Imperial-Royal Landwehr
The two Landwehrs, together with the Common Army and the Imperial and Royal Navy, made up the armed forces (Bewaffnete Macht or Wehrmacht) of Austria-Hungary.
While the name, "Imperial-Royal", might seem to suggest a link between the "Imperial" (Cisleithanian) and "Royal" (Transleithanian or Hungarian) halves of the Empire, in this context "Royal" actually refers to the Kingdom of Bohemia (Königreich Böhmen or České království) - not a sovereign kingdom on par with the Kingdom of Hungary, but a crownland of Cisleithanian Austria-Hungary and possession of the Habsburgs, who remained formally entitled to kingship.
[1] The roots of the Landwehr go back to the 16th century when there were calls on all able-bodied men to defend their country.
During the Napoleonic Wars a Landwehr was established[2] by imperial decree dated 9 June 1808 as a standing and common institution to complement the regular Austrian army.
After the Austrian Empire had lost the war against Prussia, the Austro-Hungarian Compromise put an end of the absolutist rule over Hungary and established the Dual Monarchy.
As a consequence, the Cisleithanian counterpart of the Honved, known as the Imperial-Royal Landwehr, was established in the "kingdoms and lands represented in the Reichsrat", i.e. the remaining Empire of Austria.
The monarch became the supreme warlord, holding all authority over the structure, organization, and administration of the army.
However, in September 1915, Emperor Franz Joseph I granted the authority for the "M 1915" colours in recognition of "exceptionally meritorious achievements" by the Imperial Landwehr, which was then manufactured under the supervision of the Army Museum in 1916.
In view of the design and material requirements of these colours, as well as their production and ceremonial presentation, they will only be available after the end of the war.
This very highest act of grace is intended to spur the troops of the Imperial Royal Landwehr further to new deeds of heroism and, of course by further brilliant performance against the enemy, will prove they are worthy, time and again, of this most high honour!"
The Landwehr high command was housed on the first floor of the former Imperial Department of Justice at Schillerplatz 4.
The parliaments of Cisleithania and Transleithania were rather more willing, to support "their" troops with financial resources than the common army.
It consisted of the crown and brim adorned with a hatband of green cord, a hunting horn and a hackle or plume of black cock feathers.
The battalion number in nickel silver was set in the centre formed by the loop of the horn.
The hackle was formed in the shape of a rooster's tail around a 1.5 mm thick piece of steel wire.
The other ranks jacket was made of pike grey (hechtgrau) cloth with epaulettes, shoulder trim, collar and cuffs of grass-green colour.
The shirts worn by the Landwehr infantry were of the same colour as the jacket with grass-green gorget patches to indicate their arm of service.
Trousers were of pike grey cloth and cut long in accordance with the regulations for German regiments.
One special feature was a small, forward-sloping pocket on the left side of the cap into which a spray of black grouse feathers was fixed.
The soldiers' jackets were made of pike grey material and had grass-green epaulettes, shoulder bars, collars and cuffs.
The rifleman's shirt was the same colour as his jacket; the arm of service being signified by grass-green gorgets (Parolis).
In a special display cabinet in Hall V (the Franz Joseph Hall) of the museum, several uniforms of the Imperial Royal Landwehr are displayed, a relief on the rear of the cabinet shows the territories from which the Hungarian Honvéd and Imperial-Royal Landwehr recruited.
