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Austria was occupied by the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
and declared independence from
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
on 27 April 1945 (confirmed by the Berlin Declaration for Germany on 5 June 1945), as a result of the
Vienna offensive The Vienna offensive was an offensive launched by the Soviet 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts in order to capture Vienna, Austria, during World War II. The offensive lasted from 16 March to 15 April 1945. After several days of street-to-street figh ...
. The occupation ended when the
Austrian State Treaty The Austrian State Treaty ( ) or Austrian Independence Treaty established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on 15 May 1955 in Vienna, at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the Uni ...
came into force on 27 July 1955. After the in 1938,
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
had generally been recognized as part of Nazi Germany. In November 1943, however, the Allies agreed in the Declaration of Moscow that Austria would instead be regarded as the first victim of Nazi aggression—without denying Austria's role in Nazi crimes—and treated as a liberated and independent country after the war. In the immediate
aftermath of World War II The aftermath of World War II saw the rise of two global superpowers, the United States (U.S.) and the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.). The aftermath of World War II was also defined by the rising threat of nuclear warfare, the creation and implementati ...
, Austria was divided into four occupation zones and jointly occupied by the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the United States, and France.
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
was similarly subdivided, but the central district was collectively administered by the
Allied Control Council The Allied Control Council (ACC) or Allied Control Authority (), also referred to as the Four Powers (), was the governing body of the Allies of World War II, Allied Allied-occupied Germany, occupation zones in Germany (1945–1949/1991) and Al ...
. Whereas Germany was divided into
East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
and
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
in 1949, Austria remained under joint occupation of the Western Allies and the Soviet Union until 1955; its status became a controversial subject in the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
until the warming of relations known as the
Khrushchev Thaw The Khrushchev Thaw (, or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s when Political repression in the Soviet Union, repression and Censorship in ...
. After Austrian promises of perpetual neutrality, Austria was accorded full independence on 15 May 1955 and the last occupation troops left on 25 October that year.


Background

At the 1943 Moscow Conference, the Soviet Union, United States, and the United Kingdom had jointly decided that the German annexation of Austria would be considered "null and void". As well, all administrative and legal measures since 1938 would be ignored. The conference declared the intent to create a free and independent Austria after the war, but also stated that Austria had a responsibility for "participation in the war at the side of Hitlerite Germany" which could not be evaded.


