A general of the branch, general of the branch of service or general of the ... (where instead of the ellipsis an appropriate name of the military branch is being put) is a three or four-star general officer rank in some armies. Several nations divide — or used to divide — their senior general officer ranks by the branch of troops they are qualified to command, or simply as an honorific title.
Austria-Hungary
Collar insignia of an Austro-Hungarian "general of the branch"
The rank of General der Infanterie was introduced in 1908, prior to this both infantrymen and gunners were appointed as Feldzeugmeisters.[1]
Historically, the rank of general of artillery (German: Feldzeugmeister; literally "battlefield ordnance master"; "gun master";[Note 1] in Hungarian Táborszernagy) was equivalent to lieutenant general.[2] 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.
The Third Bulgarian State from its inception in 1878 had a highest military rank of "general" (Bulgarian: генерал), but in 1897 this rank was split into three grades - general of infantry (генерал от пехотата), of cavalry (генерал от кавалерията) and of artillery (генерал от артилерията). 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 (4 star; NATO OF-9) in the Finnish military were classified as generals of infantry (jalkaväenkenraali), cavalry (ratsuväenkenraali), jaeger (jääkärikenraali) and artillery (tykistönkenraali). The title is now merely honorific, and only one 4-star general is active at any one time in the modern Finnish military.
When the contemporary German Army, the Bundeswehr, was founded (on November, the 12th 1955) 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 around, 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
Sleeve insignia of a Polish generał broni
In the Polish armed forces the rank equivalent to lieutenant general is generał broni ("general of a branch").[Note 2]
^The term is German. Feld- means battlefield, as used in the German Feldmarschall ("field marshal"), and -zeug- refers to the guns used by the artillery
^Polish broń means both "weapons, firearms" and "branch of troops"; in this context the meaning is clearly "general of a branch of troops", not "general of weapons"
