Mars ennobled the ascent of the military and the creation of a military nobility in mid-eighteenth-century Austria

German History

Volumn 17, Issue 2, 1999, Pages 141-176

  Hochedlinger, Michael ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 60949481488     PISSN: 02663554     EISSN: 1477089X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1191/026635599677031902     Document Type: Review

References (154)

1. See for example David D. Bien, 'The Army in the French Enlightenment: Reform, Reaction and Revolution', Past and Present, 85 (1979), 68-98
2. Claudia Opitz-Belakhal, 'Militärreformen als Bü rokratisierungsprozeß: Das französische Offizierskorps von 1760 bis 1790. Ein Werkstattbericht', Francia, 16/2 (1989), 171-94
3. Opitz-Belakhal, Militärreformen zwischen Bürokratisierung und Adelsreaktion. Das französische Kriegsministerium und seine Reformen im Offizierskorps von 1760-1790 (Sigmaringen, 1994)
4. Pioneer work has been done by Johann Christoph Allmayer-Beck, 'Wandlungen im Heerwesen zur Zeit Maria Theresias', in Schriften des Heeresgeschichtlichen Museums in Wien, vol. III: Maria Theresia. Beiträge zur Geschichte des Heerwesens ihrer Zeit (Graz, Vienna and Cologne, 1967), pp. 7-24
5. Allmayer-Beck, 'Die Armee Maria Theresias und Josephs II.', in Erich Zöllner (ed.), Österreich im Zeitalter des aufgeklärten Absolutismus (Vienna, 1983), pp. 71-83
6. Allmayer-Beck, 'Die Allzeit-Getreuen', in Heinz Siegert (ed.), Adel in Österreich (Vienna, 1971), pp. 303-18
7. Jürg Zimmermann, Handbuch zur deutschen Militärgeschichte, vol. 1/3: Militärverwaltung und Heeresaufbringung in Österreich bis 1806 (Frankfurt, 1965), pp. 128-38
8. and of course Christopher Duffy, The Army of Maria Theresa. The Armed Forces of Imperial Austria 1740-1780 (Newton Abbott, 1977), esp. pp. 24-46
9. The socially permeable nature of the Austrian officer corps was repeatedly underlined as an exceptional feature. See e.g. [Cognazzo], Freymiithiger Beytrag zur Geschichte des österreichischen Militairdienstes (Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1780), pp. 109-11, who advocated unlimited promotion on merit for every soldier without questioning the nobility's natural prerogatives
10. For the social mobility within the technical branches and the light troops see Johannes Kunisch, Der Kleine Krieg. Studien zum Heerwesen des Absolutismus (Wiesbaden, 1973), who also gives some details on the huge number of ennoblements of Austrian officers during the Seven Years War (pp. 62, 64, 65)
11. There is no lack of general studies on early modern Austrian nobility. Unfortunately, these are not based on empirical research but rather summarize the older literature and existing case studies. The best introduction is James Van Horn Melton, 'The Nobility in the Bohemian and Austrian Lands 1620-1780', in Hamish Scott (ed.), The European Nobilities in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol. II (London and New York, 1995), pp. 110-43
12. Also see Heinz Dopsch, 'Der österreichische Adel', in Erich Zöllner (ed.), Österreichs Sozialstrukturen in historischer Sicht (Vienna, 1980), pp. 25-43
13. Georg Heilingsetzer, 'Prinz Eugen und die Führungsschicht der österreichischen Großmacht 1683-1740', in Erich Zöllner and Karl Gutkas (eds.), Österreich und die Osmanen. Prinz Eugen und seine Zeit (Vienna, 1988), pp. 120-37
14. Hannes Stekl, 'Zwischen Machtverlust und Selbstbehauptung. Österreichs Hocharistokratie vom 18. bis ins 20. Jahrhundert', in Hans-Ulrich Wehler (ed.), Europäischer Adel 1750-1950 (Göttingen, 1990), pp. 144-65
15. 'Der hohe Adel im kaiserlichen Heere einst und jetzt', Mitteilungen des k.k. Kriegsarchivs (1884), pp. 458-67, is uninformative
16. On the legal framework of Austrian nobility, albeit concentrating on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Berthold Waldstein-Wartenberg, 'Österreichisches Adelsrecht 1804-1918', in Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs, 17/18 (1964/5), 109-46, is useful
17. A formidable bibliographie raisonnée is provided by Thomas Winkelbauer, 'Der Adel in Ober- und Niederösterreich in der Frühen Neuzeit. Versuch eines Literaturüberblicks (seit etwa 1950)', in Verbindendes und Trennendes an der Grenze. Opera historica, vol. II (Budweis, 1992), pp. 13-33
18. On nobility and military service see especially Rainer Wohlfeil, 'Adel und neues Heerwesen', in Hellmuth Rössler (ed.), Deutscher Adel 1430-1555 (Darmstadt, 1965), pp. 203-33
19. Wohlfeil, 'Adel und Heerwesen', in Hellmuth Rössler (ed.), Deutscher Adel 1555-1740 (Darmstadt, 1965), pp. 315-43
20. Wohlfeil, 'Ritter, Söldnerführer, Offizier. Versuch eines Vergleiches', in Geschichtliche Landeskunde. Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für geschichtliche Landeskunde an der Universität Mainz, vol. III: Festschrift Johannes Bärmann, part 1 (Wiesbaden, 1966), pp. 45-70
21. Martin C. Mandlmayr and Karl G. Vocelka, 'Vom Adelsaufgebot zum stehenden Heer. Bemerkungen zum Funktionswandel des Adels im Kriegswesen der frühen Neuzeit', in Spezialforschung und 'Gesamtgeschichte'. Beispiele und Methodenfragen zur Geschichte der frühen Neuzeit (Vienna, 1981), pp. 112-25
22. Christopher Duffy, The Military Experience in the Age of Reason (London and New York, 1987), pp. 35-88
23. and recently Christopher Storrs and H. M. Scott, 'The Military Revolution and the European Nobility c. 1600-1800', War in History, 3 (1996), 1-41
24. Not to forget veritable foreigners such as the numerous Irish officers. See the remarks in Thomas M. Barker, 'Military Nobility: The Daun Family and the Evolution of the Austrian Officer Corps', in Gunther E. Rothenberg, Béla K. Királyi and Peter F. Sugar (eds.), War and Society in East Central Europe, vol. II: East Central European Society and War in the Pre-Revolutionary Eighteenth Century (New York, 1982), pp. 133-6, on the very international character of the Habsburg officer corps. The Belgian provinces could boast seventeen field-marshals and some fifty Feldzeugmeister, Generäle der Kavallerie or Feldmarschall-Leutnants. Forty-three 'Belgians' were decorated with the Military Order of Maria Theresa
25. See Georges Englebert, Wallonen in kaiserlichen Diensten (Exhibition Catalogue) (Vienna, 1978)
26. Here Thomas M. Barker's works are essential: 'Recrutement des officiers dans l'armée habsbourgeoise au XVIIe et au XVIIIe siècle', in Centre d'histoire militaire et d'études de défense nationale de Montpellier, Colloque international d'histoire militaire 18-22 septembre 1974. Actes. Recrutement - Mentalités - Sociétés (Montpellier, 1975), pp. 79-84
27. Barker, 'Military Nobility', pp. 123-45
