subaltern

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Subaltern was originally, i. H. during the 17th century, a word derived from French that denoted a subordinate officer , usually below the level of the company commander, without his own authority to command and punish (derived from the Latin "sub alter", under another). The word, which was gradually adopted into the German military language after the Thirty Years' War, did not denote an official rank or title, but only indicated the difference to the staff officers (French also "officiers supérieurs"), the generals or the administrative officers.

Historical development of the term

The word initially only applied to the " lieutenant ", the deputy of the company commander and the ensign , the bearer of the company flag (for example in the infantry, in the cavalry the corresponding rank was "cornet" or "cornet" ). Century were the only officers in a company besides the company commander . With the gradual abolition of the company flag, the ensign lost more and more of its original meaning and thus also of its rank as an officer (in Prussia finally 1807). After 1800 the ensign initially only retained his officer rank in the British and Russian armies , in most other armies he has since been an officer candidate in the rank of non-commissioned officer. The number of officers in a company in most armies did not gradually increase until the 18th and 19th centuries.

In numerous armies, the (official) company commander occupied an intermediate position between the higher-ranking staff officers and the subordinate subordinate officers. In armies that had a company economy, the " staff captain " or "staff captain ", who actually headed the company instead of a high-ranking - often only nominal - company commander, was often counted among the subaltern officers. The rank of “staff captain” corresponded to a “staff captain”, they were both the de facto bosses of a company that also had a (nominal) company commander. The different names are explained by the different naming conventions of different armies. The promotion from staff captain to captain could only take place when the officer became the (actual) company commander. The rank cannot therefore be equated with the current rank of “ Staff Captain ” in the Bundeswehr. However, this was not handled uniformly in all armies and also not at all times. Since the abolition of the company economy (around 1800) in most German-speaking armies, the captains were also counted among the subaltern officers.

Use of the term in modern times

Germany

In older German armies they were counted among the subaltern officers

but also

In the Army of the Empire , the rank group of subordinate officers between the rank group of non-commissioned officers and the rank group of staff officers with the ranks of sergeant , lieutenant and first lieutenant were designated as subordinate officers. The same also applied to the Imperial Navy .

The term is not officially used in the Bundeswehr .

Switzerland

In the Swiss Army, officers of the rank of lieutenant and first lieutenant are referred to as subaltern officer .

Subaltern officers are mostly used as platoon leaders or specialists. Specialist functions include, in particular, artillery firing commanders or detachment leaders in parachute reconnaissance . In both specialist functions, these officers only lead small units of around 3–5 soldiers.

Remarks

  1. ↑ used in France in this sense since the beginning of the 16th century, cf. Sicard: Histoire des institutions militaires françaises. 1831, T. I, 325 ff.
  2. ^ Military publishing house of the GDR (ed.): Dictionary of German military history. 1985, p. v. Subaltern; Riistow: Military hand dictionary. 1858, p. v. officer
  3. ^ Meynert: History of the war system and the military constitutions in Europe. 1869, vol. 3, 39 ff.
  4. ^ Riistow: Military hand dictionary. 1858, p. v. officer
  5. ^ Riistow: Military hand dictionary. 1858, p. v. officer
  6. ^ Riistow: Military hand dictionary. 1858, p. v. Company economy and s. v. officer

References

See also

Web links

literature

Hein: The little book of the German Army. Reprint of the 1901 edition, Weltbild Verlag GmbH, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-8289-0271-5