Original Austro-Hungarian WWI Ersatz M95 Pressed Tin Ammunition Pouch Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. Now this is a rare and fantastic offering. This small ammunition pouch is an M95 tin Ersatz ammunition pouch. Ersatz items are made or used as a substitute, typically an inferior one, for something else, especially during times of war when strategic materials were needed elsewhere.

The overall condition of the pouch is good, however the leather closure flap is unfortunately dried out and rather brittle. It is recommended that you make no attempts to open the ammo pouch or you risk causing possible damage to the leather. Much of the original paint has been retained and there is evident signs of field use present with the expected paint chipping on the tin.

A beautiful rather rare example that comes more than ready for further research and display.

World War I began when Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia in July 1914, following the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers, along with the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Austro-Hungarian forces fought the Allies in Serbia, on the Eastern Front, in Italy, and in Romania. With heavy aid and support from its allies, the empire managed to occupy Serbia in 1915 and force Romania out of the war in 1917. On the other fronts, it suffered severe casualties, culminating in the collapse of the Italian front, which led the Austrians to accept the Armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire conscripted 7.8 million soldiers during WWI. General von Hötzendorf was the Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff. Franz Joseph I, who was much too old to command the army, appointed Archduke Friedrich von Österreich-Teschen as Supreme Army Commander (Armeeoberkommandant), but asked him to give Von Hötzendorf freedom to take any decisions. Von Hötzendorf remained in effective command of the military forces until Emperor Karl I took the supreme command himself in late 1916 and dismissed Conrad von Hötzendorf in 1917. Meanwhile, economic conditions on the homefront deteriorated rapidly. The Empire depended on agriculture, and agriculture depended on the heavy labor of millions of men who were now in the Army. Food production fell, the transportation system became overcrowded, and industrial production could not successfully handle the overwhelming need for munitions. Germany provided a great deal of help, but it was not enough. Furthermore, the political instability of the multiple ethnic groups of Empire now ripped apart any hope for national consensus in support of the war. Increasingly there was a demand for breaking up the Empire and setting up autonomous national states based on historic language-based cultures. The new Emperor sought peace terms from the Allies, but his initiatives were vetoed by Italy.