The B-Gendarmerie was the predecessor of the Federal Armed Forces in

Allied-occupied Austria The Allied occupation of Austria started on 8 May 1945 with the fall of Nazi Germany and ended with the Austrian State Treaty on 27 July 1955. After the in 1938, Austria had generally been recognized as part of Nazi Germany. In 1943, however, ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Established in 1949, it was equivalent to the Federal Border Guards (''Bundesgrenzschutz'', or ''BGS'') in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

and the Baracked People's Police (''Kasernierte Volkspolizei'', or ''KVP'') in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

History

After the defeat of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, the reinstated

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n government wanted the country to be able to defend itself and to be able to take care of its own security. After initial skepticism, the allied Western powers also showed interest in this project. In particular, the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

takeover of power in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

in 1947 and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

in the following year caused this rethinking. Since all four occupying powers,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

had decided in 1945 to forbid any military activity in Austria, the Western Allies decided to allow the Austrian government to establish a paramilitary branch of the existing

Gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...

. The formation of the B-Gendarmerie was primarily driven by the then Minister of the Interior, Oskar Helmer, and then Secretary of State and later Minister of Defense Ferdinand Graf. From 1949 onwards, the already existing alarm groups of the gendarmerie have been separated into independent alarm units, which were internally called B-Gendarmerie. They were intended to be a special unit of the gendarmerie and had the mission of dealing with extraordinary events such as illegal border crossings, internal disturbances or actions of subversive forces. The alarm units were primarily equipped with American weapons and equipment. The gendarmes, trained for military training, were now trained in the Gendarmerie schools, which, due to the secret character of the entire B-Gendarmerie, was also associated with problems such as recruitment. The Western occupying powers, that supported the entire project, had all information about secret recruitment lists and plans of the Austrians. The company, which was also designated as a gendarmerie special program, provided for the admission of former military officers knowledge in order to be able to dispose of them in wartime. By 1954 about 90,000 men have been registered. There were also plans for the soldiers of the B-Gendarmerie to be brought abroad, especially to Italy or North Africa, in the event of a communist coup, and to form an Austrian exile military force. In November 1954 it pointed out, that the Soviet Union was well informed about the activities of the B-Gendarmerie. However, this did not have any consequences since, the Soviet Union was now interested in a united neutral Austria due to the geopolitical situation. In 1950, the first permanent units were built. In each of the three western occupation zones one battalion, all under the cover of the gendarmerie academies have been built up. The beginning of the B-Gendarmerie can be fixed with the 1 August 1952 under the training and supervision of former ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

'' officers. The new formation was directly subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The respective local governments were responsible for the administration. On 28 October 1953, a separate department for the B-Gendarmerie was created in the Ministry of the Interior, whereby it was completely separated from the civilian government. At the end of 1953, the B-Gendarmerie consisted of about 100 officers and 4,000 men. As a result, up to 1955 a total of 10 gendarmerie schools, two other driving units, a department D - a supply camp jointly run with the Americans, and a department K (K for courses (Kurs) in German) to take over the training of future officers, as well as two so-called telegraph schools. In 1954, the B-gendarmerie officially designated not only the protection of the frontier and the fight against unrest, but also the use of natural catastrophes and so-called tactical operations in the event of a war effort. The fear of war was not unfounded: the East-West conflict had developed into the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, and the war in Korea (1950–1953), which, like Austria and Germany after the Second World War, became a western and an eastern one Zone of occupation was seen as a proxy war, as it might also arise in other conflict zones.

Meaning of "B" in B-Gendarmerie

Since the B-gendarmerie built up until 1949, it was a secret unit. The exact meaning of the word B-Gendarmerie or of "B-" is not clarified. Some sources speak of "stand-by" gendarmerie, in German ''Bereitschaftsgendarmerie'', others of "B-" as an addition to the "normal" "A-" gendarmerie. It is also assumed that the "B-" might stand for special, in German ''besondere'' Gendarmerie. However, during the period of the formation of the B-Gendarmerie no military organization was officially recognized by the Allies, the name B-gendarmerie is to be understood as a camouflage.

Bibliography

* Blasi, Walter; Schmidl, Erwin A.; Schneider, Felix (2004). ''B-Gendarmerie, Waffenlager und Nachrichtendienste. Der militärische Weg zum Staatsvertrag'' (in German). Vienna: Böhlau-Verlag, . * Prieschl, Martin (2010). ''Keimzelle des Bundesheeres. B-Gendarmerie 1952–1955'' (in German). In: ''Österreich-Edition'' 21 oseblattsammlung Braunschweig: Archiv-Verlag. * Stifter, Christian (1997). ''Die Wiederaufrüstung Österreichs. Die geheime Remilitarisierung der westlichen Besatzungszonen 1945–1955'' (in German). Innsbruck: Studien-Verlag, {{ISBN, 3-7065-1176-2.

History

Meaning of "B" in B-Gendarmerie

See also

Bibliography

Further reading (in German)