Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe SEC.INF/9/16
Secretariat 3 February 2016
OSCE+
Conference Services ENGLISH only
OSCE HIGH-LEVEL MILITARY DOCTRINE SEMINAR
Vienna, 16 -17 February 2016
Circular No. 2
The modalities for this meeting are set out in accordance with the decision of the Forum for
Security Co-operation (FSC.DEC/3/15 as of 1 July 2015 and FSC.DEC/8/15 as of 16
December 2015) available on the OSCE Restricted Website (delweb on Doc.IN):
https://delweb.osce.org/docin/llisapi.dll?func=ll&objId=24673378&objAction=browse&view
Type=1
1. Programme
The agenda and timetable is annexed hereto (Annex 1). The annotated agenda will be
distributed as a stand-alone document shortly.
2. Social Programme
• On 15 February an Ice Breaker where OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier
welcomes the guests will be organized in the Wintergarten, Hofburg at 7 p.m., access to
Wintergarten will be via OSCE premises. Dress code: business casual.
• On 16 February a Panel Discussion and Reception at the Heeresgeschichtliche Museum
The Austrian and German Chiefs of Defence - General Othmar Commenda and General
Volker Wieker have the pleasure to invite you to a panel discussion & reception on Tuesday,
16th February 2016 at 18.30hrs at the Heeresgeschichtliche Museum. The event will be open
to representatives from think tanks and media.
Programme: 18.30hrs: Cocktails.
18.50hrs: The hosts will welcome the distinguished guests.
19.00hrs: Distinguished security experts will have a discussion on
“European Security in Crisis – How to Restore Trust?”.
• Dan Smith (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute – SIPRI)
• Ambassador Patricia Flor (German Federal Foreign Office)
• General (ret.) Vladimir Dvorkin
Interventions from the floor are encouraged.
20.15hrs: Warm and cold buffet and beverages will be offered.
1
For those who are interested four guided tours of 30 min will start at 20.30. You may select
one of the four.
Tour 1: Austria as a naval power
Tour 2; Republic and dictatorship, Austria from 1918 to 1945
Tour 3; Francis Joseph
Tour 4; Sarajevo and the 1st World War
Attached to this information you will find more details.
Address: Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Wien, Militärhistorisches Institut, Arsenal, Objekt
1, 1030 Wien (http://www.hgm.or.at/)
Technical details: Three buses with a seating capacity of 50 persons each will be waiting on
the Heldenplatz in front of the entrance and leave the Hofburg at 18.15 sharp. Please also
note that also return bus transport will be provided from the Heeresgeschichtliche Museum to
the Hofburg. Departure is 21.30h sharp.
Taxis will be available for hire at a stand in front of the Museum.
2
• All guests at the Ice Breaker and the Reception will be required to present their OSCE or
Military Doctrine Seminar badge to gain entry to the Hofburg and Heeresgeschichtliche
Museum.
3. Media
Public announcement has been made via the OSCE website http://www.osce.org/fsc/211111
The opening session, open to public and media, will be video recorded and available on the
public website.
Interview corners will be established on 2nd floor (Neuer Saal area) as well as on 5th floor
(Ratsaal area). Delegation members may arrange for interviews via the OSCE
Communications and Media Relations Section, Ms. Saule Mukhametrakhimova,
[email protected], +43 6769100382.
4. Accreditation
To avoid congestion on the morning of 16 February, Delegations are kindly asked to make
use of the pre-registration desk, which will be open on 15 February 2016 from 1 p.m. until 5
p.m. in the Hofburg, Segmentgalerie, 1st floor. Delegation members are encouraged to pick
up badges on behalf of other colleagues. Alternatively, accreditation/badge collection can be
completed from 8 a.m. on 16 February.
5. Keynote Speeches:
As soon as available, all keynote speeches will be posted on the OSCE Restricted Website:
https://delweb.osce.org/docin/llisapi.dll?func=ll&objId=24673378&objAction=browse&view
Type=1
6. Room Bookings:
Bi-lateral meeting rooms will be available for participants on the 2nd and 5th floors (maximum
booking duration of 30 minutes). Rooms can be booked at the Information Desk on the 2nd
floor - Mrs. Micky Amon-Kröll, [email protected], phone: +43 1 531 37 6585. As the
number of rooms is limited you are kindly requested to keep Mrs. Amon-Kröll informed of
any changes to your requirements.
