The Großkampfwagen or " K-Wagen " (short for G.K.-Wagen ) was a German super-heavy tank , two prototypes of which were almost completed by the end of World War I .
63-608: In June 1917, before the first A7V tanks had been completed, the German War Ministry ordered the development of a new superheavy tank intended to be used in break-through situations. Design work was carried out by Joseph Vollmer , a reserve captain and engineer working for the Verkehrstechnische Prüfungskommission ("Transport-technologies Board of Examiners" of the army), and a Captain Weger. On June 28, 1917
126-614: A 57 mm before entering service. Number 501, Gretchen , took part in the action at St. Quentin before her 57 mm was fitted. The A7V carried between 40 and 60 cartridge belts for its machine guns, each of 250 rounds, giving it a total of 10,000 to 15,000 rounds. Officially, it carried 180 shells for the 57 mm gun, of which 90 were canister , 54 were armor-piercing , and 36 were high-explosive ; in practice, however, A7V crews stowed up to 300 57 mm rounds for combat. Power came from two centrally mounted Daimler 4-cylinder petrol engines delivering 75 kW (101 hp) each;
189-813: A condominium between the Austrian and the Hungarian parts of the dual monarchy. As such the local troops of Bosnian Riflemen were subordinated through the Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Imperial Minister of War. The general peacetime order of battle of the Common Army included: The Austrian part of the monarchy (officially called Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council , unofficially and for short Cisleithania ) had its own government. It included
252-403: A feeling of resentment by many non-Austrian soldiers. The delivery of orders was particularly ineffective, and the bureaucratic and dysfunctional system led to individual ethnic units becoming isolated from the overall high command . This in turn led to ethnic tensions and political violence in the empire, as such language battalions began instigating mutinies and revolts against
315-546: A group of Whippet tanks and destroyed one of them. A counterattack later re-established the Allied line, by which time three A7Vs were out of action in No Man's Land or behind German lines. Nixe was badly damaged, and a German team destroyed it with explosive charges during the night of the 24th. Elfriede had overturned; it was righted and recovered from No Man's Land three weeks later by French troops and British tanks, and handed over to
378-528: A lack of military interpreters , and this proved to be a major force in the partial dysfunctioning and blunders of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Nearly all officers of the upper ranks spoke German (specifically Austrian German ), and because only a fraction of soldiers spoke German , this produced a logistical obstacle for organizing the military . Likewise the lack of mutual intelligibility between speakers of Hungarian and German led to
441-726: A much larger population. Further contributing to the monarchy's military weakness was the low rate of conscription: Austria-Hungary conscripted only 0.29% of its population annually, compared to 0.47% in Germany and 0.75% in France. Attempts to increase the yearly intake of recruits were proposed but repeatedly blocked by officials in Budapest until an agreement was reached in 1912. In the emerging field of military aviation , Austria-Hungary lagged behind other European states. While balloon detachments had been established in 1893, they were mostly assigned to
504-520: A religious standpoint, the Austro-Hungarian army officer corps was dominated by Catholics . In 1896, out of 1000 officers, 791 were Catholics, 86 Protestants , 84 Jews , 39 Greek-Orthodox , and one Uniate . Of the pre–World War military forces of the major European powers, the Austro-Hungarian army was almost alone in its regular promotion of Jews to positions of command. While the Jewish population of
567-583: Is no known official record or photographic evidence of A7Vs in Polish service. The design of the A7V is featured on the 1921 Tank Memorial Badge, awarded to German veterans of World War I who served as tank crewmen. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Drawings for two improved designs were prepared, but the war ended before any were produced. Thirty chassis were assigned for completion as Überlandwagen supply carriers, but not all were completed before
630-726: The Imperial-Royal Landwehr (recruited from Cisleithania ) and the Royal Hungarian Honvéd (recruited from Transleithania ). In the wake of fighting between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary and the subsequent two decades of uneasy co-existence, Hungarian troops served either in ethnically mixed units or were stationed away from Hungarian regions. With the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 ,