28. Barker's 'Absolutism and Military Entrepreneurship: Habsburg Models', in Thomas Barker, Army, Aristocracy, Monarchy. Essays on War, Society and Government in Austria 1618-1780 (New York, 1982), pp. 1-21, is rather general and his 'Armed Service and Nobility: General Features' (ibid., pp. 22-36) curiously concentrates upon medieval aspects
29. But see his 'Armed Forces and Nobility: Austrian Particulars', ibid., pp. 37-60, for some useful remarks
30. Bernhard Sicken, 'Heeresaufbringung und Koalitionskriegführung im Pfälzischen und im Spanischen Erbfolgekrieg', Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung, Beiheft II: Rahmenbedingungen und Handlungsspielrä ume europäischer Außenpolitik im Zeitalter Ludwigs XIV (1991), pp. 89-134, here pp. 111ff, makes the issue appear less complicated than it is
31. Fritz Redlich, The German Military Enterpriser and his Work Force. A Study in European Economic and Social History, 2 vols. (Wiesbaden, 1964/5), vol. I, pp. 411-34, vol. II, pp. 112-47, is useful for the wider context
32. The title of Jean-Michel Thiriet, 'Comportement et mentalité des officiers autrichiens au XVIIIe siècle', Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs, 33 (1980), 127-41, is misleading. This article only deals with the testaments of 100 Austrian officers from Romance countries
33. Gordon A. Craig, 'Command and Staff Problems in the Austrian Army 1740-1866', in Michael Howard (ed.), The Theory and Practice of War (Bloomington and London, 1965), pp. 45-67
34. and Béla K. Királyi and Walter Scott Dillard (eds.), War and Society in East Central Europe, vol. XXIV: The East Central European Officer Corps 1740-1920s: Social Origins, Selection, Education and Training (New York, 1988), have little to offer for our purpose
35. Tables 1, 2 and 3. Provincial commanders in 1757 consisted of three princes (Fürsten), one marquess, six counts and two barons (Freiherren). The Aulic War Council (Hofkriegsrat), the highest administrative body for military affairs, had among its eleven eighteenth-century presidents three princes and eight counts. Eva-Maria Götz, 'Lebenszyklus und soziale Prägung nachgeborener Söhne des österreichischen Adels', PhD Dissertation, Vienna, 1976, pp. 148-73, examines, unfortunately in a very superficial way, the career of an officer as a possibility for the Austrian nobility to provide for younger sons. According to 'statistical' data offered by Götz (pp. 117-18) the attractiveness of a military career for second or third sons rose by leaps and bounds after 1750 and surpassed the attraction of court service. The churth, it seems, had never had much appeal. On the functions and power of Oberstinhaber and Regimentskommandant and the various ranks of officers Alphons Freiherr von Wrede, Geschichte der k. und k. Wehrmacht, 5 vols. (Vienna, 1898-1905) is still indispensable
36. See the data provided by Nikolaus von Preradovich, 'Die politisch-militärische Elite in "Österreich" 1526-1918', Saeculum, 15 (1964), 393-420, here pp. 412f, on the 'nationality' of the 157 Austrian field-marshals promoted during the eighteenth century
37. Almost 50% of them came from the Reich. In the army at least religious toleration was the norm and Protestants could be promoted to the highest ranks und honours: [Cognazzo], Freymüthiger Beytrag, p. 118
38. This surprising uncertainty about a colonel's social status could lead to some irritating turmoil. In 1763, for instance, the Hofkriegsrat was forced to admit that the title of Freiherr (Baron) usually attributed to the colonel-commandant of the regiment of Forgách, Friedrich Altkirchen, since he had been a captain could not be authenticated. Altkirchen finally received the Freiherrnstand in 1766: Österreichisches Staatsarchiv/ Kriegsarchiv (= KA), Hofkriegsrat (= HKR), Protokoll 1763, vol. 953, fol. 526v-527r (April 1763). It had been ordered in February 1763 that officers claiming (dubious) noble origin and the corresponding prerogatives had to submit authentic legitimations: KA Hüblersche Gesetzessammlung, vol. 3, 1763, no. 4 (8 February 1763)
39. Barker, 'Armed Forces', p. 40. These Aggregationen and an unsupportable careerism are strongly criticized as destructive of morale and efficiency of the Austrian officer corps in an interesting Denkschrift (c. 1738/9) by Francis Stephen of Lorraine, husband of Maria Theresa and future Emperor. His bitter description climaxes in the ironic statement: 'Jezt, wan einer nicht Obristleuthenant oder gahr Obrister ist, so glaubt er, das ihm das gröste Unrecht geschieht': KA, Mémoires, IX-58. There are several interesting remarks on the detrimental effects of nepotism and the lack of attractiveness of military service in Austria in KA, Mémoires, VIII-24 (1750), a lack of attractiveness which naturally deterred the indigenous nobility as well as the higher strata of the Third Estate and led to requirement for a large number of foreign officers: KA, Mémoires, X-148. This contradicts what the British representative in Vienna, Saint-Saphorin, reported to his government in the late 1720s, i.e. that the lower nobility and the educated bourgeoisie provided the Austrian army with its best officers, quoted in, inter alios, Robert A. Kann, 'The Social Prestige of the Officer Corps in the Habsburg Empire from the Eighteenth Century to 1918', in Béla K. Királyi and Guther E. Rothenberg (eds.), War and Society in East Central Europe, vol. I (New York, 1979), pp. 113-37, here pp. 117-18
40. There is a good summary of the difficulties within the Austrian officer corps in K.u.k. Kriegsarchiv, Oesterreichischer Erbfolgekrieg 1740-1748, vol. I (Vienna, 1896), pp. 413-22. Statements on its social composition, however, are rather casual and occasionally even xenophobic: 'dass das kaiserliche Heer beinahe das einzige war, in welchem unter den Officieren das bürgerliche Element ebenso zahlreich vertreten war als das adelige' (ibid., p. 419) remains to be verified
41. Despite all its disadvantages ancienneté was a good barrier against excessive favouritism ('die ob sie gleich nicht immer der beste Maastab bey Beförderungen, doch im Ganzen betrachtet das einzige bekannte Mittel ist, Misvergnügen und Niedergeschlagenheit aus den Kriegsheeren zu verbannen'): [Cognazzo], Geständnisse eines oestreichischen Veterans in politisch-militarischer Hinsicht auf die interessantesten Verhältnisse zwischen Oestreich und Preußen während der Regierung des Großen Königs der Preußen Friedrichs des Zweyten ... gewidmet den königlich-preußischen Veteranen von dem Verfasser des freymüthigen Beytrags zur Geschichte des östreichischen Militär-Dienstes, 4 vols. (Breslau, 1788-91), here vol. II, p. 15
42. Daun to Maria Theresa (14 December 1750): KA, Mémoires, VII-31. He assured the Empress-Queen 'das es an guden Willen und Pravour des gemeinen Mans niemahlens gefehlet hat wohl aber seer an der Unwissenheit und Schleffrichkeit der Officirs und besonders der üblen Anfünrung der Oberen.'
