Austria, Imperial. An Order of Maria Theresa, Commander Cross in Gold to Field Marshal Svetozar Boroevic

Item #EU20859

Price:

$39,150

Austria, Imperial. An Order of Maria Theresa, Commander Cross in Gold to Field Marshal Svetozar Boroevic

(Militär-Maria-Theresien-Orden).  An Austrian Military Order of Maria Theresia in Gold, Commander’s Cross, Attributed to Feldmarschall Svetozar Boroević von Bojna

Austrian Empire; Militär-Maria-Theresien-Orden, Instituted on June 18, 1757. Officially awarded cross. Commander’s neck cross, in Gold and enamels, 43.75mm (w) x 47.65mm (h – inclusive of integral ring), weighs 34.4 grams (including ribbon), unmarked, but of a textbook, circa 1900-1914 period manufacture, with all the features of the official maker of this insignia “Friedrich Rothe, Wien”; no enamel chipping, slightly worn, with long original neck ribbon, in extremely fine condition and very rare.

Provenance: Formerly in the collection of Dr. Georg Ludwigstorff, who obtained this cross from an old collector, according to whom this cross was obtained from the descendants of Svetozar Boroević's family in the 1970s. In his book on Austrian orders Dr. Georg Ludwigstorff has described another cross awarded to Boroevic, presented to him by his Officers, however, that cross is a so-called "private purchase" cross in bronze gilt and enamels, not officially awarded cross. This order in higher grades seldom appears on the market.

Footnote: Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Dr. Georg Ludwigstorff - Author of the several Books on Austrian Orders and Decorations and the foremost authority on this subject. 
 
Footnote: Boroević was born on 13 December 1856 in the village of Umetić, Croatian Military Frontier. He was baptized in the Eastern Orthodox Church. As a young officer of infantry he served through the campaign for the occupation of Bosnia in 1878, and afterwards on the general staff. He became the commander of the Sixth Corps of the I & R Army in April 1912 and on May 1, 1913, General of the Infantry. When World War I started in 1914 he was in command of the Sixth Corps on Galicia in the Eastern Front. On September 1, 1914, he became commander of the Third Army. He would fight at the Battle of Komarów. Later, in early October he liberated Fort Przemysl, providing a temporary relief in the Siege of Przemyśl. The Russian counter-offensive in February and March 1915 almost managed to push Boroević's Third Army back towards Hungary, but they managed to hold just enough for the German reinforcements to arrive and save the already endangered Budapest and the Pressburg bridgehead. They then proceeded to join the general Austro-Hungarian—German offensive (with the Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army under Archduke Joseph Ferdinand and the German Eleventh Army under Mackensen) that pushed back the Russians and eventually retook Przemysl.

His actions on other sections of the war appealed to Emperor Francis Joseph and on May 25, 1915, he was given command on the Isonzo front. He arrived on May 27 with part of the Third Army with him and left the rest to Army Group Mackensen. There Boroević became the Commander of the Fifth Army, with which he organized a defense against the Italians to break countless offensives.  While there, Boroević's troops contained eleven Italian attacks and he was hailed as the Knight of Isonzo in Austria-Hungary, while his soldiers adored him and called him Naš Sveto! ("Our Sveto!"). For valor in combat, he was promoted to the rank of Generaloberst on 1 May 1916. On 23 August 1917 he rose to the position of commander of the Southwestern Front, which was later renamed Army Group Boroević. He became Field Marshal on 1 February 1918 and was also awarded numerous medals, including the highest order for Austro-Hungarian soldiers, the Military Order of Maria Theresia. The front was maintained until the end of October 1918, when the Italian army launched the decisive offensive of Vittorio Veneto and non-Austrian troops left their positions. After that Boroević fell back to Velden, where he sent a telegram to the Emperor offering to march on Vienna to fight the anti-Habsburg revolution in the imperial capital. It is not certain whether the Emperor has been given this message (Boroević doubted it); the offer was refused on behalf of the Emperor. After the Imperial & Royal Army had been demobilized by the Emperor on 6 November, Boroević was retired, by the I & R War Ministry in liquidation, by 1 December 1918. Boroević died in a hospital at Klagenfurt, the capital city of Carinthia, in 1920.