Austro-Hungarian Army Campaign Calendars

Throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century the forces of Austria were involved in numerous external wars and additionally were involved in the rebellions in Hungary, the Northern Italian provinces and police actions in the Balkans. At the conclusion of a particular round of hostilities the Ministry of War would publish a Circular Order or Circular-Verordnung which listed all the official battles, engagements, skirmishes etc with their associated dates. These events, places and dates were then taken into official use for all future historical reporting and submissions for awards and decorations. A table providing the translations of the terms used in the individual lists is found below.

Campaign Medals

On his 25th jubilee in December 1873 Kaiser Franz Joseph I. instituted a so-called "Kriegsmedaille" (War-Medal). The medal shows on the obverse side the Kaiser's head surrounded by a laurel wreath and on the reverse side the date "2.December 1873" (those showing the spelling Dezember where produced after 1900). It was suspended from a ribbon with the Habsburg-colors black and yellow! The medal was given to all personnel who took part in a minimum of one action since 1848. Later this medal was also given to all personnel who took part in each completed campaign until the Kaiser's death in November 1916. Beside this general war service medal there was only one medal instituted for a single campaign. This was the "Erinnerungsmedaille an den Feldzug 1864 gegen Dänemark" (Denmark-War-Medal). This small medal was introduced jointly by the Austrian Kaiser and the Prussian King and was made from the bronze alloy of the cannons captured in the Danish fortress Friedericia. The medal was given to all men of the German Austrian forces who were engaged in this particular war. The reverse shows the words "UNSEREN TAPFEREN KRIEGERN 1864" (to our brave warriers 1864) and the obverse side shows the crowned initials of the Austrian Kaiser (FJ) and the Prussian King (W). The ribbon show the colors of both countries. The Austrians received the medals with the "FJ" on the left and a yellow/black/white ribbon and the Germans received it with the "W" on the left and a white/black/yellow ribbon."

Translation of Terms

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