Economic administration of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces

The economic administration of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces was responsible for food, clothing and finances within the army.

It was divided into the following branches:

• Catering
• Outfit
• Monetary affairs
• Billing service
• Directorate

The catering

This was responsible for providing the food needed by the troops. For this purpose, military food stores and military food branch stores were set up. The staff consisted of catering officers and the catering team.

Catering manager

The following distinctions (ranks) applied

Rank designation	Corresponding
Head catering administrator 1st class	Colonel
Head catering manager 2nd class	Lieutenant colonel
Catering manager	major
Catering official 1st class	Captain
Catering official 2nd class	Captain
Catering official 3rd class	First lieutenant
Catering process is	lieutenant
	Cadet
	sergeant
	Platoon leader
	corporal
	Private
	1st class catering soldier
	Supply soldier 2nd class

• Adjustment of the military catering officers

They were counted among the officers without a portepee , were subject to the same adjustment regulations as the artillery officers and wore a so-called cap made of black felt as headgear. The brim was turned up on the left and right. At the back and front they formed downward corners with roses from five rows of shimmering gold bouillons with a velvet black field with the highest embroidered signature FJI . A black silk ribbon, 5.3 cm wide, served as a brim for senior officers. In the lower officer classes, the brim edging consisted of a 7.6 cm wide gold border with a zigzag pattern and a black stripe on each edge. Doctors or officers with the rank of general had an 8 cm wide gold braid with no black piping as their hat border.

On the right side of the hat there was a black cockade 8 cm in diameter and, over it, a loop made of a 2.6 cm wide, double-laid border. It formed a point at the bottom and was studded with a white smooth button. The field cap corresponded to that of the infantry officers.

They wore a dark green tunic with light blue facings (equalization) and white, smooth buttons. Dark green pantaloons with light blue passepoils served as legwear. The coat was blue-gray with light blue parolis. As officials without a portepee, they did not wear distinctive stars, but rosettes as badges of rank. Armament and personal equipment corresponded to those of the infantry officers.

• Adjustment of NCOs and men

To the parade the NCOs and men wore a cap made of pike-gray cloth in the shape of the officers with white passepoils and roses. The distinctive braids of the batches were made of black and yellow wool.

Field cap, tunic, blouse and pantaloons were also made of pike-gray cloth. Light blue lapels and white smooth buttons were mandatory. The bread bags made of white linen that were used corresponded to the pattern that was in use until 1888 and generally no longer used. The canteen was also an older, no longer used model. It consisted of glass with a sheet metal cover and a volume of 1/2 liter. The cadet, who was not yet an officer, wore a dark green tunic and blouse with light blue parolis . As a side arm, he wielded the infantry officer's saber.

The clothing system

kuk clothing depot in Brno

Most of the clothing, equipment, medical supplies and beds required for the entire armed forces were manufactured by civil companies. Storage and administration of the material was carried out by the equipment management agencies. In Vienna , Graz , Brno and Budapest there was an equipment depot each, each of which had to look after an area assigned to the monarchy. The service in these institutions was carried out by members of the clothing administration branch. This consisted of staff and senior officers, technical support staff and the crew.

The technical support staff consisted of foremen 1st and 2nd class, who corresponded to the sergeant's rank. In addition, there were platoon leaders, corporals and corporals, as well as masters of the 1st and 2nd class and journeymen of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd class.

Adjustment 1895

• Officers and foremen

Officers and foremen wore the top hat based on the pattern of military doctors with a cock's plume. Otherwise field cap according to the cut of the infantry officers. Tunic (infantry style) and field blouse in dark blue with madder red leveling. The pantaloons were made of light blue cloth. The officers of the outfit administration branch had the right to wear the armband. The infantry officer's saber served as armament.

1895

• NCOs and men

The headgear for the parade was a pike-gray cap, as for officers, with white passepoils and florets, the distinctive braids for the batches were made of black and yellow wool. Field cap like the infantry. A tunic made of dark blue cloth with a madder red collar and cuffs, armpit clasps and smooth yellow buttons. Dark blue field blouse with madder red Parolis. Light blue pantaloons. The infantry saber on the belt and plug-in dome served as a sidearm.

Adjustment 1912

• Officers and foremen

Shako or pike gray cap based on the pattern of the infantry, dark green skirt with two rows of smooth yellow buttons or pike gray blouse. Blue-gray pantaloons with passepoils or pike gray without passepoils. Infantry officer's saber. Equalizing color: red-brown.

• NCOs and men

The infantry chako served as headgear for the parade. Pike-gray field cap like the infantry. Tunic of dark green cloth in reddish brown collar, cuffs, Ärmelwulsten, just such a shoulder braces and with a series of smooth yellow buttons. Pike gray field blouse with reddish brown parolis. Only pike gray pantaloons without passepoils. The infantry saber on the belt and plug-in dome served as a sidearm.

