That's a lion, climbing over a cannon covered by a flag. It is designed to salute the soldiers of Austria-Hungary who tried to defend a fortress in Przemysl, Poland, during World War I. They held off Russian forces in 1914, but weren't so lucky by 1915. That's considered to be the longest siege of that particular war, as the Austro-Hungarians hung on for 133 days.
About 110,000 soldiers surrendered at that point. That was a mighty big number - more than many expected. Then again, supposedly there were 800,000 casualties because of the fighting. That's why this monument exists. Austria-Hungary was left considerably weakened by the defeat, and had to rely on Germany more and more for the military work as the war went on.
The monument is located in the Buda end of the Margaret Bridge over the Danube.
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