Pro-Government Militias
Gladio (Austria)
Basic Group Information
| Name assigned by coder: | no |
| PGM ID Number: | 529 |
| Country: | Austria |
| Date formed: | Jan. 1, 1947 |
| Accuracy of date formed: | year |
| Details of Formation: | Since 1947, the US recruited senior Austrian Nazis to build a secret communications network. A successor of this network and intents was Operation Gladio, which was organized by NATO in the 1950s. Wikipedia mentions that it was first created by the far-right Soucek and Rössner, who were uncovered and sentenced (but pardoned) for their undertakings. It was re-created again later by Franz Olah in cooperation with the MI6 and CIA (Wikipedia). |
| Date dissolved: | Jan. 1, 1990 |
| Accuracy of date dissolved: | year |
| Details of Termination: | Operation Gladio was directed at Cold War threats to Austria. Gladio operations ceased in 1990. That same year, the Gladio armies were uncovered all around Europe. While the Austrian government first denied Gladio existence in Austria, the Boston Globe revealed in 1996 the former presence of Gladio in Austria. (Wikipedia) |
| Termination Type(s): | none |
Former and Successor Group Information
| Predecessor group(s): | none |
| Successor group(s): | none |
| Private Military Company? | no |
| Former Group? | no |
| Former Armed Group? | no information |
| Former Rebel Group? | no |
| Former Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
| PGM Becomes Rebel Group? | no |
| Successor Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
Government Relation, Support, and Training
| Government Relation: | unclear (type 1 or 2) |
| Created by the Government?: | yes | Main Creating Government Institution: | person/minister |
| Government Link(s): | state (institution) |
| If link to party, name of party: | |
| Training and Equipment: | no information |
| Shared Information and Joint Operations: | no information |
| Shared Personnel: | no information |
| Type(s) of Material Support: | Foreign government |
| State Sponsor(s): | United States; United Kingdom |
| Other Connection(s): | NATO, CIA, MI6 |
Group Characteristics
| Membership: | ideology; ex soldiers |
| Primary Membership: | ideological |
| Alternative Primary Membership: | no information |
| Location: | |
| Force Strength: | [unknown, 2000] |
| Target(s): | foreign military |
| Purpose(s): | protect state, national or religious institutions; protect national borders and integrity; self-defense and security |
Ethnic Characteristics
| Ethnic Target(s): | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Targeting: | not applicable |
| Ethnic Membership: | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Membership: | not applicable |
| Ethnic Purpose: | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Purpose: | not applicable |
Other Information
| Other Information: | The network of groups may have some semi-official status within the intelligence community. But this status is not recognized but hidden even from some domestic governments and prime ministers. The groups were ultimately answerable to NATO-CIA rather than domestic governments in event of an attack by Warsaw Pact. |
New Variables from Meta-Analysis
Purpose
| Purpose: | Gladio’s purpose was to have armed and trained resistance fighters ready to fight in case the Soviet Union or its Warsaw Pact allied invaded. It could then have started a guerrilla war. Other advantages of the group were that it could collect intelligence and carry out offensive sabotage activities. An important relative advantage was the group’s secrecy and clandestine existence. |
| Relative Benefit(s) of PGM Use | deniability of violence |
Treatment of Civilians
| Treatment of Civilians: | |
| Type(s) of Violence against Civilians: | unknown |
Reasons for Membership
| PGM Members Coerced? | no information |
| PGM Members Paid? | no information |
| Reasons for Membership: | The US recruited former SS personnel and neo Nazis who were confirmed anti-communists that the US believed to can rely on in case of a fight against the Russians. |
| PGM Members Killed? | no information |
PGM Size
| Size: | A couple of thousand people worked for Gladio in Austria (Wikipedia). |
Weapons and Training
| Weapons and Training: | The CIA had hidden more than 80 secret caches of US weapons to be used by Gladio in case of a communist attack. These caches contained machine guns, explosives and radio equipment. Gladio received training from the United States. This included training in the use of weapons and plastic explosives (Wikipedia). |
Organisation
| Organisation: | The European Gladio network was organized by NATO. Only very highly positioned politicians and some members of the union knew about Gladio in Austria (Wikipedia). |
Reference(s) for Meta-Analysis
Evidence
- Examine the evidence for this coding.