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Osprey Men-at-Arms No 392
The Austro-Hungarian Forces in World War 1 (Part 1)
By Peter Jung: Illustrated by Darko Pavlovic
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There is often a tendency amongst the British to concentrate their knowledge of military campaigns on those that involve British or Commonwealth troops. Consequently interest in the First World War, perhaps understandably is centred almost fixedly on the battles of the Western Front, with maybe a passing interest in the Gallipolli campaign.
But it should always be remembered that the spark for the war was created in the Balkans, and the series of crises caused when the violent nationalism of the emerging nations clashed with the vestiges of Imperial authority. The Austro
Hungarian Empire may have been in decline, and the archaic bureaucratic institutions of Vienna unable to meet the demands of the 20th Century, but the Empire remained one of the premier military powers of Europe, on paper at least!.
The author, Peter Jung, is a departmental head in the Austrian State archives, and this gives him unprecedented access to material, both documentary and photographic in respect of the Imperial Austro-Hungarian forces. And this is
reflected in the extensive examples of contemporary photographs featured in the volume. These are supported by to excellent colour plates produced by Darko Pavlovic, which are some of the finest I have seen from any source for a considerable time.
The period covered is 1914-1916, which not only marked a change in the war, the early period seeing a series of reverses for the Autro-Hungarian forces, but also a change in the ruler with the accession of Karl 1st. The second volume in the set is due to be released in November and will complete the story by detailing the period to 1918.
The format is a familiar one for Osprey collectors, with sections on the background to the conflict, principal operations, uniforms, equipment, insignia, organisation, and details of more unusual units such as home defence units and foreign volunteers legions.
In all an interesting volume for the general reader, and a must for the enthusiast.
ISBN: 1-84176-594-5
Format Softback 48 Pages Price £8.99/ $14.95
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