43. Gutachten by Daun (14 May 1750). His view was supported by Charles of Lorraine (27 June 1750): KA, Mémoires, IX-259, VIII-24. Some corresponding notes by Daun are in KA, Mémoires, IX-30c, d, f (not dated). The French sketch in Mémoires, IX-30d, from which the quotation is taken, seems particularly interesting. See also an anonymous Mémoire (1757?) in KA, Alte Feldakten, 773 (Cabinettsakten), 1767-13-1, attributed to the future Field-Marshal Lacy, advocating a just and balanced advance for talented officiers de fortune risen from the ranks and nobles. Another memorandum warned against promoting too many NCOs to the rank of officer which, according to the author, Grenadier Captain Baron de Vigneulle, should remain the reserve of the nobility 'qui n'a pas, comme la bourgeoisie, le choix entre tant de différens états'. NCOs and privates should be honoured and encouraged by a special order: undated mémoire in KA, Hofkommission Nostitz-Rieneck 6. The latter advice was followed only in 1789 when an Ehrendenkmünze for NCOs and privates, the future Tapferkeitsmedaille, was instituted on the occasion of the Turkish War. In his 'Mémoires raisonnés sur différents moiens de perfectionner la constitution présente du service militaire autrichien' (dated 1754 KA, Mémoires, IX-88) a Major Marschall also criticized the glut of officiers de fortune that disgusted the nobility and was, as he saw it, responsible for the bad reputation of the Austrian army. Of course privates should not lose hope of advancement, but they should not be promoted beyond the rank of lieutenant either. If Marschall strongly advocated drawing into the army as many nobles as possible, it was with a precise political goal modelled on the French experience: the taming of the indigenous nobility. He also complained about the multitude of foreigners in the Austrian officer corps whose patriotic feelings seemed questionable ('Mémoire sur ce qu'on appelle soldats de fortune', KA, Mémoires, IX-88)
44. Generals had been granted the right to come to court in their uniforms or at least without having to put on the Spanish mantle (except on special days) in 1745, field-marshals at an even earlier date: Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv, Ältere Zeremonialakten 45 ('Allerunterthänigst-gehorsamstes Conferenzgutachten die Einrichtung der Cammerordnung ... betreffend', 20 November 1745). On the complicated hierarchy of entrées for military persons see 'Reglement des Zutritts in die kays. königl. Anticameren' (1745/6), ibid. Christian Benedik, 'Die Repräsentationsräume der Wiener Hofburg in der ersten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts', Das achtzehnte Jahrhundert und Österreich. Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Gesellschaft zur Erforschung des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts, 6 (1990/1), 7-21 provides some interesting background information
45. KA, Mémoires, IX-152: Session of the Military Conference, 14 March 1748. 'Prothocollum conferentiae militaris die 15ta Januarii 1751 celebratae': KA, HKR, Akten 1751 Expedit Februar no. 421 (including a coloured drawing illustrating the proposals of Prince Liechtenstein). Circular (25 February 1751): KA, HKR, Akten 1751, Registratur Februar, no. 336, 337, 339. KA, HKR, Protokoll Registratur 1751, vol. 862/2, 863, Protokoll Expedit 1751, vol. 858. KA, Mémoires, IX-29d. [Cognazzo], Freymüthiger Beytrag, pp. 111-12
46. Alfred Ritter von Arneth, Geschichte Maria Theresias, vol. IV (Vienna, 1870), p. 92
47. Oscar Teuber and Rudolf von Ottenfeld, Die österreichische Armee von 1700-1867 (Vienna, 1895), pp. 81-3, 180-3
48. Eugen Guglia, Maria Theresia. Ihr Leben und ihre Regierung, vol. II (Munich and Berlin, 1917), p. 22
49. The new uniform pattern for generals is reproduced in Teuber and Ottenfeld, Die österreichische Armee, p. 184, and - I think with a partly erroneous legend - in Duffy, Army of Maria Theresa, p. 37. The Hoffähigkeit applied to the Austrian uniform only. Foreign officers had to put on civilian clothes when received at the Viennese court. Since 1766 Austrian generals could wear, on duty but also at court, a more modest uniform instead of the more luxurious and, it turned out, financially ruinous version instituted in 1751: KA, Alte Feldakten, 773 (Cabinettsakten), 1766-5-1
50. The uniform for currently not employed and retired officers as well as for those on duty in fortresses was standardized in 1767: ibid., 1767-10-1
51. As a logical consequence the right to wear the military uniform had to be restricted. Officers having left the army or sold their charges and hence subordinated to civil jurisdiction were not allowed to keep their uniforms: Circular (13 March 1751): KA, Mémoires, XXIV-171, Codex Austriacus (Supplementum), vol. V (Vienna, 1777), pp. 561-2. This rule was evidently broken so often that in 1776 it was once more declared that retired officers could wear their old uniforms only with special permission: Circular (22 March 1776), KA, Mémoires, XXIV-178. If regimental proprietors had sometimes allowed young cavaliers and sons of officers not yet in military service to wear the regimental uniform, this abuse was reformed in 1769: KA, Alte Feldakten (Cabinettsakten), 773, 1769-8-1, 1769-8-2, 1769-9-ad 1. Even military honours for provincial dignitaries which Daun had criticized in the early 1750s as too profusely distributed were submitted to strict regulation in 1766/7. See the documents in KA, Mémoires, XXIV-174
52. Obersthofmeister to Hofkriegsrat (20 April 1751): KA, HKR, Akten 1752, Expedit Januar, no. 224; Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv, Ältere Zeremonialakten 48 (9 March 1751/20 April 1751/18 September 1751). Announcement (8 May 1751): Codex Austriacus (Supplementum), vol. V, p. 574. Circulars (16 December 1752, 15 August 1760): KA, Mémoires, XXIV-155, XXIV-191