693-707: The Second Battle of the Marne ), the Germans put eight A7Vs and 20 captured Mk IVs against the French lines. Although 10 of the Mk IVs were lost in this action, no A7Vs were lost. The final use in World War I of A7Vs was in a small but successful action on 11 October 1918, near Iwuy . Germany did not consider the A7V a success and planned other designs. However, the end of the war meant none of
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#1732855562029756-634: The St. Quentin Canal . Three of the A7Vs suffered mechanical failures before they entered combat; the remaining pair helped stop a minor British breakthrough in the area, but otherwise saw little combat that day. Three detachments ( Abteilungen ) of tanks were assigned to an attack in April 1918 at Villers-Bretonneux at the head of the four German divisions spread over a 6.4-kilometre (4 mi) front. Two tanks broke down en route, but
819-523: The Western Front , in September 1916, the German War Ministry formed a committee, under the auspices of its Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement, Abteilung 7 Verkehrswesen ("General War Department, Section 7, Transportation"), to investigate tank development. The project to design and build the first German tank was placed under the direction of Joseph Vollmer , one of Germany's foremost automobile designers. It
882-542: The k.u.k. Infanterie-Regiment (Hoch und Deutschmeister) Nr. 4 became Infanterie-Regiment No. 4 (4th Infantry Regiment). The Landsturm consisted of men aged 34 to 55 who belonged to the Austria k.k. Landsturm and the Hungarian k.u. Landsturm. The Landsturm formed 40 regiments totaling 136 battalions in Austria and 32 regiments totaling 97 battalions in Hungary. The Landsturm was a reserve force intended to provide replacements for
945-503: The 13 that saw action achieved some success, and the British recorded that their lines were broken by the tanks. The first and second tank-against-tank combat in history took place on 24 April 1918 when three A7Vs (including chassis number 561, known as Nixe ) taking part in an attack with infantry incidentally met three British Mark IVs (two female machine gun-armed tanks and one male with two 6-pounder guns ) near Villers-Bretonneux. During
1008-575: The 1867 constitutional arrangements, the Reichsrat was dominated by German Liberals, who generally regarded the army as a relic of feudalism. In Budapest, legislators were reluctant to authorize funds for the joint army but were generous with the Hungarian branch of the army, the Honvédség . In 1867 the military budget accounted for about 25% of all government spending, but the economic crash of 1873 hit Austria-Hungary hard and foreign observers questioned whether
1071-454: The A7V carried 500 litres (110 imp gal; 130 US gal) of fuel. The top speed was about 15 km/h (9.3 mph) on roads and 5 km/h (3.1 mph) across country. The 24 wheel suspension was individually sprung – an advantage over the unsprung British tanks. The A7V's power-to-weight ratio was 5.1 kW/ton (6.8 hp/ton), it could cross trenches up to 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) wide, and its ground clearance
1134-460: The A7V. In contrast, the French produced over 3,600 of their light Renault FT , the most numerous tank of World War I, and the British over 2,500 of their Mark I, II, III, IV, V, and V* heavy tanks. Two vehicles closely resembling the A7V, one of which was named Hedi , were among several used by Kokampf , a Freikorps tank unit, to quell civil unrest in Berlin in 1919. They were constructed using
1197-554: The Austrian commanders, whom they saw as out of touch. Desertions and revolts were most common amongst Slavic battalions, particularly the Czech - Slovakian battalions; however, all battalions during the war suffered from these logistical challenges. The battalions' use of languages that were not understood by the Austrian commanders also led to it being extremely difficult to impossible to discover attempts at desertion or revolt. Following
1260-661: The Austro-Hungarian Army was brought into being. It existed until the disestablishment of Austria-Hungary in 1918 following the end of World War I . Common Army units were generally poorly trained and had very limited access to new equipment, because the governments of the Austrian and Hungarian parts of the empire often preferred to generously fund their own units instead of outfitting all three army branches equally. All Landwehr and Honvéd regiments were composed of three battalions , while Common Army regiments had four. The long-standing white infantry uniforms were replaced in
