Austria (Empire): War Medal 1873 (Kriegsmedaille 1873)

Medal mounted on traditional silk tri-fold medal riband, complete with fittings and as worn in the Austrian style

The War Medal was instituted by Kaiser Franz Joseph I. on, 2 December 1873, and was awarded for campaigns for which a separate war medal was not instituted. Qualifying campaigns included those retrospective in 1848, 1849, 1859, 1864, 1866 and the subsequent campaigns of; 1878, 1882 and the Boxer Rebellion in China between 1900-1901.

During the Boxer Rebellion of 1900-1901, the Austrian-Hungarian Contingent that served on land was comprised of an estimated 296 x officers, sailors and marines drawn from the cruiser SMS Zenta

Austria-Hungary had a single cruiser SMS Zenta on station at the beginning of the rebellion, based at the Russian concession of Port Arthur. Detachments of sailors from the Zenta were the only Austro-Hungarian forces to see action. Some were involved in defending the legations under siege while another detachment was involved in the rescue attempts. In June, the Austro-Hungarians helped hold the Tianjin railway against Boxer forces and also fired upon several armed junks on the Hai River near Tong-Tcheou in Peking. They also took part in the seizure of the Taku Forts commanding the approaches to Tianjin, and the boarding and capture of four Chinese destroyers by Capt. Roger Keyes of HMS Fame.

The Austro-Hungarian Navy also sent the cruisers SMS Kaiserin und Konigin Maria Theresia, SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth, SMS Aspern and a company of marines to China. Arriving in September, however, they were too late as most of the fighting had ended and the legations relieved. The cruisers together with the Zenta were involved in shelling and capture of several Chinese forts.9 The Austro-Hungarians suffered minimal casualties during the rebellion. After the Boxer uprising, a cruiser was maintained permanently on the Chinese coast and a detachment of marines was deployed at the Austro-Hungarian embassy in Peking (Beijing). Lieutenant Georg Ludwig von Trapp, made famous in the 1959 musical The Sound of Music, was decorated for bravery aboard SMS Kaiserin und Konigin Maria Theresia during the Boxer Rebellion

Condition: GVF

Code: 22159