7. Seating Arrangement:
A provisional seating arrangement for the Neuer Saal can be found in Annex 2. Each
delegation will have space for two people at the table and a further two seats behind.
8. Contact Points:
Overall co-ordination queries as well as enquiries relating to overall substance and content of
the seminar should be addressed to Col. Magnus Bratt, Co-ordinator for the High-Level
Military Doctrine Seminar, [email protected] phone: +43 664 355 31 43.
3
Questions regarding logistical arrangements should be addressed in first instance to
delegations, then to Col. Anton Eischer, Permanent Mission of Austria,
[email protected] , phone: +43 (0) 664 622 15 90 and Ms. Elke Lidarik, OSCE
Conference Service, [email protected] , phone: +43 1 51 346 6392.
.
4
ANNEX 1
Agenda and timetable
Monday, 15 February 2016
7–9 p.m. Ice Breaker
Wintergarten, Hofburg
Tuesday, 16 February 2016
10–11 a.m. Opening of the Seminar
– Opening remarks
– Keynote speech
11 a.m.–1 p.m. Session 1: Security situation in the OSCE area and operational trends
– Introduction by session moderator
– Keynote speakers on subtopics
– Assessment of major present security risks,
predominant threat perceptions and consequences
– Changing forms of conflict, operational trends and
developments
– Brief introductions by panellists
– Discussions with panel and participants from the floor
– Moderator’s closing remarks
3–6 p.m. Session 2: Emerging challenges
– Introduction by session moderator
– Keynote speakers on subtopics
– Analysis of military, technological, economic,
environmental factors and their impact on security
policy
– Brief introductions by panellists
– Discussions with panel and participants from the floor
– Moderator’s closing remarks
6.30–10 p.m. Reception with a public discussion on European Security
(open to the media and think tanks)
Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Wien
5
Wednesday, 17 February 2016
10 a.m.–1 p.m. Session 3: Review of current/updated national military doctrines
– Introduction by session moderator
– Keynote speakers on subtopics
– Examples of military doctrines currently under review –
contents and process (actors, methods, procedure)
– Brief introductions by panellists
– Discussions with panel and participants from the floor
– Moderator’s closing remarks
3-5 p.m. Session 4: Implications of doctrinal changes for armed forces and
security and defence policy
– Introduction by session moderator
– Keynote speakers on subtopics
– How will doctrinal changes affect armed forces, their
mandates, capabilities, and structures?
– Implications for security and defence policy including
arms control and confidence- and security-building
measures
– Brief introductions by panellists
– Discussions with panel and participants from the floor
– Moderator’s closing remarks
5.30–6 p.m. Closing session: Future challenges and areas of activity for the OSCE
– Conclusion and topics identified for further discussion or
possible OSCE engagement
– Closing remarks by Seminar chairperson
6
ANNEX 2
7
ANNEX 3
Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Wien Militärhistorisches Institut,
Arsenal, Objekt 1, 1030 Wien
Tour 1
Austria as a naval power
The fifth section of the museum exemplifies 200 years of Austria’s history as a naval power,
from its beginnings to World War I, from the expeditions to the end of the maritime presence
of Austria.
The navy exhibition was added to the exhibition, which only after World War II had become a
permanent one. Meanwhile, it has grown to be one of the core parts of the museum,
recounting the history of the former naval power Austria.
The collection on display is to illustrate the attempts of the Austrian Navy to meet the military
requirements, on the one hand, and to represent a significant tool of research to Europe and
the world, on the other hand. Besides the grand figureheads and ship models or else the only
balloon bombs (system Uchatius), which were used during the siege of Venice in 1849, this
section provides memorabilia of most naval commanders and depictions showing the presence
of the Austrian Navy. The ships of the Austrian Navy also served for expeditions as well as
for the training of crews and the “showing of colours” across the oceans. The model of the
frigate “Novara”, for example, reminds us of the first circumnavigation of the globe by an
Austrian warship between 1857 and 1859.
8
Tour 2
Republic and dictatorship. Austria from 1918 to 1945
Dr. Karl Renner
A special section is dedicated to a fatal period of the more recent Austrian history. It
impressively illustrates Austria’s development from imperial times to the interwar period and
World War II up to the times of the Second Republic.
As the peoples of Austria-Hungary did no longer opt for a common empire, the Germans in
the Habsburg monarchy, too, recognised the inevitability to build their own state.
The political forces were eyeing each other warily and violence in politics was commonplace.
