Austrian Armed Forces

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thumb|Headquarters of the [[Ministry of Defence (Austria)|Federal Ministry of Defence in Rossauer Kaserne, Vienna]]

The Austrian Armed Forces () are the combined military forces of Austria.

The military consists of 16,000 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists.

History

Interwar

In 1918, the Republic of German-Austria established a military known as the ("People's Defence"). Volkswehr forces took part in military confrontations with Royal Yugoslav Army troops which occupied parts of Carinthia that Austria claimed as its own. In 1920, after the Republic of German-Austria transitioned into the First Austrian Republic, the new regime changed the military's name to the ("Federal Army"), which it has been known by ever since. In 1938, officers led by Alfred Jansa developed a military operation plan to defend against a potential invasion by Nazi Germany, which ultimately went unused due to a lack of political willpower when the Germans annexed Austria in the same year during the Anschluss. Under German rule, the was disbanded, and many Austrians served during World War II in the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS (Austrian SS).

World War II role of the "Bundesheer":

Elements of Austrian Army became 9th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)
Elements of Austrian Army became 44th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
4th Austrian Division became the 45th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
5th and 7th Austrian Divisions became the 3rd Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)
6th Austrian Division became the 2nd Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)

In 1955, Austria issued its Declaration of Neutrality, meaning that it would never join a military alliance. The Austrian Armed Forces' main purpose since then has been the protection of Austria's neutrality. Its relationship with NATO is limited to the Partnership for Peace programme.

With the end of the Cold War, the Austrian military have increasingly assisted the border police in controlling the influx of undocumented migrants through Austrian borders. The war in the neighbouring Balkans resulted in the lifting of the restrictions on the range of weaponry of the Austrian military that had been imposed by the Austrian State Treaty.<gallery>

Bundesarchiv Bild 102-08388, Klagenfurth, Einzug des Bundesheeres.jpg|Troops entering Klagenfurt after a manoeuvre in Carinthia (September, 1929)

Bundesarchiv Bild 102-09245, Österreich, Skitruppen beim Manöver.jpg|Austrian Gebirgsjäger in 1930

Bundesarchiv Bild 102-09448, Wien, Parade des Bundesheeres.jpg|Austrian Armed Forces celebrating their 10th anniversary in March 1930 at the Viennese Heldenplatz

Bundesarchiv Bild 102-12705, Österreich, Manöver der Gebirgsartillerie.jpg|Austrian mountain artillerymen during a manoeuvre in Tyrol

Bundesarchiv Bild 102-12135, Österreich, Fahnenweihe bei der Armee.jpg|New "Standarten" (flags) of Austrian Army units being consecrated by a Catholic priest in Mattersburg, Burgenland

Bundesarchiv Bild 102-12181, Österreich, Pioniere beim Brückenbau.jpg|Engineers building a bridge across the Danube during a manoeuvre in 1931

Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00805, Wien, Februarkämpfe, Bundesheer 2.jpg|Soldiers of the Austrian Army in Vienna, during the Austrian Civil War in 1934

File:Ausbildung in der Gruppe (18480913048).jpg|Troops training with M1 Garands during the 1950s

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Cold War

On 1 March 1978, the "Wehrgesetz 1978" became law, which encompassed the "Heeresgliederung 1978" plan to grow the Austrian Armed Forces to 384,000 (84,000 active, 300,000 militia) by the early 1990s to be able to fully employ the Austrian concept. A total of 30 new Landwehrstammregimenter were to be raised. On 6 October 1987, the Austrian government enacted the "Heeresgliederung 1987", which instructed the armed forces to stop the growth of the militia at 200,000. Afterwards only the militia's infantry grew, making 1988-1989 the timeframe Austria's armed forces reached their maximum strength. On 29 May 1990 the "Wehrgesetz 1978" was cancelled and the army began to shrink, which accelerated with the "Gesamte Rechtsvorschrift für Wehrgesetz 1990" ( of 31.12.1992).

Raumverteidigung

NATO's Central Army Group in Southern Germany was arrayed against attacks from East Germany and Czechoslovakia, with only the German Army's 10th Panzer Division available to cover the army group's Austrian flank. To strengthen the flank NATO would have deployed the French Army's II Corps, which would have required seven days for mobilization and approach. The arrival of Warsaw Pact forces in southern Bavaria within the first six days after the start of hostilities would have prompted NATO to use tactical nuclear weapons to block the enemy approach routes through Upper Austria. To prevent the use of tactical nuclear weapons on Austrian territory the Austrian military developed the Raumverteidigung (Area Defense) concept, which envisioned that Austrian forces would delay, harass and decimate Warsaw Pact forces with determined, sustained and costly resistance along their expected axis of advance.

