# What happened to the Austrian military in the Anschluss? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2018, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-austrian-military-in-the-anschluss/824399 "2018-11-12T10:08:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-austrian-military-in-the-anschluss/824399/1 "2018-11-12T10:08:57Z")
When Germany annexed Austria in 1938, what happened to the Austrian military? I’m guessing that it was absorbed into the German military, but how exactly was this handled on a practical level? Did soldiers and officers just keep their existing ranks, positions, and command structures, or was there a mass reorganization and reassignment of personnel? Did everyone need to get new uniforms and get retrained according to German regulations? What happened to the generals at the very top of the command hierarchy? Were there purges of personnel that the Germans considered politically unreliable and/or not racially pure? ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-austrian-military-in-the-anschluss/824399/2 "2018-11-12T14:18:58Z")
Sorry - no cites, just recollection from stuff I read decades ago, until better comes along, but: The Austrian army was absorbed by the Wehrmacht. Any jewish personnel did not transfer (Austrian forces had a relatively large number of jewish officers) Some of these were murdered, some sent to camps, some expelled from Austria. Ranks didn’t always correspond, there were a number of demotions to make things fit. A number of Austrian soldiers switched to the SS, where prospects for rank were better. Some units were essentially re-named to german units, often some austrian units were combined and made a german unit. Others were dispersed over the german wehrmacht. I remember reading that fully half of the generals did not transfer. Note that while there was wide support for the anschluss, it was nowhere near universal. The Austrian army had for some time been positioned to resist a German invasion. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-austrian-military-in-the-anschluss/824399/3 "2018-11-12T22:17:54Z")
It’s a good question, and I’m surprised that Wiki has so little on it: > **[Military history of Austria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Austria)** > > After a series of impressive victories in the Great Turkish War, Austria found itself at war with France again along the Grand Alliance. Still, Austria and its allies managed to win impressive victories like Turin & Blenheim, plus the Austrians successfully crushed uprisings in Hungary & Bavaria. However, the French victory at Denain secured the Bourbon throne in Spain. Still, the Austrians fought well and enjoyed great territorial gains in the Treaty of Rastatt. > In 1716 the Ottomans once again ... > **[Austrian Armed Forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_Armed_Forces)** > > The Austrian Armed Forces (German: Bundesheer, lit. 'Federal Army') are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria. > The military consists of 22,050 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 1.0% of national GDP (including pensions) or €3.38 billion (without pensions). > Between 1918 and 1920, the Austrian semi-regular army was called Volkswehr ("People's Defence"), and fought against Yugoslavian army units occupying parts of Carinthia. It has been known a... > **[Anschluss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anschluss#Reactions_to_the_Anschluss)** > > The Anschluss (German: \[ˈʔanʃlʊs\] (listen), or Anschluß,\[a\] lit. 'joining' or 'connection'), also known as the Anschluß Österreichs (pronunciation (help·info), English: Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. > The idea of an Anschluss (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Greater Germany")\[b\] began after the unification of Germany excluded Austria and the German Austrians from the Prussian-dominated German Em... ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-austrian-military-in-the-anschluss/824399/4 "2018-11-13T02:51:37Z")
Here’s a table said to show the assignment of units of Austrian Army to the German Army: > **[Transfer of the Austrian Army into the Wehrmacht - Feldgrau](https://www.feldgrau.com/WW2-Austrian-Axis-Forces/)** > > Osterreich, or Austria, was formed from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire that was dismantled after the close of the First World War. In the spring of 19... The list of Austrian units generally agrees with other sources as to the order of battle of that army in 1938. The roman numerals before the unit designations are battalion number within a regiment where so. For example I. u. III./Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 139, 1st and 3rd Battalion Mountain Infantry Regiment 139. That regiment was the main German infantry force in the capture of Narvik in Norway in April 1940 (and its subsequent loss to Allied counter attack before the Allies in turn evacuated as the French campaign disaster unfolded). It was mainly composed of Austrians even as of that date. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-austrian-military-in-the-anschluss/824399/5 "2018-11-13T13:43:33Z")
Watched the broadcast of The Sound of Music too? Been singing showtunes for days now. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-austrian-military-in-the-anschluss/824399/6 "2018-11-13T15:00:02Z")
As to Capt. von Trapp: [In The Sound of Music, how can Capt. von Trapp be a veteran of landlocked Austria's navy? - Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=591145)