53. Circular (Vienna, 28 October 1754): KA, Mémoires, XXIV-173. It was certainly with the intention of strengthening the officers' social position that, in 1767, generals, staff and subaltern officers were all allowed to hunt on the sovereign's cameral domains. Instruction of the Hofkriegsrat to the commanding general in Moravia (5 December 1767): KA, Mémoires, XXIV-164
54. Paul von Mitrofanov, Joseph II. Seine politische und kulturelle Tätigkeit (Vienna and Leipzig, 1910), pp. 347-50
55. Derek Beales, Joseph II, vol. 1: In the Shadow of Maria Theresa 1741-1780 (Cambridge, 1987), pp. 172-3
56. Adam Wolf, Aus dem Hofleben Maria Theresia's. Nach den Memoiren des Fürsten Joseph Khevenhüller (2nd edition, Vienna, 1859), pp. 307ff
57. Herbert Haupt, 'Die Aufhebung des spanischen Mantelkleides durch Kaiser Joseph II. Ein Wendepunkt im höfischen Zeremoniell', in Karl Gutkas (ed.), Österreich zur Zeit Kaiser Josephs II. Mitregent Kaiserin Maria Theresias, Kaiser und Landesfürst (Vienna, 1980), pp. 79-81
58. Georg Kugler and Herbert Haupt, Des Kaisers Rock. Uniform und Mode am österreichischen Kaiserhof 1800-1918 (Eisenstadt, 1989), pp. 12-16
59. Joseph II to Leopold of Tuscany (31 October 1765), in Alfred Ritter von Arneth (ed.), Maria Theresia und Joseph II. Ihre Correspondenz 1: 1761-1772 (Vienna, 1867), p. 150
60. Hubert Ch. Ehalt, Ausdrucksformen absolutistischer Herrschaft. Der Wiener Hof im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert (Vienna, 1980), unfortunately remains very general
61. The dearth of studies on the Viennese court ceremonial is criticized in Christina Hofmann, Das Spanische Hofzeremoniell von 1500-1700 (Frankfurt/Main, etc., 1985), pp. 293-5
62. For the general context see the interesting study by Philip Mansel, 'Monarchy, Uniform and the Rise of the Frac 1760-1830', Past and Present, 96 (1982), 103-32
63. Joseph's deep distaste for ceremonial matters is well known. In 1787, Handkuß and Kniebeuge for the imperial and royal family were abolished, being signs of reverence, it was argued, that were due only to the worship of God and inappropriate between human beings: Decree and Circular (4/6 January 1787), Joseph Kropatschek, Handbuch aller unter der Regierung des Kaisers Joseph des II. für die k.k. Erbländer ergangenen Verordnungen und Gesetze, 18 vols. (Vienna, 1785-90), vol. XIII, p. 6, KA, Mémoires, XXIV-201
64. On his death in 1790 Joseph II was laid out not in the Spanish mantle coat as had his father in 1765, but of course in his field-marshal's uniform: Hans Wagner (ed.), Wien von Maria Theresia bis zur Franzosenzeit. Aus den Tagebüchern des Grafen Karl von Zinzendorf (Vienna, 1972), p. 41. He had normally preferred that of his regiment of Chevauxlégers. Joseph II's strong inclination for the military can be seen from his last order of the day (14 February 1790) where it is clearly pronounced: 'Soldate zu seyn ware von jeher allerhöchst Dero vorzügliche Neigung': KA, Militä rimpressen, no. 442. At Versailles uniform was not admitted as adequate court dress, which necessarily puzzled the Emperor's brother, Archduke Maximilian, when, in 1775, he paid a visit to his sister, Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France
65. The best survey on military education in Austria is Josef Ritter Rechberger von Rechkron, Das Bildungswesen im österreichischen Heere vom Dreissigjährigen Kriege bis zur Gegenwart (Vienna, 1878)
66. but also see Bernhard von Poten, Geschichte des Militärerziehungs- und Bildungswesens in Österreich-Ungarn (Berlin, 1893), who is mainly based on Rechberger von Rechkron, Bildungswesen
67. There is a good outline in Manfried Rauchensteiner and Erwin Pitsch, Die Stiftskaserne in Krieg und Frieden (Vienna, 1977), as today's Stiftskaserne, the greatest military area in the heart of Vienna, housed many of the military schools under discussion
68. K.k. Kriegsarchiv, Feldzüge des Prinzen Eugen von Savoyen (Vienna, 1876), vol. I/1, pp. 367-71, contains some curious observations on the seventeenth-century situation
69. On the educational system in general see the monumental work of Helmut Engelbrecht, Geschichte des österreichischen Bildungswesens. Erziehung und Unterricht auf dem Boden Österreichs, vol. III (Vienna, 1984)
70. Johann Schwarz, 'Geschichte der k.k. Theresianischen Akademie', in Jahresbericht des Gymnasiums der k.k. Theresianischen Akademie in Wien für das Schuljahr 1890 (Vienna, 1890), pp. 1-110
71. Eugen Guglia, Das Theresianum in Wien. Vergangenheit und Gegenwart (Vienna, 1912; new edition 1996)
72. Johann Schwarz, Geschichte der Savoy'schen Ritter-Akademie in Wien vom Jahre 1746 bis 1778 (Vienna, 1897). Joseph II's view on the class struggle is in 'Nachricht von der Umgestaltung der theresianisch-savoyschen Akademie und ihrer künftigen Verfassung' (1 August 1784): KA, Civilimpressen, no. 1338
73. There is a considerable number of older studies on the Military Academy, but unfortunately they do not take much interest in social aspects and are sometimes even unable to really clarify the rather complicated history of its origins and first years. For an evident relationship with the foundation of the Ecole Royale Militaire in Paris in 1751 see below my remarks concerning the military nobility. Th. Jg. Leitner von Leitnertreu, Geschichte der Wiener-Neustädter Militär-Akademie, 2 vols. (Hermannstadt and Kronstadt, 1852/3), has very useful statistics in vol. II
74. Johann Svoboda, Die Theresianische Militär-Akademie zu Wiener Neustadt und ihre Zöglinge, vol. I (Vienna, 1894), is the standard work of reference
75. On the buildings at Wiener Neustadt, Johann Jobst, Die Neustädter Burg und die k. u. k. Theresianische Militärakademie. Ein Führer in militärischer und kunstgeschichtlicher Beziehung (Vienna and Leipzig, 1908) may be useful
76. Allmayer-Beck, 'The Establishment of the Theresan Military Academy Tn Wiener Neustadt', in Rothenberg et al. (eds.), War and Society, vol. II, pp. 115-21, and 'Mach' er mir tüchtige Officirs und rechtschaffene Männer darauß'. Die Theresianische Militärakademie von der Gründung bis zur Gegenwart (Exhibition Catalogue) (Wiener Neustadt, 1994), are very cursory. More than 10,000 officers had graduated from the academy by 1918
