Transfer of the Austrian Army into the Wehrmacht

Osterreich, or Austria, was formed from the former Austro-Hungarian Empirethatwas dismantled after the close of the First World War. In the spring of 1938,German attempts to join independent Austria into the greater German Reich werefinally successful, and in the process, all units of the Austrian Armedforces – theÖsterreichischen Bundesheer – were taken en masse into the GermanWehrmacht. Entire Austrian units were literally transformed into Germanformations, albeit composed of Austrian troops. Over 50,000 Austrianmen were thus taken into the ranks of the German Armed Forces. The followingtable is a listing of all Austrian units at the time of the German takeover,and the respective units known to be formed from them upon their transfer into the Wehrmacht.