Strategic considerations

The Austrian military assumed that Warsaw Pact forces would include Czechoslovak People's Army, Hungarian People's Army, and Soviet Army units. A mixed Czechoslovak-Soviet corps of three divisions was expected to mass in the Břeclav-Brno-Znojmo region and attack through the Weinviertel north of Vienna. The expected crossing of the Danube was expected to occur between Tulln and Krems, from where the enemy forces would have turned West to reach the Sankt Pölten area. In parallel the 5th Hungarian Army, consisting of Hungarian units, Soviet Central Group of Forces and Southern Group of Forces units, and Czechoslovak units based in Slovakia was expected to strike from Sopron through the Wiener Wald towards Sankt Pölten.

9th Panzergrenadier Brigade, in Götzendorf an der Leitha (based in the Area Security Zone 21)
311th Jagdkampfbataillon 311, in Allentsteig (Area Security Zone 31, in peacetime part of the 32nd Landwehrstammregiment)
32nd Landwehrstammregiment, in Korneuburg (Area Security Zone 32)
33rd Landwehrstammregiment, in Mautern an der Donau (Block Zone 33)
34th Landwehrstammregiment, in Wöllersdorf (Key Zone 34)
35th Landwehrstammregiment, in Amstetten (Key Zone 35)
54th Landwehrstammregiment, in Graz (Key Zone 54)
55th Landwehrstammregiment, in Sankt Michael (Subzone 55)
56th Landwehrstammregiment (Subzone 56, formation suspended with the 1987 reform)
Tyrol Military Command - No. 6, in Innsbruck
6th Jäger Brigade, in Innsbruck
61st Landwehrstammregiment, in Kitzbühel (Area Security Zone 61)
62nd Landwehrstammregiment, in Absam (Key Zone 62)
63rd Landwehrstammregiment, in Landeck (Area Security Zone 63)
64th Landwehrstammregiment, in Lienz (Area Security Zone 64)
65th Landwehrstammregiment (Area Security Zone 65, formation suspended with the 1987 reform)
Carinthia Military Command - No. 7, in Klagenfurt
7th Jäger Brigade, in Klagenfurt
71st Landwehrstammregiment, in Wolfsberg (Key Zone 71)
72nd Landwehrstammregiment, in Klagenfurt (Area Security Zone 72)
73rd Landwehrstammregiment, in Villach (Key Zone 73)
74th Landwehrstammregiment, in Spittal an der Drau (Area Security Zone 74)
Salzburg Military Command - No. 8, in Salzburg
8th Jäger Brigade, in Salzburg
81st Landwehrstammregiment, in Salzburg (Area Security Zone 81)
82nd Landwehrstammregiment, in St Johann im Pongau (Subzone 82)
83rd Landwehrstammregiment, in Tamsweg (Subzone 83)
Vorarlberg Military Command - No. 9, in Bregenz
91st Landwehrstammregiment, in Lochau (Area Security Zone 91)

Under the area defence strategy, which determined the army's structure until 1993, the army was divided into three principal elements: the standing alert force () of active units, including the 1st Panzergrenadier Division and the air division; the mobile militia (), organized as eight mechanized reserve brigades to be deployed to key danger spots in the event of mobilization; and the stationary militia () of twenty-six reserve infantry regiments organized for territorial defence. The Austrian soldiers used Leopard 2A4 tanks during the competition. The dress uniform is grey; for formal occasions a white uniform may be worn. In reality, the Chancellor has the decision-making authority, exercised through the Minister for National Defence. In the early 1990s, about 45,000 conscripts completed their initial military training every year, and 80,000 reservists participated in some form of exercises each year. Since then the army reserve battalions (Miliz) are suffering from a lack of new reservists and are therefore overaging.

Under a 1974 law, conscientious objectors can be assigned work as medical orderlies, or other occupations in lieu of military service. All service branches are open for female volunteers. In a public opinion survey in 1988, about 66 percent of those polled approved of opening the military to voluntary service by women; only nine percent favoured obligatory service.

EUFOR Althea (former SFOR)
292 personnel
since 2 December 2004 under European Union Command
KFOR (within the MSU until 2013)
273 personnel
UNIFIL
175 personnel
UNTSO
4 personnel
EUMM Georgia
3 personnel
UNFICYP
3 personnel
Mediterranean Sea
EU NAVFOR Med
6 personnel
OSCE
4 personnel
MINURSO
4 personnel

Traditions

Some of the traditions of the old Austro-Hungarian Army continue to be carried on in . For example, the most famous regiment in the Bundesheer is the "Hoch und Deutschmeister Regiment", now known as Jägerbataillon Wien 1 based in "Maria Theresien Kaserne", named after Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. Also nearly every other regiment of the Bundesheer carries on traditions of the famous Austro-Hungarian regiments like "Kaiserjäger", "Rainer", etc.

Citations

References

CIA World Factbook, 2005
Christopher Eger, The Final End of the Austrian Navy, on the site militaryhistory.suite101.com, 2006

External links

Overview of the Austrian Armed Forces
Austrian Army reforms spawn hybrid recce and artillery units
Austrian military ranks at official homepage