War in Hungary ...

A surprise cover from Hungary ! 

A good friend from Austria lives very close to the Hungarian border. Knowing that I love world war stamps and history , he went across the border to post this beautiful cover with three stamps - all related to the wars of Austria Hungary Empire ! 

1. World war -1 broke out 100 years ago - The main motif of the stamp is a mounted officer's medal group, and a part of a contemporary map can be seen on the background print. The First World War - due to its widespread nature - made it necessary to change and extend the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy's system of Orders, Decorations and Medals in several respects. 

The medals are suspended on trifold ribbons characteristic of Austro-Hungarian honours, in the following order:

 Imperial Austrian Order of Leopold, 

Knight's Cross with War Decoration and Swords;

 Imperial Order of the Iron Crown,

 3rd Class with War Decoration and Swords;

 Cross of Military Merit, 3rd Class with War Decoration and Swords; 

Silver Medal of Military Merit with War Ribbon and Swords; 

Bronze Medal of Military Merit with War Ribbon and Swords; 

Charles' Troops' Cross; 

Wound Medal, with two strips indicating two wounds on its ribbon.

• Issue Date: 28.07.2014
• Designer: György Kara

2. 90th stamp day - the other two stamps were issued in 2017 for the 90th stamp day. 

The first commander-in-chief was the cavalry general Archduke Joseph Karl (1833-1905), who was awarded the Military Merit Cross with War Decoration for his achievements in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War, and from 1898 could wear a special version mounted with gems. This valuable medal and its wearer are depicted on the HUF 120 stamp.

Two historic objects inextricably linked with the cavalry are shown on the HUF 155 stamp. The Hungarian Royal Defence Forces adopted the 1869 M shako, a type of military cap used by the joint Austro-Hungarian Army.The Hungarian shako (the one shown is from 1890) had a badge with arms, a white horse-hair hackle, and gold braid and trimmings interwoven with deep red to distinguish them from the joint army’s.

• Issue Date: 03.11.2017
• Designer: Barnabás Baticz
•   The entire cover is filled with so much history of the AustriaHungary Empire during the early 1900s- a favourite period of history for me ! 
• Thanks Tom ! Thanks a ton ! This cover is really special to me :)