Situation at the End of the War in Europe

The Final Offensive
As the Allies advanced across central Germany on their way to the Elbe River and the historic linkup at Torgau with the Russians advancing from the east (April 1945), intelligence indicated that the German government was planning to evacuate Berlin and move southward to the "National Redoubt" in the Alps where they hoped to put up a last desperate stand.

The "National Redoubt", or Alpenfestung, extending some 240 miles in length and 80 miles in depth, comprised the western half of Austria, with small portions of Germany to the north and Italy to the south. It was bounded on the north by the Bavarian Plains, on the south by the Dolomites and Carnic Alps, on the west by the Swiss frontier and the Rhine Valley, and on the east by the Lageneurt Basin and the eastern extremity of the Niedere Tauern. Within it lay Berchtesgaden and Hitler's "Eagle's Nest" that was to serve as the command post.

The reduction of the redoubt area thus became an important objective of the Allies and speed of movement was essential to forestall the enemy's retiring into the area in time to fortify it agains the Allied attack.

Seventh Army of 6th Army Group was given the primary task of penetrating the mountains and subsequently occupying the fortress area. To the west of the Seventh, the French First Army, also of 6th Army Group, was instructed to clear along the Swiss frontier and to subsequently enter Austria from the west (Vorarlberg) if the situation required. Third Army, on the right flank of 12th Army Group and to the east of the Seventh, was ordered to swing to the south and advance down the Danube River toward Linz with the objective of affecting a further junction with the Russians. In addition to its principal thrust, Third Army was ordered to seize Salzburg and seal off the eastern approaches to the Redoubt.

In the end, the threat of a fanatical last-ditch stand in the Alps never materialized. The German hope that dissension between the Soviet Union and the western Allies might give them political leverage for some kind of favorable peace settlement as they held out in the rugged alpine mountains was a chimera. Two weeks after the final southern thrust of Third and Seventh Armies was initiated, American and Allied troops had sealed all of the passes to the Alps, dissected the Redoubt through junctions with the First French Army in the Inn Valley, and the Fifth US Army near the Brenner and Resia Passes. The cities of Salzburg, Innsbruck, and Berchtesgaden had been captured. And to the east, Third Army had also taken Linz and linked up with the Russians east of Linz.

Shifting from Combat Operations to Occupation
The Battle Line of the Allied forces on VE-Day (9 May 1945) stretched from southeast Germany along the upper Rhine River near Switzerland through Austria and Czechoslovakia, north across Germany to the extreme northwestern tip of that country. The sectors of the battle line that involved operations inside Austria comprised the following American combat organizations (from west to east).

The Beginning of the Occupation in Austria
Source: Occupation Forces in Europe Series - The First Year of the Occupation. Published by the European Command, 1947.

** PRELIMINARY DRAFT **

Planning for the Occupation of Austria
The assumption of quadripartite control was a slower process in Austria (than in Germany) and was not completed until August 1945. Planning, however, had started in 1944, and from the beginning, a clear distinction had been made between the status of Germany and Austria.

It was originally decided by the Combined Chiefs of Staff that the Allied planning organization in England would coordinate plans for the occupation of Austria with those for Germany, but that Austria would be initially under the Mediterranean Theater because forces for the occupation could be provided more quickly from there. The US Group Control Council (Austria) was established in the Mediterranean Theater on 27 January 1945, and the London planning staff started its move to Italy early in February 1945.

In December 1944 the proposal that Austria be divided into three zones was made by the Soviet representative to the European Advisory Commission. In March 1945 the four-power occupation of Austria was being considered by that body, but agreement was not reached until early in July.

Events early in April 1945 forced changes in the plans for Austria. Soviet forces crossed the Austrian border early in April and captured Vienna on 13 April. Meanwhile, the weakening resistance of the Wehrmacht in Germany indicated that United States forces could invade Austria from the northeast more easily than from the south. Part of General Eisenhower's forces were turned south, therefore, and penetrated into Austria before the Germans could assemble their forces in the mountain "redoubt" of southern Bavaria and western Austria. Control was transferred from the Mediterranean to the European Theater of Operations, except that the former Theater was directed to furnish military government personnel and the headquarters staff for the occupation forces.

Interim Period of Tactical Military Government
After V-E Day it was necessary to continue tactical military government in Austria for a few weeks until military government field detachments were in position. When the first members of the military government staff arrived at the end of May, they found a confused situation, due to the territorial disposition of units. Troops in Austria comprised all or parts of two army groups, two field armies, four army corps, and twelve divisions, many of which were partly in Germany and partly in Austria. Consequently, their instructions and policies were not exclusively directed towards Austria (see List of Major Commands and Units for more details). During the early period Austria had to be treated on the same lines as Germany.