77. It is still the central school for officers in today's Austria. For the sake of comparison see the survey by Ralf Fritze, 'Militärschulen als wissenschaftliche Ausbildungsstätten in Deutschland und Frankreich im 18. Jahrhundert. Skizze zu einer vergleichenden Untersuchung', Francia, 16/2 (1989), 213-32
78. That the circular so clearly distinguished 'nobles' and (sc. non-noble) 'officers', Adel and Kriegsmann, seems to be a significant hint at the social composition of the lower strata of the officer corps
79. The circular addressed to the provincial commanders is printed in Svoboda, Die Theresianische Militär-Akademie vol. I, pp. xlii-xliii. See also Announcement (5 January 1752) with 'Benachrichtigung von der auf allerhöchste Anordnung Ihrer kaiserl. königl. Majestät in der Wienerischen Neustadt errichtenden adelichen Militärakademie': Codex Austriacus (Supplementum), vol. V, pp. 628-32; also in KA, Militä rimpressen, no. 265
80. 'Notification, die aus allerhöchster landesfürstlicher Milde Ihrer Kaiserl. Königl. Majestät dahier erweiterte Militarpflanz- oder Kriegsschule und zum Behuf des Publici eröfnete Kriegsakademie betreffend' (4 December 1754, KA, Militärimpressen, no. 290/5) makes it clear that this Academy was first regarded as a subsidiary of the Viennese Militä rpflanzschule and perhaps as a more 'civilian' alternative to the Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt. It was to be subordinated to the local director of the preparatory school, General Kleinholdt, and to the supreme director of both establishments at Wiener Neustadt and Vienna, Field-Marshal Daun. 'Fernere Benachrichtigung von der aus allerhöchster landesmütterlicher Milde ... allhier eröffneten Militarakademie' (20 September 1755), printed, inter alia, in Codex Austriacus (Supplementum), vol. V, pp. 1064-5
81. It is interesting to add that children from lower classes and sons of common soldiers were only admitted as Famularknaben supporting the Academy's servants. Some fifty of them received primary education but were mainly trained for lower functions such as bandsmen or officers' servants, or learned a useful craft
82. In 1754 Major Marschall (see note 14) had suggested creating posts for cadets from noble and officer families as an efficient means of reducing the number of officiers de fortune in the Austrian officer corps: KA, Mémoires, IX-88. Fahnenkadetten or ordinari Kadetten did not exist in the cavalry. The rank of Cornet was abolished in 1759, the existing Cornets being renamed 'Second Lieutenants'
83. Literally 'borderers'. Originally irregular units from the militarized Slav population settled along the south-eastern Balkan borders of the Habsburg empire. The 'Croats', as they were also called after their geographic centre, criticized and feared for their wildness and even barbarity, were being reformed in the 1740s and 1750s into more or less regular soldiers and distinguished themselves particularly during the War of the Austrian Succession and in the Seven Years War. See the short survey given by Duffy, Army of Maria Theresa, pp. 82-90
84. Gunther Rothenberg, Die österreichische Militärgrenze in Kroatien 1522-1881 (Vienna, 1970)
85. and, for its social aspects, Karl Kaser, Freier Bauer und Soldat. Die Militarisierung der agrarischen Gesellschaft an der kroatisch-slawonischen Militärgrenze 1535-1881 (Vienna, Cologne and Weimar, 1997). The Austrian 'Military Border' (Militärgrenze) disappeared in 1869-1881
86. The increasing Hungarian contribution to the Austrian war effort, particularly important for the light cavalry, is highlighted in József Zachar's genealogy of Hungarian regimental proprietors, 'Die Herrschaft der Habsburger und das Wehrwesen in der ungarischen Reichshälfte 1648-1798', Ungarn-Jahrbuch, 22 (1995-6), 35-68
87. In January 1791, when the Galician Noble Guard had been dissolved, Leopold II instituted forty places for noblemen from Galicia at the Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt. Hungarian noblemen could receive intellectual training in Vienna mainly through the Hungarian Noble Guard (established in 1760)
88. Decrees (6 May 1784, 5 May 1786): Kropatschek, Handbuch aller ... Verordnungen und Gesetze, vol. VII, pp. 57-8, vol. XI, pp. 56-9
89. The technical schools are exhaustively treated in Friedrich Gatti, Geschichte der k. und k. technischen Militärakademie, 2 vols. (Vienna, 1901/5), with the list of students for the Ingenieursakademie in vol. I, pp. 186f. For the sake of comparison it is perhaps interesting to note that admission to the French Ecole du Génie at Mézières was subject not only to severe entrance examinations but also to noble extraction
90. Memorandum by General Rollin ([August 1792]): KA, Hofkommission Nostitz-Rieneck, 7
91. Hanns Jäger-Sunstenau, 'Statistik der Nobilitierungen in Österreich 1701-1918', in Österreichisches Familienarchiv, vol. I (Neustadt/Aisch, 1963), pp. 3-16
92. For Hungary see Jäger-Sunstenau, 'Sozialgeschichtliche Statistik der Nobilitierungen in Ungarn 1700-1918', in Österreichischer Archivtag 1984 (Vienna, 1986), pp. 578-83, which unfortunately is not very informative
93. The figures are taken from P. G. M. Dickson, Finance and Government under Maria Theresia 1740-1780, vol. I (Oxford, 1987), pp. 78-114, esp. pp. 79-81. They are based on the statistics given by Jäger-Sunstenau, 'Statistik'. Percentages cover only the cases (10,358 between 1701 and 1918) where the profession is specified. From the 12,408 titles assigned from 1701 to 1918, 10,414 were virtual ennoblements of commoners, the rest covering further promotions within the nobility. The commonest title was that of einfacher Adel (plain noble) with more than 7,000 cases
94. Resolutio caesarea-regia, quoted in Rechberger von Rechkron, Bildungswesen, p. 10
