The Mobilization Cross 1912/13

• Time Period: Pre World War I
• Institution: 19 July 1913
• Country: Austria, Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire

The Mobilization Cross 1912/13 was founded on 9 July 1913 by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary and was awarded to all military personnel who served at least four weeks with a mobilized unit in response to the Balkan crisis in late September 1912.

Austro-Hungarian forces that had been mobilized as a precautionary measure during the Balkan Wars between an alliance of Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia on the one hand and Ottoman Turkey on the other. Austria did not intervene in the wars but they led to Turkey being largely thrown out of Europe and a much-strengthened of Serbia, making Austria more nervous of her Slav neighbor and laying the ground for the outbreak of World War I.

The Mobilization Cross 1912/13 Design

The medal is a gilt Leopold cross, the ends of which are slightly curved inwards, with an eyelet and loop for ribbon suspension.

The obverse shows a circular central medallion bearing the dates ‘1912 1913’ in two lines. The reverse is plain.

The ribbon is yellow with two black stripes on the edges.