1323-518: The Dual Monarchy could manage a major war without subsidies. Despite increases throughout the 1850s and 1860s, in the latter half of the century Austria-Hungary was still spending less on its army than were other major European powers. While the budget continued to rise—from 262 million crowns in 1895 to 306 million in 1906—this was still far less per capita than for other major European states, including Italy, and about on par with Russia, which had
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#17328555620291386-462: The Dual Monarchy in this period was the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the summer of 1878. When troops under the command of Josip Filipović and Stjepan Jovanović entered the provinces expecting little or no resistance, they were met with ferocious opposition from elements of both Muslim and Orthodox populations there. Despite setbacks at Maglaj and Tuzla , Sarajevo
1449-658: The First World War. In the late 19th century the army was used to suppress unrest in urban areas of the empire: in 1882 and 1887 in Vienna and notably against German nationalists at Graz and Czech nationalists in Prague in November 1897. Soldiers under the command of Conrad von Hotzendorf were also used against Italian rioters in Trieste in 1902. The most significant action by soldiers of
1512-562: The French for examination. Mephisto lay stuck in a crater behind German lines for almost three months. After the area was taken by Australian troops, in July, the tank was towed to the rear by British tanks and, eventually, transported to Australia. In May, A7Vs were used with limited success in an attack on the French near Soissons , during the Third Battle of the Aisne . On 15 July, at Reims (during
1575-532: The Honvéd). The infantry regiments of the k.u.k. army had four battalions each; the infantry regiments of the k.k. and k.u. Landwehr had three battalions each, except the 3rd Regiment of the "Tiroler Landesschützen" (Tyrolian fusiliers), that had also four battalions. In 1915 units that had nicknames or names of honour lost them by order of the War Ministry. Thereafter units were designated only by number. For instance,
1638-565: The Imperial and Royal Ministry of National Defence (completely independent from the Imperial War Ministry). In peacetime it had complete authority and responsibility for the Imperial-Royal Landwehr and its: The Hungarian part of the monarchy (officially called Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen , unofficially and for short Transleithania ) also had its own government. One of its ministries
1701-580: The War Ministry approved the draft design and ordered ten examples, five to be built by the Riebe ball-bearing factory in Berlin and five by Wegmann & Co. of Kassel . The vehicle originally weighed 165 tons but this was reduced to a more practicable 120 tons by shortening the length. The huge size and mass of the K-Wagen made it impossible to transport complete, so it was decided that it would be split into four sections for transport by rail, to be reassembled behind
1764-581: The army in December 1916, the design was extended to be a universal chassis that could be used as a base for both a tank and unarmoured Überlandwagen ("over-land vehicle") cargo carriers. The first prototype was completed by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft at Berlin-Marienfelde and tested on 30 April 1917. A wooden mockup of a final version was completed in May 1917 and demonstrated in Mainz with 10 tons of ballast to simulate
1827-462: The battle, tanks on both sides were damaged. According to the British lead tank commander, Second Lieutenant Frank Mitchell, the female Mk IVs fell back after being damaged by armour-piercing bullets. They were unable to damage the A7Vs with their own machine guns. Mitchell then attacked the lead German tank, commanded by Second Lieutenant Wilhelm Biltz , with the 6-pounders of his own tank and knocked it out. He hit it three times, and killed five of
1890-567: The beginning of the project the incorporation of flamethrowers was considered but later rejected. The K-Wagen never became operational as under the conditions of the Armistice Germany was forbidden to possess tanks. One of the tanks, "Ribe" was complete at the end of the war, but it never left the factory and was scrapped under the watchful eyes of the Military Inter-Allied Commission of Control . Background: History of
1953-496: The chassis from Überlandwagen and armed with four MG08/15 machine guns. It is not known whether the vehicles were armour-plated. There is a popular myth that France handed over several A7Vs to Polish forces, which used them during the Polish–Soviet War in 1919–1920. However, reliable sources dismiss the idea because the fate of each A7V that saw service in World War I is known and includes no transfers to Poland and there