95. '... daß jedem Officier, so auch von der Fortune sein Aufkommen hat, nachdeme er 30 Jahr gedienet und seines Wohlverhaltens halber von seinen Vorgesezten oder Comendanten eine gutte Zeigenschafft beyzubringen vermag, auf beschehendes Ansuchen das Ritterstandtsdiploma gratis, mithin ohne Endtrichtung der sonsthievon abzuführen kommenden Tax, ertheillet werden sollte'. Circular to commanding generals (12 Januar 1757): HKR Akten 1757 113-Januar-241/1. The regulation was soon extended to artillery officers as well. Hofkriegsrat to Prince Liechtenstein (28 February 1757): HKR, Akten, 1757, 113-February-631. The new thirty-year limit was of course intended to restrict the numbers of potential candidates
96. The complicated structure of the Austrian nobility cannot be discussed here. Suffice it to say that in the sixteenth century the old landed aristocracies began to be more exclusive, especially by demanding considerable landed property as the basic requirement for integration into their ranks. Newly ennobled commoners were to be admitted only after a certain waiting period. However, from the 1650s on, the Landstandschaft could be granted to officials and officers of quite recent nobility and without landed property. It is perhaps useful to remark that increasingly membership of the Ritterstand (as provincial estate) did not necessarily imply that the nobleman's personal rank had to be that of Ritter. In the nineteenth century barons and even counts could be found among the provincial Ritterstand. Plain nobility did not qualify for the Inkolat, which is the reason for the Directorium's argument: Herbert Hassinger, 'Die Landstände der österreichischen Länder. Zusammensetzung, Organisation und Leistung im 16.-18. Jahrhundert, Jahrbuch für Landeskunde von Niederösterreich, new series 36 (1964), 989-1035
97. Even the accessory fees of 94 fl. 16 kreuzer must have been a serious financial strain on the applicant's purse, when an infantry captain had a monthly salary of only 71 fl., a second lieutenant 22 fl. and cavalry officers even less. See the table of monthly pay (10 October 1768): KA, Mémoires, VIII-340
98. Hofkriegsrat to Directorium in Publicis et Cameralibus (19/20 March 1757), Directorium to Hofkriegsrat (2 April 1757) and circular to commanding generals (16 April 1757): KA, HKR, Akten 1757, 113-März-390, 113-April-312. See also KA, Mémoires, XXIV-162. It is interesting to see that the ideal curriculum on the form sheet began with the entry Gemeiner (private) and ended with Hauptmann oder Rittmeister. We are therefore fully justified to conclude that, in principle, this kind of ennoblement was not intended for staff officers, perhaps because these were thought to be genuine nobles anyway. This hypothesis is also confirmed by the relatively small number of senior staff officers applying for ennoblement. It appears that for senior staff officers of plain nobility or reputed nobles the promotion to the Freiherrnstand was de facto instituted as an adequate reward for long years of service at that level: HKR, Akten 1758, 113-Dezember 285, 1758, 113-Dezember-421, 1760, 113-Februar-508
99. As far as I can see, Johann Christoph Allmayer-Beck, Das Heer unter dem Doppeladler. Habsburgs Armeen. 1718-1848 (Munich, 1981), p. 60, was the first to suggest French influence, though without providing any reference
100. The edict of 1750 is printed in Louis Tuetey, Les Officiers sous l'Ancien Régime. Nobles et roturiers (Paris, 1908), pp. 367-72
101. See ibid., pp. 255-80, the chapter 'La Noblesse militaire'
102. David D. Bien, 'La Réaction aristocratique avant 1789: l'exemple de l'armée', Annales E.S.C., 29 (1974), 23-48, 505-34
103. On the Chevalier d'Arc see the easily accessible introduction by Emile Léonard, 'La Question sociale dans l'armée française', Annales E.S.C., 3 (1948), 135-49, and again in Léonard, L'Armée et ses problèmes au XVIIIe siècle (Paris, 1958), pp. 163-90. It is remarkable that d'Arc also advocated the acceptance of the uniform at court, a recommendation that, as we have seen, was not followed either
104. Kaunitz to Koch (18 December 1750) and Koch to Kaunitz (19 January 1751), printed in Hanns Schlitter (ed.), Correspondance secrète entre le comte A. W. Kaunitz-Rietberg, ambassadeur impérial à Paris, et le baron Ignaz de Koch, secrétaire de l'Impératrice Marie Thérèse 1750-1752 (Paris, 1899), pp. 51-5, 69-73
105. My statistics are based on the Protokolle of the Hofkriegsrat (1757-63) in the Vienna Kriegsarchiv and on the surviving records (Hofkriegsrat Akten, Rubrik 113 for the years 1757-61). The entry on the archive group Hofkriegsrat Nobilitationen in Inventar des Kriegsarchivs Wien, vol. I (Vienna, 1953), p. 132, is misleading. Officers whose applications of 1763 were complied with only in 1764 have been included as well as three untypical elevations to the Ritterstand. Karl Friedrich von Frank, Standeserhebungen und Gnadenakte für das Deutsche Reich und die österreichischen Erbtande, 5 vols. (Schloß Senftenegg, 1967-74), based on the records of the former Adelsarchiv, now part of the Allgemeines Verwaltungsarchiv (Vienna), enables us to add a few successful cases. However, six ennoblements, all concerning Grenzer officers, protocoled for the end of 1763 could not be found in Frank. Jäger-Sunstenau, 'Statistik' gives a total of 129 ennobled officers for the period 1757-63. I have omitted two dubious cases (HKR, Akten 1758, 113-Mai-240, 1758, 113-März-763)
106. Only 109 applicants reappear among the finally ennobled. For the rest no formal applications could be found in the records of the Hofkriegsrat. These are, of course, incomplete
107. HKR, Akten 1757, 113-August-542
108. This does not include cases where officers succeeded only after 1764. Three applicants were ennobled in 1767/1770/1771 although their demands had already been sent in 1759 and even 1757
109. KA, HKR, Protokoll vol. 955 (1763), fol. 1938rv, HKR, Akten 1761, 113-Juni-279, 113-Juli-497
110. KA, HKR, Akten 1760, 113-Januar-149. He had applied for the first time in 1757 when he was still a first lieutenant
