General of the branch


A "general of the branch" or "general of the branch of service" is a rank equivalent to a three-star lieutenant general or four-star general. Several nations divide, or have once divided, their general officers by the branch of troops they are qualified to command, or simply as an honorific title.

Austria-Hungary

In the Austro-Hungarian Army there were three general of the branch ranks:
The rank of General der Infanterie was introduced in 1908, prior to this both infantrymen and gunners were appointed as Feldzeugmeisters.
Historically, the rank of general of artillery was equivalent to lieutenant general. In French, the equivalent expression was grand maitre d'artillerie, used since the time of Philip VI of France. The English position of Master-General of the Ordnance was similarly derived.

Bulgaria

The Third Bulgarian State from its inception in 1878 had a highest military rank of "general", but in 1897 this rank was split into three grades - general of infantry, of cavalry and of artillery. The rank was replaced after World War II, when Bulgaria fell into the Soviet sphere of influence, with the all-encompassing rank of general.

Finland

Full generals in the Finnish military were classified as generals of infantry, cavalry, jaeger and artillery. The title is now merely honorific, and only one 4-star general is active at any one time in the modern Finnish military.

Germany

Wehrmacht

In the German Wehrmacht a General of a branch was linked to service arms of the Heer and Luftwaffe, depending on where the officer served and what troops he commanded. It was equivalent to the three-star ranks of admiral in the Nazi Kriegsmarine, and SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS in the Waffen-SS. A commander-in-chief of a German army corps was usually of this rank. In our time this rank might be comparable to NATO OF-8.
;Heer:
;Sequence of ranks ascenting:
junior rank:
Generalleutnant

'General of the Branch		senior rank:
Generaloberst

;Luftwaffe:
;Waffen-SS:
When the contemporary German Army, the Bundeswehr, was founded some of the names for general ranks were replaced with the current ones.
The denomination General der Panzertruppen, General der Infanterie, General der Artillerie and General der Fernmeldetruppe are still round, but they are not longer ranks but positions. These positions seem to roughly correspond to the pre-Bundeswehr Inspekteur der …. For example Heinz Guderian had the position of Inspekteur der Panzertruppen for a while.

Poland

In the Polish armed forces the rank equivalent to lieutenant general is generał broni.

Russian Empire

created the ranks of general of infantry and general of cavalry in the Imperial Russian Army in 1699.