Imperial and Royal Dragoons

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.

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.

By tradition, the dragoons recruited most of their troopers from the German- and Czech-speaking regions of the Empire.