111. Provisional statutes were fixed in Maria Theresa's famous letter to Field-Marshal Daun (22 June 1757), which was printed and distributed. The letter can be found e.g. in KA, Militärimpressen no. 306/1. See Jaromir Hirtenfeld, Der Militär-Maria-Theresien-Orden und seine Mitglieder (Vienna, 1857), where the final Statutes of December 1758 (pp. 5-14) and the lists of the decorated officers are printed
112. Georg Ludwigstorff, 'Der Militär-Maria-Theresien-Orden', in Johann Stolzer and Christian Steeb (eds.), Österreichs Orden vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (Graz, 1996), pp. 90-113, basing his short study on the archives of the order, is valuable for Daun's first proposals of 1749/50 and for the discussions preceding 1757/8
113. See also Prince de Ligne, Mélanges militaires, littéraires et sentimentaires, vol. XXX (Vienna and Dresden, 1808), pp. 275-96 ('Sur l'ordre militaire de Marie Thérèse')
114. and Peter Broucek, Der Geburtstag der Monarchie. Die Schlacht bei Kolin 1757 (Vienna, 1982), pp. 135-55
115. For the role of State Chancellor Kaunitz in the founding of the order see Franz A. J. Szabo, Kaunitz and Enlightened Absolutism 1753-1780 (Cambridge, 1994), pp. 265ff
116. and the recent sketch by Christopher Duffy, 'Count Kaunitz-Rietberg, Military Strategist 1756-1763', in Grete Klingenstein and Franz A. J. Szabo (eds.), Staatskanzler Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz-Rietberg 1711-1794. Neue Perspektiven zu Politik und Kultur der europäischen Aufklärung (Graz, etc., 1996), pp. 58-69, here p. 62. A third level, that of Commandeur ranging between the Knights and the Grand Crosses, was created in 1765. There is an undated draft of statutes for a military order destined for officers who had served more than twenty years in KA, Hofkommission Nostitz-Rieneck, 5. Also see 'Mémoire pour l'établissement d'un ordre de chevalerie militaire' (1754) by Major Marschall (KA, Mémoires, IX-88) praising the French Ordre de Saint-Louis as a shining example
117. As is evident from §6 of the statutes, the Grand Crosses were in practice reserved for generals whose actions or decisions had influenced the outcome of battles or campaigns. Three field-marshals, seven Feldzeugmeister or Generale der Kavallerie and ten Feldmarschall-Leutnants or Generalfeldwachtmeister (major-generals) received the twenty Grand Crosses of the Seven Years War. Table 9 makes clear that even the Knight's Crosses were mainly awarded to generals and (senior) staff officers, only 21.3% to captains, captain-lieutenants and lieutenants
118. This seems to be the reason why, contrary to plain nobility awards and baronies, there was no surge in elevations to the Ritterstand during the Seven Years War. Only five officers were made Ritter in 1758-60
119. It is curious that the artillery officer Matthias Winkelhofer, ennobled in 1761 for his long service, did not apply for the Freiherrnstand when he was decorated with the order in 1763. The Grenzer colonel Hieronymus Liubibratich had already received the Freiherrnstand in 1760 when, in 1762, he was awarded the Military Order
120. HKR, Akten 1759, 113-März-492. The Grenzer held a remarkable share among the Knight's Crosses of the order, but figured much more prominently in the ranks of the new military nobility. See Nikolaus von Preradovich, 'Südslawen als Inhaber des österreichischen Militär-Maria- Theresienordens', Südostforschungen, 13 (1954), 285-91
121. See for example Johannes Kunisch, 'Feldmarschall Loudon und der kleine Krieg', in Manfried Rauchensteiner and Erwin A. Schmidl (eds.), Formen des Krieges. Vom Mittelalter zum 'Low-Intensity-Conflict' (Vienna, 1991), pp. 45-70, resuming his earlier studies on the subject
122. Wohlfeil, 'Adel und Heerwesen', p. 342
123. Also see Berthold Waldstein-Wartenberg, 'Neuer Adel unter Habsburgs Patronanz', in Heinz Siegert (ed.), Adel in Österreich (Vienna, 1971), pp. 49-55
124. Among them Field-Marshal Khevenhüller, one of the leading military advisors of the young Maria Theresa. He seemed rather sceptical about the high percentage of foreigners in Habsburg military service down to the level of the rank and file ('dann unter denen kayserlichen Trouppen die meiste Officiers Außländer, auch die Unterofficiers und Gemeyne selbst in guter Anzahl Frembde seynd') and was critical of the diversity of nationality and religion in the Habsburg army: KA, Nachlaß Khevenhüller B 802/no. 5 (20 May 1740)
125. See among others Jupp Hoven, Der preußische Offizier des 18. Jahrhunderts. Eine Studie zur Soziologie des Staates (Leipzig, 1936)
126. Eleftherios Sossidi, Die staatsrechtliche Stellung des Offiziers im absoluten Staat und ihre Abwandlungen im 19. Jahrhundert (Berlin, 1939)
127. Karl Demeter, Das deutsche Offizierskorps in Gesellschaft und Staat 1650-1945 (2nd edn., Frankfurt/Main, 1962)
128. H. Meier-Welcker (ed.), Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Offizierskorps. Anciennität und Beförderung nach Leistung (Stuttgart, 1962)
129. Otto Büsch, Militärsystem und Sozialleben im alten Preußen 1713-1807. Die Anfänge der sozialen Militarisierung der preußisch-deutschen Gesellschaft (Berlin, 1962), esp. pp. 77-143, which stresses the strong interrelationship between the agrarian and military system
130. Manfred Messerschmidt, 'Werden und Prägung des preußischen Offizierskorps', in Hans Meier-Welcker (ed.), Offiziere im Bild von Dokumenten aus drei Jahrhunderten (Stuttgart, 1964), esp. pp. 44-57
131. Friedrich Karl Tharau, Die geistige Kultur des preußischen Offiziers von 1640 bis 1806 (Mainz, 1968)
132. For a more general view, Otto Büsch, 'Die Militarisierung von Staat und Gesellschaft im alten Preußen', in Manfred Schlenke (ed.), Preußen - Versuch einer Bilanz, vol. II: Preußen. Beiträge zu einer politischen Kultur (Reinbek and Hamburg, 1981), pp. 45-60
133. Francis L. Carsten, 'Gutsherrschaft und Adelsmacht', ibid., pp. 28-44
134. and, recently Frank Göse, 'Zwischen Garnison und Rittergut. Aspekte der Verknüpfung von Adelsforschung und Militärgeschichte am Beispiel Brandenburg-Preußens', in Ralf Pröve (ed.), Klio in Uniform? Probleme und Perspektiven einer modernen Militärgeschichte der frühen Neuzeit (Cologne, Weimar and Vienna, 1997), pp. 109-42