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2016-480: The control of the Commander-in-Chief, Emperor Franz Josef . By 1914, however, Franz Josef was 84 years old and the chief of staff, Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf , effectively had more power over the armed forces. Conrad favored an aggressive foreign policy and advocated the use of military action to solve Austria-Hungary's territorial disputes with Italy and Serbia . Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen
2079-474: The crew by means of electric lights: fire control was comparable to that of a destroyer , the Germans seeing the vehicle as a veritable " landship ". The drivers would have had to steer the vehicle blindly, directed by the commander. The K-Wagen was to be armed with four 77 mm fortress guns and seven MG08 machine guns and had a crew of 27: a commander, two drivers, a signaler, an artillery officer, 12 artillery men, eight machine gunners and two mechanics. At
2142-473: The crew when they bailed out. He stated that he then went on to rout some infantry with case shot . The two remaining A7Vs in turn withdrew. As Mitchell's tank withdrew from action, seven British Whippet tanks also engaged the German infantry. Three of these were knocked out in the battle, and it is unclear if any of them engaged the retreating German tanks but they did carry out an attack on two German battalions in
2205-511: The end of the war. The only surviving A7V is Mephisto , which was abandoned by its crew during the Battle of Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918. It was recovered three months later by British and Australian troops, and taken to Australia in 1919 as a trophy. The vehicle stood outside the old Queensland Museum in Bowen Hills, Brisbane , under an open-sided shelter for many years until being moved into
2268-433: The enlisted ranks reflected the diversity of the empire the army served; in 1906, out of every 1000 enlisted men, there were 267 Germans , 223 Hungarians , 135 Czechs , 85 Poles , 81 Ruthenians , 67 Croats , 64 Romanians , 38 Slovaks , 26 Slovenes , and 14 Italians . To aid communication between the multitude of ethnicities, the army developed a simple language called Army Slavic , based primarily on Czech. From
2331-519: The first line units. However, the Landsturm provided 20 brigades who took to the field with the rest of the army. The Standschützen (singular: Standschütze ) were originally rifle guilds and rifle companies that had been formed in the 15th and 16th centuries, and were involved time and again in military operations within the borders of the Austrian County of Tyrol . A Standschütze was a member of
2394-402: The fortress artillery, except for a brief period from 1909 to 1911 when they were under command of the multifaceted Verkehrs Brigade. Realization that heavier-than-air machines were necessary or useful came late, and Austria-Hungary acquired only five airplanes by 1911. In 1914 the budget for military aviation was approximately 1 ⁄ 25 th the amount spent by France. Austria-Hungary entered
2457-445: The front line near where it was to be used. Two prototypes were built at the request of Hindenburg , but were still incomplete by the end of the war due to lack of raw materials and other demands for weaponry. The hull of the K-Wagen consisted of six modules that could be transported separately by rail: the control room, the fighting room, the engine room, the transmission room and the two sponsons . The commander could give orders to
2520-519: The lands of the Dual Monarchy 4.4% including Bosnia and Herzegovina ), Jews made up nearly 18% of the reserve officer corps. There were no official barriers to military service for Jews, but in later years this tolerance eroded to some extent, as important figures such as Conrad von Hötzendorf and Archduke Franz Ferdinand sometimes expressed anti-Jewish sentiments. Franz Ferdinand was also accused (by Conrad) of discriminating against Protestant officers. The Austro-Hungarian Empire often suffered from
2583-420: The later half of the 19th century with dark blue tunics, which in turn were replaced by cadet grey uniforms during the initial stages of World War I. In September 1915, field gray was adopted as the new official uniform colour. As the Common Army was plagued with supply shortages, when field gray uniforms were first introduced, remaining stocks of the preexisting cadet grey uniforms remained in use alongside
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2646-792: The new Queensland Museum on Southbank in 1986. It was damaged by floodwater in 2011, and taken for restoration to the Workshops Rail Museum , North Ipswich, Queensland. After restoration it was displayed at the Australian War Memorial , Canberra , from 2015 until 2017. It has now been returned to the Queensland Museum. The cannon from A7V 504 Schnuck is on display at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester . There are numerous modern replicas, made to look like
