!!!Bundesheer
Federal Armed Forces (Bundesheer): After the end of the
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the subsequent dissolution of the
Austrian Armed Forces, an Army of the Austrian Republic, called the
Volkswehr (peoples' army), existed from November 1918 until late 1919.
Apart from guard duty and security missions, the formations of the
Volkswehr (1 battalion per political district) also fought with the
Carinthian Resistance Movement. The peace Treaty of Saint-Germain,
signed in 1919, allowed Austria to build up a regular army with a
manpower of 30,000, but with drastically reduced armaments. Until 1935
the Armed forces were subdivided into 6 infantry brigades.
\\
In 1936 the Western Powers tacitly accepted the reintroduction of
universal conscription, and the Armed Forces were reorganised; in 1938
the armed forces consisted of 7 infantry divisions, a "rapid
division", a brigade and a weak air force.
\\
The Armed Forces of the First Republic were also a domestic policy
instrument, and the government mobilised the troops mainly to
intervene in the armed clashes of the year 1934 against the
paramilitary groups of the Social Democrats and the National
Socialists ( February 1934 Uprising, July Putsch of 1934). By order
of the government the Armed Forces did not offer any resistance when
German troops entered Austria in March 1938 ( Anschluss). By autumn
1938 most of the officers and soldiers had been integrated into the
German Armed Forces, 2 military zones (XVII, Vienna, and XVIII,
Salzburg) were established as territorial commands on what had
previously been Austrian territory.
\\
Although several divisions of the German Armed Forces included a high
percentage of Austrians, there were no purely Austrian bodies of
troops. More than 1.25 million Austrians served in the German
Armed Forces in World War II one fifth (247,000 soldiers) did
not return from the war.
\\
While the provisional government headed by Renner devised several
plans for the creation of a military office, Austria had no Armed
Forces from 1945 to 1955. The armed forces¢ police units, which
were active in the British, French and US occupation zones from August
1952, can, however, be regarded as the forerunner of the Armed Forces
which were established later. A few weeks after the State Treaty was
signed, the police schools situated in the western zones of occupation
were renamed and from July 1955 called "provisional frontier guards".
They were subordinate to the Office for National Defence, a department
of the Federal Chancellery, founded in 1945, or to the Ministry of
Defence, which was established on July 15, 1956. The National Defence
Act of September 7, 1955, laid down the supreme command and the duties
of the Armed Forces, and introduced universal conscription, originally
for a period of 9 months. The first men liable to military service
were drafted on October 15, 1956.
\\
Since 1975, an alternative service in the form of Civil Alternative
Service has been offered (until 1991 applicants had to undergo an
"examination of conscience"). The decision-making power over such
cases is vested in the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
\\
Under the Federal Constitution and the National Defence Act, the Armed
Forces are obliged to defend the country, to protect the
constitutional institutions, to maintain order and security within
Austrian borders, and is called up to render assistance in case of
natural disasters or other emergencies. The legislative and executive
powers regarding military issues are entrusted to the federal
government. The Federal President is commander-in-chief of the Armed
Forces; the right of disposition and the duties of the supreme federal
administration are vested in the Federal Ministry of Defence and the
Federal Government. The authority of command over the commands,
troops, offices, military agencies and institutions is exercised by
the Federal Minister of Defence through the commanders and department
heads. The National Defence Council, which is answerable to the
Federal Chancellery, consists of members of the Federal Government,
the military command and representatives of the political parties; it
has to be consulted in defence matters of vital importance and has the
right to visit all military institutions. The Inspector General is the
closest military advisor of the Federal Minister.
\\
Until 1973 the federal territory was subdivided into 3 zones
(Vienna, Graz, Salzburg), and 7 action brigades (9 until 1962;
command posts at Eisenstadt, Krems, Hoersching, Graz, Innsbruck,
Klagenfurt, Goetzendorf). Group I commanded 3 brigades,
group II and III each commanded 2 brigades. Furthermore, each
group had a training regiment as well as a telegraph battalion, an
armoured battalion, an engineer battalion and a supply regiment. Each
brigade had a training battalion. The 7 brigades were subdivided into
action forces and training forces; thus, recruits first received a
3-month basic training in a training battalion and then had to undergo
a unit training in the action battalions. Independent military command
posts for territorial defence, including the frontier guard, were set
up in every province. The Air Force was subordinated to a separate
command.
