empire 1420s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1422 establishments in Europe Military units and formations established in the 15th century

History

Campaigns

End

Further reading

See also

Notes

External links