2709-523: The newer colour. The last known surviving member of the Austro-Hungarian Army was Franz Künstler , who died in Bad Mergentheim in May 2008 at the age of 107. The major decisions 1867–1895 were made by Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen , who was the cousin of the Emperor Franz Joseph and his leading advisor in military affairs. According to historians John Keegan and Andrew Wheatcroft: In
2772-411: The only tanks produced by Germany in World War I to be used in combat, as well as being the first operational German Tank. It was developed as a response to British tanks. Although the A7V is generally considered to be better designed compared to its counterparts , it struggled to procure high production numbers due to its relative complexity and high cost. After the first British tanks appeared on
2835-497: The open to the rear causing them to break and flee. Mitchell's tank lost a track towards the end of the battle due to damage from an exploding mortar shell and was abandoned. The damaged A7V limped back to the German lines, but eventually broke down. It was later destroyed by a German demolition squad, to prevent its capture and reuse by the Allies. During the same day however, another tank-against-tank fight took place where an A7V engaged
2898-554: The original, many made of wood and modern materials: Background: History of the tank , Tank classification , Tanks in World War I Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army , also known as the Imperial and Royal Army , was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army ( German : Gemeinsame Armee , recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary),
2961-480: The other tanks in development or planned ones – such as the Sturmpanzerwagen Oberschlesien and the 120-ton K-Wagen – would be finished. With only 20 produced, the A7V made only a very minor contribution to the German war effort in World War I, and the approximately 50 captured British Mark IV tanks (renamed Beutepanzer in German operation) the Germans fielded in action during the war outnumbered
3024-574: The population of the empire had risen to nearly 50 million by 1900, the size of the army was tied to ceilings established in 1889. Thus, at the start of the 20th century, Austria-Hungary conscripted only 0.29% of its population, compared to 0.47% in Germany , 0.35% in Russia, and 0.75% in France . The 1889 army law was not revised until 1912, which allowed for an increase in annual conscriptions. The ethnic make-up of
3087-563: The sides, 30 mm at the front and 10 mm for the roof; however, the steel was not hardened armour plate , which reduced its effectiveness. It was sufficient to stop machine-gun and rifle fire, but not larger calibre rounds. The crew officially consisted of at least 17 soldiers and one officer : commander (officer, typically a lieutenant ), driver, mechanic, mechanic/signaller, 12 infantrymen (six machine gunners, six loaders), and two artillerymen (main gunner and loader). A7Vs often went into action with as many as 25 men on board. The A7V
3150-456: The tank , Tank classification , Tanks in World War I A7V The Sturmpanzerwagen A7V was a heavy tank introduced by Germany in 1918 during World War I . One hundred chassis were ordered in early 1917, ten to be finished as fighting vehicles with armoured bodies, and the remainder as Überlandwagen cargo carriers. The number to be armoured was later increased to 20. They were used in action from March to October 1918, and were
3213-449: The terrain directly in front of the tank was obscured by the vehicle's hull, which meant that there was a blind spot of about 10 metres (33 ft). However, in open terrain, the A7V could be used to some success, and offered more firepower than the armoured cars that were available. The A7V was first used in combat on 21 March 1918. Five tanks of Abteilung I (Detachment I) under the command of Hauptmann Greiff were deployed north of
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#17328555620293276-405: The wake of defeat in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War Austria-Hungary avoided major wars in the era between 1867 and 1914 but engaged in a number of minor military actions. Nevertheless, the general staff maintained plans for major wars against neighboring powers, especially Italy, Serbia and Russia. By contrast, the main enemies Russia and Serbia had engaged in large scale warfare in the decade before