\\
After 1970, lack of personnel and equipment as well as social and
political changes in Austria led to a new reform of the Armed Forces,
which were reorganised from summer 1971 according to the proposals
presented by the Reform Committee on the Armed Forces. In July 1971
the duration of military service was altered and fixed at 6 months and
60 days of field exercises.
\\
A conceptual change of policy from one of primarily border defence to
territorial defence led to a restructuring of the armed forces. The
stand-by troops (30 battalions) were required to be instantly
available, the militia system of the armed forces was extended (mobile
landwehr militia with 8 fighter brigades, territory-bound landwehr
with 30 landwehr regiments and numerous guard and protection
companies). In 1986 Austria had a mobilisation strength of 186,000, in
the mid-1990s 300,000. On July 1, 1973, the supreme command of the
army, a top level command subordinated to the Federal Ministry of
Defence, was established (after June 1978 it was integrated into the
Central Office as Department III and dissolved on July 1, 1991).
The 3 group commands and the air force command were replaced by corps
commands I and II (January 1, 1974), the (1%%sup st/% ) armoured
infantry division and the aviation division.
\\
Apart from budgetary and personnel considerations, the tremendous
political changes in Europe led to a new reform of the armed forces
from 1991 onwards ("Heeresgliederung neu 1995"). The Supreme Command
of the Army was dissolved and the command of the 1%%sup st/%
armoured infantry division was replaced by the III corps.
The peace-time organisation of the armed forces comprises the 3
armoured infantry brigades and the 13 newly-established fighter
regiments, which replaced the 30 landwehr regiments. The combat-ready
organisation provided for 16 brigades with a mobilisation strength of
150,000 (including reserves). This indicated another policy change
towards border-oriented strategies rather than territorial defence.
\\
The Council of Ministers has approved a new armed forces structure for
the period 1998-2000: The Corps Command III has been dissolved, and
the armed forces are again (as in the period 1973-1995) divided into 2
corps. The first corps (command headquarters in Graz for Styria, Lower
Austria, Burgenland and Carinthia) is responsible for the first and
seventh infantry brigades (the first brigade is equipped with
Pandur-wheeled armoured personnel carriers, and the seventh is an air
brigade) and for the third mechanised infantry brigade; the second
corps (command in Salzburg for Upper Austria, the province of
Salzburg, Tirol and Vorarlberg) is responsible for the fourth
mechanised infantry brigade and the sixth Jaegerbrigade (alpine force)
as well as the various corps troops etc. The airforce division, the
military command in Vienna, the offices, academies and schools of the
armed forces are immediately responsible to the Ministry of Defence.
The number of troops available for immediate mobilisation has been
reduced to 120,000.
\\
Women have been able to voluntarily participate in military service
since 1998 (career structure of officers or non-commissioned
officers); women took part in campaigns abroad before this date.
\\
Since 1960 approximately 40,000 members of the Armed Forces have
participated in peacekeeping missions of the United Nations ( UN
Missions). Due to the growing number of peace missions and
humanitarian operations in which Austria participates, the cadre
personnel has become more important than it was in the traditional
militia system. Since 1990 the Austrian Armed Forces have assisted the
police in monitoring the Austro-Hungarian border. By the year 2000 1,8
million Austrians had served in the Austrian Armed Forces.
!Literature
L. Jedlicka, Ein Heer im Schatten der Parteien, 1955; M.
Rauchensteiner, Das Bundesheer der 2. Republik, 1980; E. A.
Schmidl, Maerz 1938. Der deutsche Einmarsch in Oesterreich, 1987; M.
Rauchensteiner and W. Etschmann (eds.), Schild ohne Schwert,
Forschungen zur Militaergeschichte 2, 1991; M. Rauchensteiner, W.
Etschmann and J. Rausch, 1000 Nadelstiche, Forschungen zur
Militaergeschichte 3, 1994; F. Hessel, Die neue Heeresstruktur,
Truppendienst 3/1998.
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