Development of an Austrian Command
This situation was improved, however, in July. On 5 July 15th Army Group was reorganized and redesignated the US Occupational Forces Austria. The Headquarters Company II Corps, 11th Armored Division, 42nd Division and 65th Division, previously assigned to Third Army and 12th Army Group, were assigned on 6 July to the newly formed US Occupational Forces Austria, the commanding general of which was Gen Mark Clark.

The Place of Austria in the European Theater Organization
The command directive for Germany and Austria, which was adopted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 28 June 1945, provided that General Eisenhower as Commanding General of the European Theater should delegate to the Commanding General of the United States forces in Austria such operational control as he considered necessary, and that two divisions should be assigned to Austria. This provision was elaborated in the Allied Forces Headquarters document that established the US Occupation Forces Austria. General Clark was made directly responsible to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on military government and political matters, while remaining under the European Theater on matters of supply and administration. Responsibility for the logistical support of forces in Austria was delegated to the Third Army, and later to Continental Base Section. Thus, the Austrian command assumed its place within the European Theater, retaining, however, a considerable measure of independence as regards policy, military government, and operation.

Final Establishment of Occupation in Austria
One of the earliest major accomplishments of this period was the final establishment of the occupation in Austria. On 19 August the advance headquarters of US Forces Austria moved into Vienna; after a series of conferences with Soviet officials, the commanders in chief of the other three occupying powers, Gen Mark Clark, Lt Gen Sir Richard McCrery, and Gen Marie-Emile Bethouart, moved into the city on 23 August. The Soviet forces were under the command of Marshal Ivan S. Koniev.

By September 1945 the United States Sector of Vienna was established, comprising the districts of Neubau, Josefstadt, Alsergrund, Währing, Döbling, and the northern part of Hernals adjoining Währing (see map). On 11 September the Allied Control Council met for the first time.

Two of the major achievements of quadripartite control during this period were the extension through the whole of Austria of the power of the Provisional Government under Dr. Karl Renner on 20 October, and the preparations for, and supervision of, the first free elections for the national and provincial legislatures of the postwar period. This was held on 25 November 1945, with approximately 93 percent of the registered voters participating. Eighty-five Volkspartei members, 76 Social Democrats, and 4 Communists were elected to the Nationalrat, or Lower House of Parliament; Volkspartei majorities were elected to the provincial legislatures in all the Länder except Vienna and Kärnten (a Land of the British Zone), where socialists formed the majority. Leopold Figl, chairman of the Volkspartei, was elected chancellor of the new government, which was formally approved on 14 December by the Executive Committee of the Allied Control Council.

The Occupational Troop Basis for Austria
Source: The Evolution of the Occupation Forces in Europe - Occupation Forces in Europe Series. Published by the European Command, 1948.

Early in 1945, the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved an occupational plan (JCS 942/5, 4 Jan 45) that contained the first authoritative troop basis for the occupation of Germany. This paper did not include an occupational troop basis (OTB) for Austria as no decision had yet been reached on the governmental level on the question of American participation in the occupation of Austria. However, the paper in question did contain certain estimates concerning the forces to be needed, if the United States became an occupying power in Austria.

It was estimated that the number of troops needed would be 73,000 during the period from 4 to 12 months after victory was gained in Europe, and 28,000 after one year. The initial ocupation force for Austria was envisioned as consisting of two infantry and one armored divisions with supporting service troops. It was thought that this force could be reduced to one division and a regimental combat team after about one year. (It should be noted that the plan presumed that the ground and service forces for the occupation of Austria would be furnished by the Mediterranean Theater of Operations.)

Early in the summer of 1945 the US Government decided to accept a zone of occupation and participate fully in the occupation of Austria. After the decision had been made, the European Theater Commander was directed to provide a "balanced force of approximately two divisions" for the occupation of Austria. In July the Allies set the borders dividing the country into four occupation zones with the US assuming control of a zone that included the provinzes (Land) of Salzburg and most of Upper Austria (former Upper Donau). Theater Headquarters accordingly set the OTB for Austria at 28,038 but made no final decision on the composition of the forces. At this time, consideration was being given of using one corps headquarters with one or two infantry divisions.

By mid-August 1945, however, the trend of thought at Theater Headquarters was in favor of employing only one division in Austria, together with lesser combat elements within the troop ceiling of 28,000. General Mark Clark, CG and US Commissioner for Austria, expressed the opionion that, until about 1 April 1946, the forces in Austria should include two infantry divisions, two cavalry reconnaissance squadrons, and two tank destroyer battalions. He believed that, after the date mentioned, an OTB of one reinforced division would suffice.

1946 - During the first six months of 1946, the authorized strength of US Forces, Austria, was 29,000. The only large combat unit included in its troop list was the 42nd Infantry Division.
To be continued