Reschny was born in Stammersdorf (today, part of the Floridsdorf district of Vienna) and was educated in the local Volksschule, a Bürgerschule [de] and the seminary in Feldkirch.

Organized under the name the Austrian Legion, they were placed under Reschny's command as part of his Obergruppe and were settled in camps along the Bavarian border.

They constituted a serious threat to Austrian sovereignty, as Reschny almost immediately became involved in developing plans to march on Vienna in an attempt to overthrow the Dollfuß government.

Plans for a strike on 9 November, the tenth anniversary of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, were shelved due to a lack of sufficient weaponry.

When an internal coup finally took place on 25 July 1934, the chancellery was briefly seized by SS troops and Dollfuß was killed, however the revolt was suppressed within days by Austrian army and security forces.

Internal rivalries between the SA, the political leadership under Landesleiter Theodor Habicht and participating SS forces, as well as poor communications, all contributed to the ultimate failure of the coup.

However, he continued to meet with SA leaders from Austria in violation of Hitler's orders forbidding interference by refugees in Austrian affairs.

[1] Following the Anschluss of March 1938 that united Austria with the German Reich, the Austrian Legion was not allowed to participate in Hitler's triumphal entry into Vienna.