The Austro-Hungarian Forces in World War I (1): 1914–16

Osprey Men at Arms #392

by Peter Jung, Darko Pavlović (Illustrator)

The part played in World War I (1914-1918) by the army of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy is little known to English-speakers, perhaps because the end of the war saw the complete destruction of the Empire. Yet it was of central importance, providing nearly all Central Powers forces on the Italian front, huge numbers on the Russian front, seven Army Corps in the Balkans – and even a little-known contingent in Turkey and Palestine. The first half of the story of this complex multi-national organization at war is described here in a concise but detailed text, supported by data tables and an insignia chart, and illustrated with rare photographs and colourful uniform plates.

Genres: History, Military History, Nonfiction, World War I

48 pages, Paperback

First published May 20, 2003

Reviews

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've been a big fan of Osprey publications for decades. Unfortunately like most publishers nowadays Osprey has apparently decided to go for profit over all other considerations first. Some quality lingers on, the drawings are normally first rate, although in this case they do not contain as widespread a representation of uniforms one should like. Photograph selection is pretty good, very few combat situations though, maybe those don't exist or are more difficult to obtain? The contextual content is very thin and fails to answer or barely touches upon such obvious questions as supply problems, or as when and under what circumstances forces were deployed. There is probably not much more than 30 pages, probably less, of narrative here allowing for photos, charts, etc... So what makes the experience worse is that Osprey has divided the issue into two parts. So roughly you have maybe 50 pages of marginalized narrative, which can all too easily be discovered on the Internet, total for retail $36 US dollars. Not worth it. Too bad.

[spike marlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical of these types of books. It is quite detailed of the Austro-Hungarian uniforms from 1914-1916. There is also organization information and short reviews of the Austro-Hungarian deployment and activities in the first part of WWI.

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like other books in Osprey's Men-at-Arms series, this volume covers the uniforms and equipment used by Austria-Hungary; it also discusses the organization and operations of the army as well (although very briefly). However, it annoyingly uses untranslated German terms throughout the book for unit titles.