Österreichs Bundesheer

1955 - 2005: Austria's Armed Forces at 50

27 July 2005 -

For Austria, 2005 is a year of various jubilees and anniversaries:

60 years since the end of World War Two and the re-establishment of the Austrian Republic
50 years since the Treaty of Vienna which granted Austria its sovereignty and ended the decade of Allied occupation, also
50 years of membership in the United Nations and
10 years of membership in the European Union, as well as
10 years of participation in NATO’s Partnership for Peace.

All this offers an occasion to sit back and think about our own identity, history, and future. These anniversaries also concern Austria’s security and defence policy, and the armed forces as its major instrument:

50 years since the establishment of the Austrian Armed Forces
45 years of participation in international operations
40 years since the passing of the Foreign Service Law of 1965,
15 years of "diversification" and extension of international operations after the end of the Cold War
10 years participation in EU- and NATO-led missions.

Occasions to look back and review the development of the Austrian Armed Forces in the past half-century.

Milestones in the History of the Austrian Armed Forces since 1955

1956:

Security operation at the Austrian-Hungarian border after the Soviet intervention - the first deployment of the Austrian Armed Forces at home.

1960-63:

Deployment of a medical contingent providing humanitarian relief in Congo - the first deployment of the Austrian Armed Forces abroad.

1964 - ... :

UN peacekeeping operation in Cyprus before, during and after the Turkish invasion of 1974 (three Austrians killed in fighter aircraft assault).

1967:

Assistance operation at the Austrian-Italian border to prevent Austrian South Tyrol activists from crossing the border illegally.

1968:

Concentration of troops following the alert during the suppression of the Prague Spring by Warsaw Pact troops.

1974 - … :

UN peacekeeping operation monitoring the truce between Syria and Israel.

1976:

Assistance operation after the collapse of the Reichsbrücke in Vienna: Engineers helping to pull down the old bridge and construct a temporary bridge across the Danube.

1990 - … :

Assistance operation at the Austrian-Hungarian border to prevent illegal border crossings into Austria.

1991:

Security operation at the Austrian border to the former Yugoslavia to prevent the hostilities from spilling over onto Austrian territory.

1996 - … :

Deployment of the Austrian Armed Forces to the IFOR, SFOR, KFOR and EUFOR missions to stabilise the situation in the Balkans.

2000:

Disaster relief operation of the Austrian Armed Forces to provide water purification in Mozambique.

2002 - … :

Deployment of a contingent of the Austrian Armed Forces to ISAF to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan.

Austria celebrates the 50th anniversary of its Armed Forces.

After World War Two the Forces were established in 1955.

In 1956 they faced their first challenge during the Hungarian Revolution.

Later, the military has been increasingly used to safeguard borders ...

... and to contribute to international peacekeeping operations.