3339-566: The war with only 48 first-line aircraft. Austria-Hungary had a complex military structure. The country had three main distinct ground forces. As a union the Monarchy had a common government of three ministers (Minister of the Imperial Household and Foreign Affairs; Minister of War and Minister of Finance). The Imperial Minister of War had authority over the Common Army and the Navy. The Common Army
3402-475: The weight of the armor. During final design, the rear-facing cannon was removed and the number of machine-guns was increased to six. The first pre-production A7V was produced in September 1917, followed by the first production model in October 1917. The tanks were given to Assault Tank Units 1 and 2, founded on 20 September 1917, each with five officers and 109 non-commissioned officers and soldiers. The tank's name
3465-417: Was 190 to 400 mm (7.5 to 15.7 in). Compared to that of other World War I tanks, the A7V's road speed was quite high, but the vehicle had very poor off-road capability and a high centre of gravity, which made it prone to getting stuck or overturning on steep slopes. The large overhang at the front and the low ground clearance meant that trenches or very muddy areas were impassable. The driver's view of
3528-480: Was appointed Supreme Commander of the Austro-Hungarian army by Franz Joseph on July 11, 1914. It was thought he would not interfere with the operational and tactical plans of Conrad von Hötzendorf. Friedrich remained Supreme Commander until February 1917, when Emperor Charles I decided to assume the office himself. The Common Army ( k.u.k.— kaiserlich und königlich ) consisted of: The Imperial-Royal Landwehr ( k.k. or kaiserlich österreichisch/königlich böhmisch )
3591-490: Was armed with six 7.92 mm MG08 machine guns and a 5.7 cm Maxim-Nordenfelt cannon mounted at the front. Some of these cannons were of British manufacture and had been captured in Belgium early in the war; others were captured in Russia in 1918 and appear to have included some Russian-made copies. Some A7Vs originally were built with two forward-facing machine guns instead of a 57 mm gun. Most were converted to carry
3654-448: Was derived from that of its parent organization, Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement, Abteilung 7 (Verkehrswesen) (General War Department, Section 7, Transport). In German, the tank was called Sturmpanzerwagen (roughly "armoured assault vehicle"). The A7V was 7.34 m (24 ft 1 in) long and 3 m (9 ft 10 in) wide, and the maximum height was 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in). The tank had 20 mm of steel plate at
3717-617: Was occupied in October. Austro-Hungarian casualties amounted to over 5,000 and the unexpected violence of the campaign led to recriminations between commanders and political leaders. In 1868, the number of active-duty troops in the army was 355,000, and the total could be expanded to 800,000 upon mobilization. However, this was significantly less than the European powers of France , the North German Confederation and Russia , each of which could field more than one million men. Though
3780-474: Was the Royal Hungarian Honvéd Ministry (also completely independent from the Imperial War Ministry). In peacetime it had complete authority and responsibility for the: Official designations were as follows: After war was declared, 3.35 million men (including the first call-up of the reserves and the 1914 recruits) gathered for action. The Austro-Hungarian Imperial Army was officially under
3843-599: Was the premier land force. It was the best equipped and had the main role to secure the borders of the Monarchy. In case of war it was to absorb the Austrian Landwehr and the Hungarian Honvéd within its command structure. For that reason the Common Army was organised in army corps even in peacetime, while the Landwehr and Honvéd were organised in territorial districts. The provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were governed as
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#17328555620293906-573: Was the standing army of Austria responsible for the defence of Austria itself. The mountain infantry had the following units: The Royal Hungarian Landwehr ( königlich ungarische Landwehr ) or Royal Hungarian Honvéd ( k.u. Honvéd ) was the standing army of Hungary. A part of the Honvéd was the Royal Croatian Landwehr (Kraljevsko hrvatsko domobranstvo), which consisted of 1 infantry division (out of 7 in Honvéd) and 1 cavalry regiment (out of 10 in
3969-413: Was to weigh around 30 tons, be capable of crossing ditches up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) wide, have armament including a cannon at the front and rear as well as several machine-guns, and reach a top speed of at least 12 kilometres per hour (7.5 mph). The running gear was based on the American Holt tractor , copied from examples loaned by the Austro-Hungarian Army . After initial plans were shared with
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