SABLJA FELDMARŠALA BOROJEVIĆA
FIELD MARSHAL BOROJEVIĆ’S SABRE

Author(s): Tomislav ARALICA
Subject(s): Military history, Military policy, Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919), Peace and Conflict Studies
Published by: Hrvatski institut za povijest
Keywords: Svetozar Borojević; sabre; battles on Soča; Austria-Hungary;
Summary/Abstract: In this work, the author describes the ceremonial sabre that Field Marshal (at the time Infantry General) Svetozar Borojević was given by his subordinate officers in the general staff of the Fifth Army (the so-called Isonzo Army), of the Habsburg armed forces, on 2 December 1916 after the successful completion of the critical Ninth Battle on the Isonzo (Soča) River. The sabre corresponds to the type that infantry officers in the Austro-Hungarian armed forces carried under designation M.1861. This designation is somewhat imprecise because after 1861—without any specific regulation being passed—the older M.1850 infantry officer sabre began to be worn in the manner of the M.1861 cavalry sabre. A detailed regulation on the appearance of infantry officer sabres only followed in 1871. These sabres were used until the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918. Borojević’s sabre has back reinforcement on the grip and a cross-guard made of iron with engraved decorations depicting laurel branches, on which some details are gilded. The damask cutting edge bears the gilded inscriptions Die Isonzo-Armee Ihrem Fürer and 2. Dezember 1916. The pommel bears the seal of the blade’s producer: WEYERSBERG KIRSCHBAUM CIE SOLINGEN. The iron sheath has ring-shaped hanging loops decorated in the same fashion as the hilt, while the insignia of the Isonzo Army was affixed just below the sheath’s mouth. All iron components of the sabre are burnished to a black-blue shine. The author cites analogies to this example, and provides data on damask blades and their production, and describes the history and variants of the insignia of the Isonzo Army.

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