The monetary system

There were separate military coffers for the administration of the finances required to maintain operations, from which the expenses made by the troops and the institutions were paid. In peacetime there were military coffers in Vienna , Budapest , Josephstadt , Sarajevo and the pay office of the Reich Ministry of War .

In the military coffers, military treasury officials performed the following designations:

Rank designation	Corresponding
Cashier 1st class	Colonel
Cashier 2nd class	Lieutenant colonel
Paymaster	major
Treasurer 1st class	Captain
Treasury officer 2nd class	Captain
Treasurer 3rd class	First lieutenant
Cash register	lieutenant

• The adjustment of the military treasurer

The military treasurer did not wear a portepee. Uniforms and armament corresponded to the pattern of the military witness officers.
They wore a dark green tunic with rose-red leveling and two rows of smooth white buttons.

The billing service

This consisted of the troop accounting service and the accounting control. In the sub-departments, the accounting service was the responsibility of the accounting officers. With the larger troops there was one or more troop accounting officers who formed their own officer corps with the ranks : lieutenant, first lieutenant and captain accounting officer.

• Adjustment of troop accounts

The troop accounting officers were equipped with their own uniform, regardless of their branch of service. As headgear they wore a hat according to the pattern of the military doctors or a black cap. Tunic and blouse made of dark green cloth with light blue equalization and white smooth buttons. The coat and pantaloons were made of blue-gray cloth. As a side arm they carried the infantry officer's saber.

In the case of the commanders, troops and institutions, the accounts were checked by the directorships and the Reich Ministry of War . The directorships were in the divisions, corps and districts. This service, in turn, had its own military accounting clerk branch.

The military auditors held the following distinctions:

Rank designation	Corresponding
Ministerial Councilor	Major general
1st class accounting council	Colonel
Second class accounting council	Lieutenant colonel
Accounting council	major
First class accounting officer	Captain
2nd class accounting officer	Captain
3rd class accounting officer	First lieutenant
Invoice processist	lieutenant
Invoice intern	Cadet

The auditors did their job at the various directorships. The 15th department of the Reich Ministry of War - the accounting department - consisted only of accounting control officers.

• Adjustment of the audit officers

Audit officers carried no portepee. The tunics were of dark green cloth with alizarin red leveling and two rows of smooth white buttons. Ministerial Councilors wore yellow buttons. Otherwise the adjustment corresponded to the model of the artillery officers.

Directorate

The directorate or the director's service was responsible for the management and control of the entire administrative service. There was a separate group of officials for this purpose, which was called "Military Directorate".

A directorship department was provided for each of the higher command and authority. At the head of the directorate was an official with the rank of "section chief" which corresponded to the field marshal lieutenant and who had the title "chief of the military directorate". He was also the head of the economic section in the ministry.

Rank of the general manager:

Rank designation	Corresponding
Head of Section	Field Marshal Lieutenant
General manager	Major general
Military Chief Executive, 1st class	Colonel
Military Chief Executive 2nd class	Lieutenant colonel
Military director	major
Military sub-director	Captain

The directors also supervised the military coffers, the military catering facilities and the military bed stacks.

• Adjustment of the general manager

The general manager had the right to wear a portepee. Their adjustment regulations corresponded to those of the artillery engineers. Their tunics were dark green with crimson leveling and two rows of smooth yellow buttons.

literature

• Imperial and Royal War Ministry "Adjustment regulation for the Imperial and Royal Army, the Imperial and Royal Landwehr, the Imperial and Royal Landwehr, the affiliated institutions and the corps of military officials" Vienna 1911/1912.
• Glenn Jewison, Jörg C. Steiner: The Austro-Hungarian Land Forces 1848-1918
• Allmayer-Beck , Lessing : The K. (below) K. Army. 1848-1914 . Bertelsmann, Munich et al. 1974, ISBN 3-570-07287-8 .
• Stefan Rest, M. Christian Ortner , Thomas Ilming: The Emperor's Rock in the First World War - Uniforms and Equipment of the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1914 to 1918 , Verlag Militaria, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-9501642-0-0 .
• The Austro-Hungarian Army in 1895. Series of images by Oskar Brüch , commented by Günter Dirrheimer (= writings of the Army History Museum in Vienna , 10) Österr. Bundesverlag, Vienna 1983.

Footnotes

1. ↑ However, writing of the kuk Militäradministratur to 1918 since the spelling reform of 1996 as Field Marshal Lieutenant referred

Web links

Commons : Military uniforms of Austria-Hungary  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Commons : Details of military uniforms of Austria-Hungary  - Collection of images, videos and audio files