HISTORY:
** The Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I had included peoples of German, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, Slovakian, Serbian, Bosnian and other origins, whose ambitions for independent nationhood were complicated by mutual religious and ethnic hostilities. In this fully illustrated study, Philip Jowett examines the organization and appearance of the forces involved in the internal risings, border disputes and full-scale wars that followed the break-up of the Empire, as the composition and frontiers of new national states emerged from the immediate chaos.
Principally, Poland restored and defended the nationhood it had lost in the 18th century, while the new republic of Czechoslovakia was established after hostilities against both the Poles and Hungarian communists. Austria became a republic, and its paramilitary Freikorps fought Slovenians in Carinthia and various Serbo-Croat forces. The Hungarian republic defeated a Hungarian Soviet Republic led by Bela Kun, and suffered temporary Romanian occupation of territory including Budapest, while Hungarian nationalists fought Austrian gendarmes. The colourful and diverse armies of these nascent countries are described and illustrated in this lively account of their foundational years. **
** Quoted from the back cover of the book and the Osprey Publishing website.
THE BOOK:
Osprey Publications has released Central European Wars 1918-21, Revolutions and Border Wars in the Former Austro-Hungarian Empire as Number 563 in their Men-at-Arms series. It is a soft cover book with 48 pages and is the standard Osprey Publishing size of 7 1/4 x 9 3/4 inches. Included with the text are black and white and color photographs, color illustrations, detailed captions and more. It has a 2025 copyright, a publication date of June 19, 2025, and the ISBN is 978-1-4728-6715-5.
THE CONTENTS:
Introduction
Chronology
Armies and Uniforms
- Austria
- Czechoslovakia
- Hungary
- The Kingdom of Serbs
- Croats and Slovenes
- Romania
Weaponry in Central European Countries
Operations
- The Carinthia War
- Károlyi's Government Army
- The Romanian invasion of Hungary
- The Polish–Czechoslovak War
- Hungary under threat
- The Hungarian–Czechoslovak War
- The summer 1919 fighting
- The 'Lenin Boys'
- The Székely Division
- The Hungarian National Army takes charge
- Károly IV's failed coups
- Uprising in Burgenland
Select Bibliography
Plate Commentaries
Index
THE TEXT:
Author Philip Jowett has written an excellent history about the various conflicts that took place after World War One during the Central European Wars from the years of 1918 through 1921. The author has provided the information in an easy-to-read format which the detailed oriented reader will benefit from and didn’t use what I refer to as fluff writing where a large amount of non-essential extra text is used just to help fill the pages. The text goes into very specific detail in all areas of the book as outlined on the contents page, please refer to the contents listing that I have provided for the areas that are discussed. The author provides details specific to all of the conflicts listed in the contents section and discusses all aspects of them. When discussing the various conflicts, the author details the successes and failures of both combatants, numbers of personnel wounded or killed, as well as if the main goal was obtained and what was gained from the fighting such as captured military aircraft, weapons, small arms, ammunition and equipment. The author also goes into great detail when discussing things such as uniform shortages and how they were overcome such as buying uniforms from the Americans and the English, and other supply shortages such as military helmets and medical supplies. Other such supply issues detailed are things such as the fact that volunteers stepped forward to help fill shortages of troops, but the military did not have enough supplies, including rifles and ammunition, to equip them with. The text in the book is nicely written and well detailed. As I read through the text, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. Grammar and spelling might not be an important factor to everyone however it is something that I take notice of and pass on my findings. As a reader that did not know very much about the 1918 through 1921 Central European Wars, I found myself to be well informed on the subject upon finishing the book. Anyone wanting to add an excellent reference and history book on the Central European Wars during the years of 1918 through 1921 to their personal library will be pleased with this very informative and interesting book.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS:
A total of 45 black and white photographs and 1 color photograph are included in this volume. The photographs range from wide angle photographs to close-up detailed photographs. They are a combination of in-action photographs, official studio portrait photographs, to photographs that had been staged for the photographer. Most of the photographs are clear and easily viewable; however, a few have an out-of-focus look to them, and some appear to be too dark, and others appear too light. This is typical for the discussed period of history, and the quality of the photographs is no fault of the author and does not take anything away from the book. The close-up photographs show items such as the various types of uniforms worn by the different countries discussed. They show actual military issued uniforms as well as uniforms that have been pieced together from what was available from the discussed militaries own supplies and items supplied by other countries. The photographs of military personnel in uniform also include helmets, soft caps, footwear, unit insignia, medals, backpacks, ammunition belts and pouches, and more. Also shown are several small arms to include rifles, machine guns, grenades, bayonets, swords, and others. Also shown are subjects such as a trench mortar, a mountain gun, a Hungarian Aviatik Berg D.I aircraft, artillery pieces, horse tack and a Hungarian armored train. Author Philip Jowett chose subject specific photographs and did not include photographs that strayed from the main subject. The majority, if not all, of the photographs will prove to be excellent reference material for the scale figure modeler due to the details they contain. The military historian, and the military uniform and smalls arms enthusiast will benefit from the excellent photographs as will anyone that is interested in the Central European Wars during the years of 1918 through 1921.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS:
There are 8 plates featuring a total of 26 color illustrations included in the volume by illustrator Adam Hook.