Of the several paramilitary units that were formed at the time, the so- called “Heimwehren”
(home defence units), associated with the conservative faction, as well as the republican
“Schutzbund” (protection league) became the most important ones. Finally, there were the
paramilitary units of the National Socialists.
From 1927, conditions similar to those of a civil war prevailed. The Austrian government
became more and more authoritarian, benefitted from a stand-off situation in parliament to
dissolve the latter in 1933, and, finally, annulled the constitution. The upheavals peaked in the
civil war of February 1934 as well as in the assassination of Federal Chancellor Dolfuss by
the Nazis and extensive fighting in July of the same year. Internationally, Austria remained
isolated until Schuschnigg gave in to the pressure coming from Hitler and cancelled a
referendum on Austria's sovereignty so that, finally, the Germans’ march-in into Austria could
take place.
The Nazi dictatorship in Austria did not only entail a change of elites, enforced emigration,
and persecution but, in the shortest of times, prepared the country for war. Thus Austrian
soldiers also took part in all campaigns of the German Wehrmacht, eventually also sharing its
fate. From 1943, Austria, then called “Alpen und Donaureichsgaue" (administrative
subdivisions located in the Alps and Danube regions) became the theatre of the aerial warfare.
Meanwhile, persecution and systematic murder of Jews and adversaries of the Nazi regime
had reached their climax. Despite an increasingly stronger resistance and some Austrians’
involvement in the attempted assassination of Hitler on 20 July 1944, the country continued to
be governed by the political and military structures of the German Reich and suffered war
from March to May 1945 on its own soil, eventually seeing its liberation by the allies and the
capitulation of the Wehrmacht.
Subsequently, the whole of Austria was occupied by Soviet, American, British, and French
troops. Taking stock of the war, it was concluded that Austria, as a part of the Greater German
Reich, had had to contribute approximately 1.2 million troops, that a quarter of a million of
them had died or gone missing, that around 65,000 Austrian Jews had been murdered and
that, eventually, aerial warfare and the fighting on Austrian soil had caused a total number of
380,000 deaths during the time of the Nazi regime.
9
Tour 3
Francis Joseph hall - Kaiser Franz Joseph I.
The most important objects, paintings, and uniforms from Francis Joseph’s time illustrate the
multi-ethnic state Austria-Hungary. Moreover, exhibits once owned by Crown Prince Rudolf
are at display.
The defeat of 1866 had far-reaching consequences for the Habsburg monarchy. It lost its
influence on the politics of the German states as well as in Italy, and conducted a structural
reform, which was referred to as “Compensation“. This reform rearranged the relations
between the countries of the Hungarian crown and the rest of the Empire. For the military the
Compensation had the farthest-reaching consequences, since it was also divided.
The period of peace between 1867 and 1914 was only interrupted by one bigger military
event, the so-called Occupation Campaign of 1878. Back then, Austro-Hungarian troops
occupied the Ottoman provinces Bosnia and Herzegovina. This occupation was transformed
into an annexation in 1908. From 1908, it showed that the Compensation had not brought
about a satisfactory solution for the Habsburg Empire and that the demands of the altogether
eleven bigger nationalities could only be met if further radical restructuring of the Empire was
undertaken. However, this was not meant to happen.
Tour 4
Sarajevo - "Das Automobil von Sarajevo"
Three objects dominate this hall: The automobile, in which heir to the throne Francis
Ferdinand and his spouse were shot to death, the blood-soaked uniform jacket of the
Archduke, and the chaise longue on which he died.
After the death of Crown Prince Rudolf and the brother of Emperor Charles Ludwig, the
nephew of the Emperor, Francis Ferdinand, became heir to the throne. The latter had not
received political but, all the more, military tasks from Emperor Francis Joseph, and was to be
commander-in-chief in the case of war. However, it was Francis Ferdinand of everybody, who
was trying to keep Austria-Hungary out of a war, not least because this would enable him to
reform the Empire. Yet, more and more people were saying that the Habsburg monarchy was
no longer timely and that even reforms had their limits. Nevertheless, ever more ways of
Compensation were being envisaged, aiming at harmonising the interests and particularities of
the peoples of the Empire. Finally, all these efforts became obsolete in one single moment.
When the heir to the throne came to Sarajevo in 1914, he and his spouse, Duchess Sophie of
Hohenberg, were shot to death by Gavrilo Princip on 28 June.
10