Conscription age for AH Army during WW1?

Discussions on all aspects of Austria-Hungary. Hosted by Glenn Jewison.
Post Reply
riffraff
Member
Posts: 11
Joined: 16 Jun 2006, 15:51
Location: USA

Conscription age for AH Army during WW1?

#1

Post by riffraff » 21 Feb 2015, 17:01

Hi All,
I'm trying to sort out my grandfathers military service and have conflicting info from my surviving relatives. It appears that much will depend on the draft ages during WW1. My grandfather was born in 1899 in the Košice area of today's Slovakia (Kashau/Kassa back then).

My sister interviewed my grandparents back in the 1980s as part of a school project and their recollections were that my grandfather served with 'the Germans' -- supposedly when he was 17 years old. Our assumption is that the "Germans" were reference to either the language of command and/of the officers rather than literally with the Germans.

Her notes indicate he liked serving with the 'Russians' -- our presumption being that these were likely Ukrainian-speaking, fellow AH soldiers? His village was very close to (about 15 miles west) what is today's Uzhhorod, Ukraine.

Not sure if it was relevant during WW1, but on this map, he fell into the area with District VI (Kashau) and in the 66th Infantry Regiment recruiting area near Ungvár (today's Uzhhorod, Ukraine)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... )_1898.jpg

Conflicting with the above, my aunt (now 89 years old) thinks that he served in the Czechoslovak Army in 1919. My cousin may have skewed her response -- he was telling her about the draft age being 20 (which is what we had initially believed) so she may have tailored her recollection to fit the timeframe.

My sister visited my grandparents siblings in Czechoslovakia in the late 80s and was attempting to get some family info from the town. The local church burned down at some point and any/all records within it were lost -- birth/death/marriage info, muster rolls, etc.

So, my primary question is what was the draft age during WW1 in the Magyar-administered parts of Austro-Hungary from 1916-1918.

If it was 18 years old, my grandfather would have been eligible for call-up in 1917.

He did have to fight, wherever he served. He was a very reluctant soldier and it was always understood that he felt like he was fighting fellow Slavs -- our presumption that this meant fighting against Russians/Romanians from what is today's eastern Ukraine?

The archive in Trnava had no information available on him so we're not sure if that rules out service after 1918?
Vojenský historický archív
Univerzitné nám. 2
917 01 Trnava Slovak Republic

A few genealogy sites allude to Hungary still maintaining AH-era military records even though they were supposed to turn them over to the newly-created countries in 1918 -- Czechoslovakia, in my case.

I would greatly appreciate anyone's comments, opinions, suggestions on any of the above.

Thanks,
Chris

history1
Banned
Posts: 4095
Joined: 31 Oct 2005, 10:12
Location: Austria

Re: Conscription age for AH Army during WW1?

#2

Post by history1 » 21 Feb 2015, 19:45

Hi Chris,

when there are no records from the local parish office preserved you though might try to contact the bureau of vital statistics.

Regards,
history1


riffraff
Member
Posts: 11
Joined: 16 Jun 2006, 15:51
Location: USA

Re: Conscription age for AH Army during WW1?

#3

Post by riffraff » 21 Feb 2015, 20:57

My sister has been pursuing many different angles with the Czech and Slovak government for decades.

I'm getting ready to write the Hungarian military archive again to see what, if anything, they retained. Last time I wrote -- about 10 years ago, they stated that all records had been given to the Czechoslovak government.

GregSingh
Member
Posts: 3877
Joined: 21 Jun 2012, 02:11
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Conscription age for AH Army during WW1?

#4

Post by GregSingh » 24 Feb 2015, 11:08

It was changing.

In 1914, but before war broke up, class 1893 was called - 21 years old.

Class 1898 was called in May 1916 - 18 years old.
Classes 1899 and 1900 were called in 1917. But I don't know in which months exactly.

riffraff
Member
Posts: 11
Joined: 16 Jun 2006, 15:51
Location: USA

Re: Conscription age for AH Army during WW1?

#5

Post by riffraff » 26 Feb 2015, 13:59

@GregSingh -- Thanks!

User avatar
FlyingStukas
Member
Posts: 175
Joined: 23 Sep 2018, 00:12
Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Re: Conscription age for AH Army during WW1?

#6

Post by FlyingStukas » 16 Jun 2020, 15:53

Hey everyone,

To revive this thread a bit, let me just add that my great grandfather (from Bosnia) was drafted at age 16. The rules weren't strictly applied at all times nor in all regions!

Cheers

Post Reply

Return to “Austria-Hungary 1867–1918”