There are brief captions that accompany the illustrations stating information such as the individual’s name, military rank or occupation, country they are from, dates and locations. The Plate Commentaries chapter, which starts on page 44, provides well written and detailed larger captions that provide specific information on the individuals shown such as their names, military rank, military unit, the uniform and accoutrements such as medals they are wearing, weapons, their individual histories, dates, etc. The illustrations will prove to be valuable to the scale figure modeler as well as anyone interested in the various militaries involved with the Central European Wars during the years of 1918 through 1921.
The illustrations are all very well done, nicely detailed and are of:
Plate A
Hungarian and Austrian Armies, 1918-20
1. Volunteer, Székely Brigade, 1919
1a. Székely badge
2. Stabsfeldwebel, Volkswehr, 1919
2a. Volkswehr badge
3. Oberleutnant, cavalry, Bundesheer, Vienna, 1920
Plate B
The Carinthia War, 1919-20
1. Volunteer, Freikorps Hülgerth, Carinthia, 1919
2. General Rudolf Maister, Maribor, 1919
3. Volunteer, Maistrovi borci, 1919
Plate C
The Hungarian Red Army, 1919
1. Flag bearer, Heltai’s Detachment, 1919
2. Commissar, ‘Lenin Boys’, 1919
3. Volunteer, Northern Front, 1919
Plate D
Armies of the 1919 Campaigns
1. Hussar, Hungarian Red Army, 1919
2. Narednik, Serbian Army, Banat region, Hungary, 1919
3. Volunteer, Domobrana, 1919
Plate E
Czechoslovak Forces, 1918-21
1. Sailor, Naval Detachment, 1918
2. Svobodnika, Slovácká brigáda, 1919
3. Poručík, Četnictvo, Bohemia, 1919
Plate F
The Romanian Army, 1918-19
1. National guardsman, Sibiu, winter, 1918
2. Trooper, 6th Rosiori Regiment, Budapest, 1919
3. Infantryman, 8th Division, Bessarabia, 1919
Plate G
The Hungarian National Army, 1920
1. Tizedes, ‘Helmet company’
2. Cadet, Ludovika Military Academy, Budapest
3. Százados, infantry, Szeged
Plate H
Hungarian Rebellions 1921
1. Főtörzsőrmester, Hungarian Gendarmerie
2. Austrian gendarme, Burgenland
3. Fighter, Rongyos Gárda
THE CAPTIONS:
The captions are well written and explain the accompanying photographs and illustrations in great detail eliminating any doubt as to what is shown. The captions go into very specific detail as to the names of the specific individuals shown and their country, their military rank and military unit they are assigned to, the types of uniforms worn and accoutrements, weapons, equipment carried and used, dates and locations and other such pertinent information. I was impressed by Philip Jowett’s captions as they are very helpful to the reader due to their detailed content as opposed to other captions that I have seen that are very brief and lacking in detail.
CONCLUSION:
As with the other Osprey Publishing titles I was impressed with this book. This is a very nice reference book that contains a well written informative text, many subject specific photographs and illustrations, well detailed captions and more, all detailing the Central European Wars during the years of 1918 through 1921. As with the other Osprey Publishing titles, I have no hesitation recommending this book to others as it will be a welcome addition to one’s personal reference library.
Osprey Publishing also offers Central European Wars 1918-21, Revolutions and Border Wars in the Former Austro-Hungarian Empire as:
Ebook (Epub & Mobi) ISBN: 978-1-4728-6714-8
and
Ebook (PDF) ISBN: 978-1-4728-6717-9
Osprey Publishing’s, Central European Wars 1918-21, Revolutions and Border Wars in the Former Austro-Hungarian Empire is also available as a Kindle version through Amazon.
PRICE:
UK £12.99 / US $20.00 / CAN $27.00
This book was provided to me by Osprey Publishing. Please mention that you saw the book reviewed here on the KitMaker Network when making your purchase. Thank you.