1955-1969 since 1990







Austria, 1969-1990


Administration . The office of PM was held by Josef Klaus (ÖVP) 1964-1970, by Bruno Kreisky (SPÖ) 1970-1983, Alfred Sinowatz (SPÖ) 1983-1986 and Franz Vranitzky (SPÖ) 1986-1997. Parliamentary elections were held in 1970, 1971, 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1986.

Foreign Policy . By the Staatsvertrag of 1955, Austria was bound to pursue a policy of neutrality.
In 1970 a new era of Social Democratic rule began, with chancellor Bruno Kreisky, labelled an anti-Semitic Jew (because of his pro-Palestinian policy).
The United Nations opened a third administrative complex in Vienna (after Geneva and New York; Vienna International Centre was constructed from 1973 to 1979); OPEC moved its headquarter to Vienna in 1965. Austrian Kurt Waldheim served as secretary general of the United Nations (1972-1982).
When the very same Kurt Waldheim ran for office of Austrian president (1986), Austrian and international organizations publicly blamed him for having known about war crimes and having done nothing to prevent them from happening. Although later an international commission of historians "acquitted" Waldheim from accusations of being a war criminal or having actively been involved in a Nazi organization - neither SA nor SS or related criminal bodies - he became a symbol for a generation, which preferred to repress or down-size their war-time activities. During his term of office (1986-1992) , Austria experienced diplomatic isolation, as most heads of state were unwilling to meet him. The debate, however, over his role, started a continued and open discussion on the involvement of Austrians within the Nazi machinery, strengthened the anti-Nazi movements and led to wider restitution of former Jewish property first confiscated by the Nazi and later nationalized by Austrian institutions.
In 1990 Austria regarded the enforced neutrality as obsolete and applied for membership in the EU.

Political History . From 1970 until 1997 the social democratic SPÖ would hold on to the position of prime minister, a position held from 1945 to 1970 by politicians of the christian-conservative ÖVP.

The Economy . In 1969, Austria had 68,000 unemployed; the number for 1988 was 159,000 (IHS pp.162, 165).
Austria was affected by the Oil Crisis of 1973 and responded by promoting energy efficiency.

Social History . The census of 1971 counted 7.49 million Austrians, the census of 1981 7.55 million and the census of 1991 7.79 million.

Cultural History . Austrian athletes participated in the Summer Olympics of Munich 1972, Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980, Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988, and in the Winter Olympics at Sapporo 1972, Innsbruck 1976 (hosted by Innsbruck, Austria), Lake Placid 1980, Sarajevo 1984 and Calgary 1988. Austrian athletes took 1 gold in Sapporo, 2 in Innsbruck, 3 in Lake Placid, none in Sarajevo and 3 in Calgary.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles Elections in Austria, Bruno Kreisky, Franz Vranitzky, Fred Sinowatz, Austria at the 1972 Winter Olympics, Austria at the 1976 Winter Olympics, Austria at the 1980 Winter Olympics, Austria at the 1984 Winter Olympics, Austria at the 1988 Winter Olympics, Austria at the 1972 Summer Olympics, Austria at the 1976 Summer Olympics, Austria at the 1980 Summer Olympics, Austria at the 1984 Summer Olympics, Austria at the 1988 Summer Olympics, Vienna International Centre, from Wikipedia
Library of Congress, Country Studies : Austria
History of OPEC, from OPEC
Biography of Bruno Kreisky, from aeiou; detailed biography from kreisky.org
Bruno Kreisky Exhibition, from kreisky.org
Biography of Kurt Waldheim, from un.org, another one from aeiou
DOCUMENTS List of Austrian Presidents etc., from World Statesmen
Historical Population Statistics : Austria, from Population Statistics, at Univ. Utrecht
Primary Sources of 20th century Austrian History , from Zeitgeschichte Information System : Dokumente zur Ära Kreisky
Dokumente zur Affäre Waldheim
REFERENCE Article Austria, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1970 pp.127-128, 1971 pp.122-123, 1972 pp.111-112, 1973 pp.106-107, 1974 pp.113-114, 1975 pp.97-98, 1976 pp.157-158, 1977 p.160, 1978 pp.214-215, 1979 pp.213-214, 1980 pp.209-210, 1981 pp.208-209, 1982 pp.208-209, 1983 pp.204-205, 1984 p.201, 1985 pp.524, 631, 1986 pp.518-519, 627, 1987 pp.489-490, 596, 1988 pp.446, 548, 1989 pp.446-447, 548, 1990 pp.462-463, 564 [G]
Article : Austria, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1970-1971 pp.743-748, 1975-1976 pp.753-758, 1976-1977 pp.760-765, 1978-1979 pp.172-177, 1979-1980 pp.170-175, 1980-1981 pp.170-175, 1981-1982 pp.172-177, 1983-1984 pp.172-176, 1984-1985 pp.172-176, 1985-1986 pp.171-175, 1986-1987 pp.171-175, 1987-1988 pp.168-173, 1988-1989 pp.168-173, 1989-1990 pp.169-174, 1990-1991 pp.168-173 [G]
Article : Austria, in : The World in Figures 1st ed. 1976 pp.209-211, 2nd ed. 1978 pp.209-211, 4th ed. 1984 pp.209-211 [G]
Article : Austria, in : Americana Annual 1970 p.119, 1971 pp.124-125, 1972 p.127, 1973 pp.118-119, 1974 p.113, 1976 p.109, 1988 pp.127-128, 1989 p.128, 1990 p.124 [G]
Article : Austria, in : Funk & Wagnall's New Encyclopedia Year Book 1983 p.83 [G]
Article : Austria, in : Yearbook on International Communist Affairs 1980 pp.113-117 (Frederick C. Engelmann) [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on July 6th 2007

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