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Lieutenant General is a military
Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
 rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
 where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General
Captain General

Captain General is a high military rank and a Governor title....
.

In modern armies, Lieutenant General normally ranks immediately below General and above Major General
Major General

Major General or Major-General is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of Sergeant Major General. A Major General is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of Lieutenant General and senior to the ranks of Brigadier and Brigadier General....
; it is equivalent to the navy rank of Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral is a naval rank equivalent to Lieutenant General in seniority. A Vice Admiral is typically senior to a Rear Admiral and junior to an Admiral....
, and in Air Forces with a separate rank structure, it is equivalent to Air Marshal
Air Marshal

Air Marshal is an air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank struc...
.






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Lieutenant General is a military
Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
 rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
 where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General
Captain General

Captain General is a high military rank and a Governor title....
.

In modern armies, Lieutenant General normally ranks immediately below General and above Major General
Major General

Major General or Major-General is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of Sergeant Major General. A Major General is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of Lieutenant General and senior to the ranks of Brigadier and Brigadier General....
; it is equivalent to the navy rank of Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral is a naval rank equivalent to Lieutenant General in seniority. A Vice Admiral is typically senior to a Rear Admiral and junior to an Admiral....
, and in Air Forces with a separate rank structure, it is equivalent to Air Marshal
Air Marshal

Air Marshal is an air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank struc...
. A Lieutenant General heads up an Army Corps, made up of typically three Army Divisions
Division (military)

A division is a large military unit or Formation usually consisting of between ten to thirty thousand soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions make up a corps....
, and consisting of around 60,000 soldiers.

The term Major General is a shortened version of the previous term Sergeant Major General
Sergeant Major General

Sergeant Major General is a now extinct military rank that can trace its origins to the Middle Ages. Originally simply Sergeant Major, the title - unlike the modern military rank of the same name - signified a general officer, commander of an army's infantry and typically third in command of the army as a whole ; he also acted as a sort of C...
, which was also subordinate to Lieutenant General. This is why a Lieutenant General outranks a Major General, whereas a Major
Major

In many European languages, the term Major refers to a military rank, denoting seniority at one of usually various levels of rank, for example: "Sergeant-Major" denoting the most senior ranking sergeant of a large military unit; "Captain-Major", denoting a mid-level command status Officer ...
 is senior to a Lieutenant
Lieutenant

Lieutenant is a military, naval, paramilitary, fire service, emergency medical services or police commissioned officer military rank.Lieutenant may also appear as part of a title used in various other organisations with a codified command structure....
.

In many countries, the rank of Corps General has replaced the earlier rank of Lieutenant General (e.g. France, Italy). (The ranks of corps general
Corps General

Corps General is a rank corresponding to the Commonwealth and US rank of Lieutenant General. For convenience the rank in foreign armies is normally actually translated as Lieutenant General....
 and lieutenant colonel general
Lieutenant Colonel General

Lieutenant Colonel General, in Serbo-Croat ???????-??????????? or General-Potpukovnik , is a rank in some armies, notably the Serbian Army and Serbian Air Force....
 are intended to solve the apparent Lieutenant General / Major General anomaly). However, for convenience, this is often translated into English as Lieutenant General.

Lieutenant General ranks by country

  • Lieutenant General
    Lieutenant General (Australia)

    Lieutenant General is the second-highest active rank of the Australian Army and was created as a direct equivalent of the United Kingdom military rank of Lieutenant General ....
     (Australia
    Australia

    Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
    )
  • Lieutenant General (Bangladesh
    Bangladesh

    , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south....
    )
  • Lieutenant-General
    Lieutenant-General (Canada)

    In the Canadian Forces, the rank of Lieutenant-General is an Canadian Forces Land Force Command or Canadian Forces Air Command rank equal to a Vice-Admiral of the Canadian Forces Maritime Command....
     (Canada
    Canada

    Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
    )
  • Kindralleitnant
    Kindral

    Kindral is the Estonian language word for General which is also the highest military position in the Republic of Estonia. Both Maav?gi and Estonian Air Force superior officers ranks share the same names which have been combined with the military rank of general and other senior officer ranks....
     (Estonia
    Estonia

    Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Finland across the Gulf of Finland, to the west by Sweden across the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russia ....
    )
  • Generalleutnant
    General (Germany)

    General is presently the highest rank of the German Army and Luftwaffe . It is the equivalent to an Admiral in the German Navy ....
     (Germany
    Germany

    Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
    )
  • Altábornagy (Hungary
    Hungary

    Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
    )
  • Lieutenant-General (India
    India

    India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
    )
  • Lieutenant General (Republic of Ireland
    Republic of Ireland

    Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
    )
  • Luitenant-Generaal (Netherlands
    Netherlands

    The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
    )
  • Lieutenant General
    Lieutenant General (Pakistan)

    Pakistan Army has followed British Army rank system since its independence from British Empire in 1947. However, the crown in the ranks has been replaced with a star and crescent, which symbolizes the sovereignty of Government of Pakistan....
     (Pakistan
    Pakistan

    Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
    )
  • Tenente-General (Portugal
    Portugal

    Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
    )
  • General de corp de armata (Romania
    Romania

    Romania is a country located in Southeastern Europe Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian Mountains, bordering on the Black Sea....
    )
  • Teniente General (Spain
    Spain

    Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
    )
  • Lieutenant General (United Kingdom
    United Kingdom

    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
    )
  • Lieutenant General
    Lieutenant General (United States)

    In the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps and the United States Air Force, lieutenant general is a 3 star rank general officer rank, with the U.S....
     (United States
    United States

    The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
    )

Lieutenant General equivalent ranks

  • General pukovnik, Ante Gotovina
    Ante Gotovina

    Ante Gotovina is a former lieutenant general of the Croatian Army who served in the 1991-1995 war in Croatia. He was indicted in 2001 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia....
     (Croatia
    Croatia

    Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a Central European country at the crossroads of Pannonian Plain, Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea....
    )
  • General potpukovnik (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
  • Général de corps d'armée
    Général de corps d'armée

    A G?n?ral de corps d'arm?e is a senior rank in the French Army.The rank is the equivalent of a Lieutenant General in other countries and is junior to the rank of Army General and senior to Divisional General....
     (France
    France

    France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
    )
  • Sepah-Bod
    Spahbod

    Spahbod or Spahbed Used alone, it refers to the senior military officer but when it is used with Persian empire, Eran Spahbod ????? ????? or Iran Spahbod, is equivalent to field marshal or generalissimo of the Empire....
     (Iran
    Iran

    Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
    )
  • Rav Aluf (Israel
    Israel

    Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
    )
  • Generale di Corpo d'Armata
    Generale di Corpo d'Armata

    Generale di Corpo d'Armata, or "Tenente Generale" is an Italian military rank equivalent to Lieutenant General in the forces of some English speaking countries....
     ( Italy
    Italy

    Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
     )
  • Jungjang
    Jungjang

    Jungjang is the South Korean equivalent of a Lieutenant General. It outranks the Sojang, equivalent to a Major General.In North Korea, the same name is romanized as Chungchang....
     (North Korea
    North Korea

    North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula....
    )
  • Chungjang
    Chungjang

    The Comparative military ranks of Korea of Lieutenant General is known in South Korea as Chungjang . The rank is also held by Korean Vice Admirals and uses three stars as its badge of rank, much like the United States version....
     (South Korea
    South Korea

    South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea , ), often referred to as Korea and the "names of Korea#Revival of the names", is a Semi-presidential system republic in East Asia, located in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula....
    )
  • Korpskommandant / Commandant de corps (Switzerland
    Switzerland

    Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
    )

Other Lieutenant General ranks

  • Gruppenführer
    Gruppenführer

    Gruppenf?hrer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior Ranks and insignia of the Sturmabteilung....
     (Waffen-SS
    Waffen-SS

    The Waffen-SS was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel or SS. It was founded in Germany in 1939 after the SS was split into two units but the title of Waffen-SS only became official on 2 March, 1940....
    )
  • Feldmarschallleutnant Austro-Hungarian Army
    Austro-Hungarian Army

    The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austria Hungary Dual Monarchy . It was composed of the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honv?ds?g ....


Ireland

  • The Irish defence forces Chief of Staff is a Lieutenant General as the force is too small to require a higher rank


See also

  • Comparative military ranks
    Comparative military ranks

    This article is a list of various states' armed forces military rank designations. Comparisons are made between the different systems used by nations to categorize the hierarchy of an armed force compared to another....
  • British and United States military ranks compared
    British and United States military ranks compared

    UK and US Officer Ranks Compared Not listed are U.S. Warrant Officer s. In accordance with , Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-11 and Army Field Manual 22-100 , a warrant officer is an officer who can and does command, carry out military justice actions and sits both selection and promotion boards....