Original Austro-Hungarian Pre WWI to Early WWII Family Photo Album and Scrapbook – Over 150 Pictures, Postcards and Letters – Kriegserinnerungen “War Memories” Original Items

Original Item: One-Of-A-Kind. Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War and was dissolved shortly after its defeat in the First World War.

Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers in World War I, which began with an Austro-Hungarian war declaration on the Kingdom of Serbia on 28 July 1914. It was already effectively dissolved by the time the military authorities signed the armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. The Kingdom of Hungary and the First Austrian Republic were treated as its successors de jure, whereas the independence of the West Slavs and South Slavs of the Empire as the First Czechoslovak Republic, the Second Polish Republic, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, respectively, and most of the territorial demands of the Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom of Italy were also recognized by the victorious powers in 1920.

This is a wonderful 12 ⅜” x 8 ¾” Kriegserinnerungen (War Memories) family photo album / scrapbook. This is definitely one of the more interesting examples we have ever received. The album appears to be a family memoir of sorts filled with over 150 postcards, photos and letters. The dates of the contents range from 1890 to the mid early 1940s! The images shows military units from 1894 as well as immediate Pre WWI into WWI. The images show soldiers in all types of military activities but is on the “PG” rated side of things. The creator of the album did well to label and date the pages, but he did not do so in order and it could be rather confusing. He also refers to himself when he is present in pictures as well as pointing out his father and his brother. All contents are in lovely condition considering the broad range of age!

Comes more than ready for further research and display.

The Austro-Hungarian Army was under the command of Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen (1817–1895), an old-fashioned bureaucrat who opposed modernization. The military system of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy was similar in both states, and rested since 1868 upon the principle of the universal and personal obligation of the citizen to bear arms. Its military force was composed of the common army; the special armies, namely the Austrian Landwehr, and the Hungarian Honved, which were separate national institutions, and the Landsturm or levy-en masse. As stated above, the common army stood under the administration of the joint minister of war, while the special armies were under the administration of the respective ministries of national defense. The yearly contingent of recruits for the army was fixed by the military bills voted on by the Austrian and Hungarian parliaments and was generally determined on the basis of the population, according to the last census returns. It amounted in 1905 to 103,100 men, of which Austria furnished 59,211 men, and Hungary 43,889. Besides 10,000 men were annually allotted to the Austrian Landwehr, and 12,500 to the Hungarian Honved. The term of service was two years (three years in the cavalry) with the colors, seven or eight in the reserve and two in the Landwehr; in the case of men not drafted to the active army the same total period of service was spent in various special reserves.

The common minister of war was the head for the administration of all military affairs, except those of the Austrian Landwehr and of the Hungarian Honved, which were committed to the ministries for national defense of the two respective states. But the supreme command of the army was nominally vested in the monarch, who had the power to take all measures regarding the whole army. In practice, the emperor’s nephew Archduke Albrecht was his chief military advisor and made the policy decisions.

The Austro-Hungarian navy was mainly a coast defense force, and also included a flotilla of monitors for the Danube. It was administered by the naval department of the ministry of war.