135. Kann 'Social Prestige', pp. 116-17, 120-1
136. William O. Shanahan, 'Enlightenment and War. Austro-Prussian Military Practice 1760-1790', in Rothenberg et al. (eds.), War and Society, vol. II, pp 83-111
137. Van Horn Melton, 'Nobility', p. 116
138. Franz Lorenz von Thadden, Feldmarschall Daun. Maria Theresias größter Feldherr (Vienna and Munich 1967), pp. 143-4
139. On the German officer of the Enlightenment the best up-to-date introduction is Daniel Hohrath, 'Die "Bildung des Officiers" im 18. Jahrhundert', in Die Bildung des Offiziers in der Aufklärung. Ferdinand Friedrich von Nicolai (1730-1814) und seine enzyklopädischen Sammlungen. Ausstellung der Württembergischen Landesbibliothek Stuttgart (Stuttgart 1990), pp. 28-63. Given the commonplace prejudice against the Austrian nobility's alleged unwillingness to undergo professional schooling it is all the more astonishing that between 1755 and 1763 32.9% of the first scholars at the Military Academy came from the higher and the middle nobility (see Table 5 (a))
140. Barker, 'Absolutism', p. 20
141. Announcement (3 March 1750): Codex Austriacus (Supplementum), vol. V, p. 484, announcement and letters patent (23 September and 2 June 1753): ibid., pp. 706, 676f. Hofkriegsrat Circular (3 February 1767): KA, Mémoires, VIII-260. Bernd Wunder, 'Die Institutionalisierung der Invaliden-, Alters- und Hinterbliebenenversörgung der Staatsbediensteten in Österreich 1740-1790', Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, 92 (1984), 341-406, esp. pp. 360-9. Artillery officers had founded, in 1764, a special confraternity for their widows and orphans. For further details on the Heiratskautionen see Gerwin Müller, 'Heiratsvorschriften und Heiratsverhalten im altösterreichischen Offizierskorps', PhD Dissertation, Vienna, 1980
142. See the various decrees in Kropatschek, Handbuch aller ... Verordnungen und Gesetze, vol. IV, pp. 547-51 (30 May 1781, 12 February 1782, 12 July 1782), vol. XI, pp. 10-11 (March/August 1786), 670-1 (27 February 1786). These officers, according to the Emperor's will, should continue to wear their uniforms and have precedence over any town councillor with the exception of the Mayor
143. Erwin M. Auer, 'Ein Stiftsbrief aus dem Jahre 1771', Wiener Geschichtsblätter, new series 6 (1951), 17-24
144. Auer, 'Das "Elisabethinische und Theresianische Stiftungs- Creutz" vom Jahre 1771', Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, 60 (1952), pp. 286-99
145. Auer, 'Die Mitglieder der Elisabeth-Theresien-Stiftung', Adler. Zeitschrift für Genealogie und Heraldik, 4 (1956/8), pp. 4-14
146. Rechberger von Rechkron, Bildungswesen, pp. 34-6, 182-7
147. Poten, Geschichte, pp. 91-3
148. Prince de Ligne, Mélanges militaires, littéraires et sentimentaires, vol. II: Fantaisies militaires (Vienna and Dresden, 1795), pp. 148-9
149. Waldstein-Wartenberg, 'Adelsrecht', pp. 127-8
150. István Deák, Der k. (u.) k. Offizier 1848-1918 (2nd edn, Vienna, Cologne and Weimar, 1995), pp. 188-98; KA, Hüblersche Gesetzessammlung, vol. 21, no. 47 (8 March 1793). The attractiveness of status elevation remains true even if the new military nobility could not so easily or at all make contact with the old and landed feudal aristocracy. When reading the exceedingly funny titles (Ehrenworte) which ennobled officers were usually awarded and allowed to attach to their original names, one could suspect that the mixing of old families and service nobility was not at all intended and that these new affixes rather had the character of a warning. These titles could for instance reflect the army branch from which the newly ennobled officer came. The artillery captain Johann Christoph Fritsch for example was granted the amusing title 'von Minenfeld' and the military Medicus Dr Wabst could attach to his original name the incredible affix 'von Leidenfeld': HKR, Akten 1760, 113-August-125, 113-November-343. 'Von Ehrenstreit', 'von Marsfeld', 'von Siegental', 'von Ehrenfeld', 'von Ehrenfels', 'von Heldenfeld', 'von Treuenfels', 'von Kriegsfeld' may be cited as further samples. One should perhaps bear in mind Allmayer-Beck's argument ('Armee Maria Theresias und Josephs II.', p. 78) that the overall aim of the Maria Theresian reform policy within the officer corps was precisely 'den Offizier als einen besonderen Berufsstand von seiner Umgebung abzuheben', which necessarily implied a certain degree of isolation and insulation
151. This, however, did not stop the rapid embourgeoisement of the Austrian officers corps, especially in the second half of the nineteenth century. This major structural change has been attributed to the severe criticism of the higher nobility among the officer corps following the catastrophe of Königgrätz against Prussia in 1866: Adam Wandruszka, 'Die "Zweite Gesellschaft" der Donaumonarchie', in Heinz Siegert (ed.), Adel in Österreich (Vienna, 1971), pp. 56-67
152. There is an interesting statistical evaluation for 1896 in Karl Kandelsdorfer, 'Der Adel im k.u.k. Officierscorps', Österreichische Militärische Zeitschrift, 38 (1897), 248-69: generals: 72% nobles, 28% commoners; general staff: 37% nobles, 63% commoners; infantry: 14% nobles, 86% commoners; cavalry: 58% nobles, 42% commoners; artillery: 16% nobles, 84% commoners, etc. Kandelsdorfer does not clearly distinguish between old and new nobility
153. This is all the more problematic as, at the same time, within the officers qualified as nobles, a profound structural change seems to have gained ground, with the service nobility finally outstripping the older aristocracy: Deák, Offizier, pp. 191-8. In 1919 nobility was radically abolished by the young Austrian Republic
154. Titles continue to be prohibited to the present day: Berthold Waldstein-Wartenberg, 'Das Adelsaufhebungsgesetz von 1919', Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs, 25 (1972), 306-14