Original French Third Republic Model 1872 Shako Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. A nice example of a French Third Republic military shako, circa 1870-1890. The cardboard body displays a thin covering of black wool, with a yellow worsted wool band at the top, and a black painted rigid top. There is a black thin leather strap around the base, black pressed oil cloth visor and original brass eagle plate with cockade to the front of the shako. Close examination shows this to be a replacement made from a German cockade, as would be around the side lugs of Imperial German helmets. The red/white plume sits nicely on the top. Chinstrap is absent. The interior of the shako is lined in red waxed paper with a wide Moroccan leather sweatband. There is a paper name label to the inside crown. Overall the shako is sound condition, but shows age and wear.

The French Third Republic was the system of government adopted in France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940 after France’s defeat by Germany in World War II led to the formation of the Vichy government in France.

Dimensions:
Overall Height:  6”
Size: 6 3/4 US (52cm)

History of the shako-

The word shako originated from the Hungarian name csákós süveg (“peaked cap”), which was a part of the uniform of the Hungarian hussar of the 18th century. Other spellings include chako, czako, schako and tschako.

From 1800 on the shako became a common military headdress, worn by the majority of regiments in the armies of Europe and the Americas. Replacing in most instances the light bicorne, the shako was initially considered an improvement. Made of heavy felt and leather, it retained its shape and provided some protection for the soldier’s skull, while its visor shaded his eyes. The shako retained this pre-eminence until the mid-19th century, when spiked helmets began to appear in the armies of the various German States, and the more practical kepi replaced it for all but parade wear in the French Army. The Imperial Russian Army substituted a spiked helmet for the shako in 1844-45 but returned to the latter headdress in 1855, before adopting a form of kepi in 1864. Following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, military fashions changed and cloth or leather helmets based on the German headdress began to supersede the shako in many armies.

Although the mid-nineteenth century shako was impressive in appearance and added to the height of the wearer, it was also heavy and by itself provided little protection against bad weather as most models were made of cloth or felt material over a leather body and peak. Many armies countered this by utilizing specially designed oilskin covers to protect the shako and the wearer from heavy rain while on campaign. The shako provided little protection from enemy action as the most it could offer was in giving partial shielding of the skull from enemy cavalry sabres