United States Forces in Austria
|
United States Forces in Austria (USFA) |
|
|---|---|
| active | 1945 to 1955 |
| Country | United States |
| Armed forces | US armed forces |
| Armed forces | Army |
| Type | Occupation force |
| Strength | 40,000-15,000 |
| Headquarters | Camp Riedenburg , Salzburg |
| Commanding generals | |
| Current commander |
Mark W. Clark , Geoffrey Keyes , Stafford LeRoy Irwin , George P. Hays , William Howard Arnold |
The United States Forces in Austria ( USFA ) was the military organizational unit of the USA during the occupation of Austria after the Second World War , which existed from 1945 to 1955 and not only had military-administrative functions but also had a great cultural impact.
organization
The United States Forces Austria was installed on July 5, 1945. It consisted of units of the 7th (dissolved March 1946) and 3rd US Army , and from 1947 was under the US Supreme Command for Europe ( European Command EUCOM ), then US Army Europe ( USAREUR ), headquarters in Frankfurt am Main , from spring 1948 in Heidelberg . It comprised up to 40,000 men, October 1954 only 15,000 men.
The first head of the USFA was General Mark W. Clark , commander in chief of the ground forces in the Italian campaign . Headquarters was Camp Riedenburg , the no longer existing Riedenburg barracks in Salzburg-Riedenburg ; The most important troop base since 1951 was Camp Roeder in Wals-Siezenheim ( Schwarzenberg barracks), later the largest barracks of the Austrian Armed Forces and one of the largest military accommodations in Central Europe . There was also a subordinate headquarters in Vienna .
As flag the USFA led the colors blue, white and red , which is a combination of the US flag should represent the Austrian. The insignia shows a sword and palm frond .
Unlike the Soviet occupying power, which came from a poor, war-torn country and was hardly popular because of its numerous attacks, the occupying forces of the western allies, especially those of the USA, were received in Austria with relief and sympathy in 1945. In contrast to the occupiers in Germany, they saw themselves as liberators - based on the Moscow declaration that Austria was the first victim of Nazi Germany .
activities
The "coca colonization", which mainly affects young people, was significantly promoted by the occupation soldiers and their cultural and sporting preferences. Among other things, the sport of basketball was promoted by the USFA basketball hall in the Vienna Exhibition Center , which was also used by Austrian clubs . The conversion of the Colosseum cinema into an American soldiers' cinema ("Yanks") had important effects on Vienna's 9th district Alsergrund , and the Media run by the American occupation forces (daily newspaper Wiener Kurier , broadcasting group Rot-Weiß-Rot , initially with headquarters in Salzburg , Blue Danube Network ) had a major influence on the shaping of the Austrian post-war mentality. The creation of the America House Library Institute run by the Information Service Branch (ISB) was also geared towards cultural impact . America houses existed in Salzburg, Linz and Vienna, of which only one exists in Vienna. The media activities of the American occupying power in the print and radio sectors were also severely scaled back after the State Treaty .
Supreme Commander of the USFA
Commanding General USFA were:
- 1945–1947 High Commissioner General Mark W. Clark
- 1947–1950 High Commissioner Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes
- 1950–1952 Lieutenant General Stafford LeRoy Irwin
- 1952–1953 Lieutenant General George P. Hays
- 1953–1955 Major General William H. Arnold
After 1950 the military leadership was politically subordinate to the High Commissioner, Walter J. Donnelly , who was occupied by the civil ambassador until 1952, then Llewellyn E. Thompson .
literature
- Reinhold Wagnleitner : Coca Colonization and the Cold War. The US cultural mission in Austria after World War II . Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik, Vienna 1991, ISBN 3-85115-131-3 ( Austrian texts on social criticism 52).
Further information:
- Review by James Jay Carafano: Waltzing Into the Cold War
- Research performance documentation Klaus Eisterer , University of Innsbruck, Institute for Contemporary History - with numerous papers on the topic
Web links
- USFA Veterans Association (at www.usarmygermany.com, also www.usfava.com) - with numerous documents on military history
Individual evidence
- ^ Klaus Eisterer: Austria under Allied Occupation . (= Studies in Austria and Central European History and Culture 1). In: Günter Bischof, Michael Gehler, Rolf Steininger (Eds.): Austria in the Twentieth Century . Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick / London 2009, ISBN 0-7658-0175-2 , pp. 190–211, here p. 201 ( data set , limited preview in Google Book Search, edition 2003).
- ↑ Gerald Stourzh : About unity and freedom. State treaty, neutrality and the end of the East-West occupation of Austria 1945–1955 (= studies on politics and administration , vol. 62). 5th edition, Böhlau, Vienna 2005, ISBN = 978-3-205-77333-7, p. 581 .
- ↑ a b USFA . In: Salzburger Nachrichten : Salzburgwiki .
- ↑ Reinhold Wagnleitner: Coca-Colonization and Cold War. The US cultural mission in Austria after World War II
- ↑ George Price Hays (born September 27, 1892, † August 7, 1978), Monte Cassino, Omaha Beach, 10th Mountain Division; see en: George Price Hays .
- ^ William Howard Arnold (January 18, 1901, † September 30, 1976), Pacific War; see en: William Howard Arnold .
- ↑ Executive Order 10171 Transferring Occupation Functions in Austria to the Department of State (3 CFR, 1949-1953 Comp., P 355).