It was the most multi-cultural of the European Empires, with 15 different language versions
of its national anthem.
I’m talking about the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and today I’m going to look at the standards
and variety of some of its uniforms.
I’m Indy Neidell; welcome to a Great War special episode about Austro-Hungarian infantry
uniforms of the First World War.
The basic uniform and equipment of an Austro-Hungarian infantryman of 1914 was introduced in 1907
and 1908 as part of a program of modernization.
Uniform pieces were made in heavy hechtgrau- grey- colored wool, while leather items were
in natural colors that darkened over time.
Reflecting the dual nature of the empire, there were some differences between Austrian
and Hungarian units’ uniforms.
Uniform differences were based on things like a regiment’s origin, traditions, or branch
of service.
A Slovene regiment, for example, would’ve worn the “German” uniform since Slovenia
was part of the Austrian half of the Empire, while Uhlan cavalry would’ve had a more
“Polish” look, since the Uhlans were based in Galicia and southern Polish regions and
had the traditions of the Polish cavalry.
The vast majority of the infantry would’ve worn either the German or Hungarian uniform,
but there were exceptions with regard to accessories.
The Polish Legions, for example, wore the Maciejowka Hat, and Bosnian infantry regiments
wore the fez.
From August 1915, the hechtgrau color began to be replaced by the more neutral feldgrau-
field grey.
This was for purposes of concealment and this color would be in use for the remainder of
the war.
The feldkappe- the field cap- were also initially made from hechtgrau wool and also changed
to feldgrau in 1915.
These usually sported black leather visors, fastened at the front with two small buttons,
and were designed for comfort and protection from the sun or a light rain and offered little
protection from missiles of any sort.
On the crown of the cap was a zinc cockade bearing either FJI- Franz Josef Imperator-
or IFJ for Hungarian units.
Officers of Jäger units also had a small jäger horn beneath that badge.
These caps were largely replaced by 1917 with the M17 stahlhelm, which was a copy of the
German design with slight modifications to the color and the chinstrap.
But for a time they had their own variants, most notably the Berndorf-helmet.
Although it wasn’t common, some infantry wore a version of the field service cap without
the visor.
The Bosnian-Herzegovinian infantry regiments and Jäger battalions wore two versions of
the fez; red-brown for off-duty and parade wear, and the grey for field service.
The fez was made of lamb’s wool and also had a tassel of lamb’s wool and those tassels
were black for the red fez and grey for the grey fez.
Non-Muslim officers of those regiments and battalions were permitted to wear the standard
cap.
The soldiers’ tunics were of pretty elegant appearance, but they were heavy and the standing
collar was really uncomfortable on the neck.
Later in the war, stand and fall collars would be introduced for comfort, as well as external
pockets for practicability.
In 1914, though, a rigid collar was worn under the tunic to prevent the soldier’s neck
from rubbing against the tunic collar.
The tunic fastened with a row of six concealed zinc buttons that were buttoned all the war
to the bottom.
A shoulder roll was worn on the right shoulder to prevent the soldier’s rifle from slipping
off.
Now, on the collar itself, the men wore brightly colored cloth tabs, which were reduced in
size from 1916 on.
These were the vestiges of the 18th century regimental facing colors, and a regiment was
meant to be identified by the color of its collar tabs and buttons, but, you know, this
could be a really difficult process.
Like, in 1914, they used ten different shades of red.
The Austrian infantrymen were issued with straight cut woolen trousers.
These were supported by braces at the hip and were ankle-length, where they were fastened
by a pair of gaiters.
The Hungarian infantry had something different; they wore tight fitting breeches with a distinctive
braided knot- a vitas kortes- upon the thighs.
The fly of the trousers was closed by four zinc buttons and there were two shallow hip
pockets.
To make these trousers fit better and be more comfortable to each individual, a waist clasp
was located in the rear.
The standard boots were heavy leather hobnailed boots.
Other basic leather equipment was the belt, secured around the waist by a brass buckle
bearing the double eagle emblem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
On either side of the buckle, the soldier wore two ammunition pouches.
Each of these carried two clips of five rounds, so there were 40 rounds in total.
I have to point out that already by 1915 the strain of war on the economy was beginning
to be a thing and leather items began to be replaced by canvas or cloth replacements.
Food was carried in a cloth haversack suspended across the man’s chest.
In 1914, the infantryman carried a tornister- a field pack- made of leather on his back.
Here he stored his extra ammunition, extra clothing, and other items that would not be
needed on the march.
This was expensive and uncomfortable, so in late 1915 it was replaced by a more durable
canvas rucksack.
The badges of rank were worn by all of the land forces of the Empire and were basically
identical.
Rank was indicated with stars and lace on a collar patch or directly on the tunic collar.
When the war began, officers’ stars were silver or gold and non commissioned officers’
were of white bone or celluloid, but as the war progressed and raw materials grew scarcer,
these were made of metal or cloth.
The lace, originally of metallic thread, was replaced by yellow or white silk.
Collar patches themselves were often replaced by a narrow vertical strip behind the rank
badge in the Corps or regimental colored cloth.
Junior NCO’s had white celluloid stars while senior NCOs had white celluloid stars and
yellow lace.
The Senior Officer Cadet and the Deputy Officer also had a metal plated star.
Captains and Lieutenants wore silver or gold embroidered stars in the regimental or branch
of service color.
The Senior Officers had 3.3 cm of silver or gold lace on the collar or collar patch which
corresponded to the regiment or branch button color.
Embroidered stars were in contrasting colors to the lace, for example gold stars on silver
lace.
They also had gold lace on the cuffs of their service uniforms that was again 3.3 cm wide.
For all ranks below general the collar patch was 8.6 cm long and 4cm high.
The Officers of the General Staff had a black patch over a larger scarlet patch with the
scarlet bordering the black.
Generals had silver embroidered stars and 3.3 cm of gold lace on the collar or collar
patch.
That patch was 11.2 cm long and 4cm high.
General officers’ patches and field officers’ patches differed because the generals had
an extra 2.6 cm of cloth; that was the main way of telling them apart.
On the double breasted service uniform, gold lace 5.3 cm wide was worn on the cuffs.
Of course this is only a very general look at the Austro-Hungarian infantry uniforms.
Other branches of service had other uniforms and variations.
Special branches had theirs.
It’s quite interesting to look up, and there are loads of photos out there so you can see
a lot of the differences, lots of paintings or photos of the officers and the men proudly
wearing them, and of course many photos of the dead soldiers, which was unfortunately
the fate of thousands upon thousands of them.
Thank you Michael Hayes for helping us with the research for this episode, but also a
big thank to Glenn Jewison and Jörg Steiner who run the website that documents the AH
land forces.
You can find the link in the description.
If you want to learn more about the Austro-Hungarian weapons of World War 1, you can click right
here for our weapons special.