1938-1945






Occupied Austria, 1945-1955



In 1945, Austria was treated as a defeated nation. like Germany partitioned into 4 zones of occupation, as was the capital city of Vienna (which coincidentally, as in the case of Berlin, was completely surrounded by the Soviet zone of occupation).
Austria had been regarded as the first victim of Nazi aggression, but Austrians had contributed to the Nazi atrocities; Austrians such as ERNST KALTENBRUNNER and ARTHUR SEYSS-INQUART were among the defendants in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials.
In theory, Austria was to be jointly administrated by the 4 Allied powers; relations between the Soviets and the western allies soon turned sour.
It was only in 1955 that a STAATSVERTRAG was negotiated, according to which the Allies withdrew from Austria, granting independence, under the (Soviet) condition of political neutrality.

Despite the partition in 4 zones of occupation, Austria was treated as one political unit (a state to be); a democratic constitution (1945) laid the foundation for the reemergence of political parties etc. Austrians were given the right to administrate their own affairs, as long as they got approval from the Allies (i.e. the approval from every one of the 4 Allies) for their measures.
Under the circumstances - there was a considerable refugee problem, the economy had to be set on a peacetime footing again, many men had fallen in the war or were still P.O.W.s, others were suddenly returning - political infights took second stage and a GRAND COALITION was formed to asministrate political affairs, consisting of two large parties - the ÖVP (Peoples Party), the SPOe (social democrats) and one smaller party, the communists. The independents (liberals) would form an opposition. The constitution of 1920 (with 1929 amendments) was readopted.
In 1946-1947 a policy of DENAZIFICATION was pursued to eliminate ex-Nazis from administration and the economy. From 1948 onward, Austria benefitted from MARSHALL AID, which was very instrumental in overcoming the severe economic crisis.
After difficult negotiations, in 1955 Austria was released into independence; the STAATSVERTRAG contained the condition that Austria had to pursue a policy of neutrality.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Library of Congress, Country Studies : Austria
Wendepunkte der Entwicklung des Parlamentarismus in Österreich 2.10 Die Zweite Republik , (The Second Republic), from Austrian Parliament
Staatsvertrag, from aeiou
DOCUMENTS List of Austrian Presidents, Chancellors etc., from World Statesmen
Primary Sources of 20th century Austrian History , from Zeitgeschichte Information System : Planung und Politik der Alliierten 1940-1954 (Planning and Policy of the Allies, regarding Austria); Österreich unter alliierter Besatzung 1945-1955 (Austria under Allied Occupation, 1945-1955); Der Weg zum Staatsvertrag (The road to the Staatsvertrag); Die Grosse Koalition 1945-1966 (The Grand Coalition 1945-1966)
Control Machinery in Austria; July 4, 1945, from Avalon Project at Yale Law School
Image from Chronik 2000 Bilddatenbank : Joint allied patrol in Austria (one Soviet, one US, one British, one French officer in the same jeep)
Ernest's Story : Life under Russian Occupation, from Stories from the 1940's, Vienna
Wien im Rückblick (Vienna in Retrospect), summaries of events 1945-1961 on a day-by-day basis, from Wiens Web Service (in German) : 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, in German, secondary sources, based on sources from Vienna City Hall's Archive
Map : Austria and the Marshall Plan (featuring where Marshall aid was invested, 1948-1950), from Marshall Plan Exhibit at Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Den Haag (NL)
Österreich und der Marshall Plan (facsimile of book cover; illustrated document edition), from Marshall Plan Exhibit at Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Den Haag (NL)
"Liberators and the Liberated", "Occupiers and the Occupied", documents of Americans in Austria 1945 to 1955, from H net
REFERENCE Article Austria, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1947, pp. 90-91 (on events in 1946) [G]
Article Austria, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1948, pp. 88-89 (on events in 1947) [G]
Article Austria, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1949, pp. 81-82 (on events in 1948) [G]
Article Austria, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1950, pp. 82-84 (on events in 1949) [G]
Article Austria, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1951, pp. 79-80 (on events in 1950) [G]
Article Austria, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1952, pp. 76-77 (on events in 1951) [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on January 9th 2006

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