Thanks, B and Char!
Some cavalry blades of the late XIX-early XX centuries:
British Pattern 1908 Cavalry Sword. After many decades of debate (and some sound duels) the issue between cut and thrust finally favored the later. The last british cavalry sword was a blade designed exclusively for giving the point: A long, heavy, rigid bar with a stiff point, almost a "hand lance" (in fact, with a full extended arm, the Pattern 1908 had a longer reach than a lance). A masive bowl guard protected very well the hand and half of the face of the charging trooper.
Modelo 1895. It was the Spanish sabre of the last Cuban Independence War, the Philippine insurrection, and the Spanish-American War. It was a compromise between a purely thrust sword like the heavy cavalry one, and a cutter like the sabre of the light cavalry. But as any compromise, it was not a superb blade in any of the roles. This sabre was intended as the standard blade for all the mounted squadrons, either light, heavy cavalry and mounted artillery.
Espada Sable Puerto Seguro: The last Spanish cavalry sabre was also a blade optimized for the thrust. A stiff fullered blade with a good spear point, but unlike the british and american swords, also had a cutting edge, being able to made discrete cuts. It was the sword used in the brave charges of the cavalry regiment Alcantara (which was almost annihilated) covering the retreat of the Spanish army during the severe rout at Annual in Northen Morocco in 1921. In a crucial stage of the Spanish Civil War, the spring offensives of 1938 that divided in two the republican territory, this sword was used in the last charges of the Spanish Cavalry in the battle of Alfambra.
With the Sabre Model 1904, the Austro-Hungarian Empire gave a twist in the swords optimized for giving the point. Instead a sharpened bar, they reinforced the blade with a pipe back well until the tip for increased rigidity, and a substantial fuller, making it a good thruster. But the sharp edge also and gently curve also made Model 1904 an able cutter, limited of course by the geometry of the pipe back. The hand was protected by an asymmetrical and perforated bowl guard which allowed an excellent protection without adding too much weight. It was a handy, well balanced and well made weapon, and was the last edged arm used by the cavalry of the Habsburgs.
The poles took a different path for their last service blade: Instead using a sword for thrusting, they remained with the well tried cutting sabre. Model wz 34 was good made weapon done at the Huta Ludwików ironworks, a very good cutter, controlable, well balanced and swift in the hand, and it was the sabre used by the brave polish cavalry against the germans in September 1939 (but not charging against tanks! That is a myth. The few cavalry charges were generally successful and were against infantry and rear echelon troops). After the war it remainded as ceremonial sword, and as late as 2002, the szabla wz. 1934/2002 (a blade almost identical to the pre-war wz. 1934) was selected as the sabre of the Polish Army's cavalry honor guard squadron. Cheers.