1945–1946: first year of occupation


Soviet rule and reestablishing Austrian government

On 29 March 1945, Soviet commander
Fyodor Tolbukhin Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin (; 16 June 1894 – 17 October 1949) was a Soviet Union, Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He is regarded as one of the finest Soviet generals of World War II. Born into a peasant family i ...
's troops crossed the former Austrian border at Klostermarienberg in
Burgenland Burgenland (; ; ; Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland''; Slovene language, Slovene: ''Gradiščanska''; ) is the easternmost and least populous Bundesland (Austria), state of Austria. It consists of two statutory city (Austria), statut ...
.Eisterer 2009, p. 190. On 3 April, at the beginning of the
Vienna Offensive The Vienna offensive was an offensive launched by the Soviet 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts in order to capture Vienna, Austria, during World War II. The offensive lasted from 16 March to 15 April 1945. After several days of street-to-street figh ...
, the Austrian politician
Karl Renner Karl Renner (14 December 1870 – 31 December 1950) was an Austrian politician and jurist of the Social Democratic Party of Austria, Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria. He is often referred to as the "Father of the Republics" because he ...
, then living in southern
Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...
, established contact with the Soviets.
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
had already established a would-be future Austrian cabinet from the country's communists in exile, but Tolbukhin's telegram changed Stalin's mind in favor of Renner.Bordjugov 2005. On 20 April 1945, the Soviets, without asking their Western allies, instructed Renner to form a provisional government. Seven days later Renner's cabinet took office, declared the independence of Austria from
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
and called for the creation of a democratic state along the lines of the
First Austrian Republic The First Austrian Republic (), officially the Republic of Austria, was created after the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 September 1919—the settlement after the end of World War I which ended the Habsburg rump state of ...
. Soviet acceptance of Renner was not an isolated episode; their officers re-established district administrations and appointed local mayors, frequently following the advice of the locals, even before the battle was over.Eisterer 2009, p. 196. Renner and his ministers were guarded and watched by
NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
bodyguards. One-third of State Chancellor Renner's cabinet, including crucial seats of the Secretary of State of the Interior and the
Secretary of State for Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...
, was staffed by Austrian Communists. The Western allies suspected the establishment of a
puppet state A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...
and refused to recognize Renner.Bischof 2009, p. 174. The British were particularly hostile; even American President
Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
, who believed that Renner was a trustworthy politician rather than a token front for the Kremlin, denied him recognition.Bischof 2009, p. 175. However, Renner had secured inter-party control by designating two Under-Secretaries of State in each of the ministries, appointed by the two parties not designating the Secretary of State. As soon as Hitler's armies were pushed back into Germany, the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
and the
NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
began to comb the captured territories. By 23 May, they reported arrests of 268 former Red Army men, 1,208 men, and 1,655 civilians. In the following weeks the British surrendered over 40,000
Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...
who had fled to Western Austria from Soviet authorities and certain death. In July and August, the Soviets brought in four regiments of NKVD troops to "mop up" Vienna and seal the Czechoslovak border. Soviet commanders on the ground ordered the troops to stop as soon as they entered Austria. On April 4, 1945, the command issued a directive that was read to all soldiers on the front lines. The directive declared the
Austria victim theory The victim theory (), encapsulated in the slogan "Austria – the Nazis' first victim" (''Österreich – das erste Opfer der Nazis''), was the 1949–1988 Austrian ideological basis formed by Austrians themselves under Allied occupation and th ...
and that the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
had entered the country to liberate it and annihilate the
German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...
. For years, it said,
propaganda in Nazi Germany Propaganda was a tool of the Nazi Party in Germany from its earliest days to the end of the regime in May 1945 at the end of World War II. As the party gained power, the scope and efficacy of its propaganda grew and permeated an increasing amou ...
terrorized Austrians with atrocities committed by Soviet soldiers. The directive called Nazi propaganda a lie and called on the military not to confuse Austrian civilians with German occupiers. The end of the directive reads, "be merciless towards German enslavers, but don't offend the Austrian population. Respect their traditions, families, and private property. Proudly carry the glorious title of a Red Army warrior . . . let your conduct cause respect everywhere for the Red Army." The Red Army lost 17,000 lives in the
Battle of Vienna The Battle of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on 1683 after the city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarchy) and the Polish–Li ...
. Soviet troops engaged in systematic sexual violence against women, beginning in the first days and weeks after the Soviet victory. Repression against civilians harmed the Red Army's reputation to such an extent that on 28 September 1945 Moscow issued an order forbidding violent interrogations. Red Army morale fell as soldiers prepared to be sent home; replacement of combat units with
Ivan Konev Ivan Stepanovich Konev ( rus, Ива́н Степа́нович Ко́нев, p=ɪˈvan sʲtʲɪˈpanəvʲɪtɕ ˈkonʲɪf, links=no; 28 December 1897 – 21 May 1973) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union who led Red Army forc ...
's permanent occupation force only marginally reduced 'misbehaviour'.Eisterer, p. 194. Throughout 1945 and 1946, all levels of Soviet command tried, in vain, to contain desertion and plunder by rank and file. According to Austrian police records for 1946, "men in Soviet uniform", usually drunk, accounted for more than 90% of registered crime (in comparison, U.S. soldiers accounted for 5 to 7%). At the same time, the Soviet governors resisted the expansion and arming of the Austrian police force.Carafano 2002, p. 177.


French, British, and American troops

American troops, including the 11th Armored Division, crossed the Austrian border on 26 April, followed by French and British troops on 29 April and on 8 May, respectively. Until the end of July 1945 none of the Western allies had first-hand intelligence from Eastern Austria (likewise, Renner's cabinet knew practically nothing about conditions in the West).Eisterer 2009, p. 197. The first Americans arrived in Vienna in the end of July 1945, when the Soviets were pressing Renner to surrender Austrian
oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...
s.Bischof 2009, p. 177. Americans objected and blocked the deal but ultimately the Soviets assumed control over Austrian oil in their zone. The British arrived in September. At the end of the war, the
British Eighth Army The Eighth Army was a field army of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed as the Western Army on 10 September 1941, in Egypt, before being renamed the Army of the Nile and then the Eighth Army on 26 September. It was cr ...
moved into Austria and became part of the occupation force. On 29 July 1945, the army was disbanded and its forces were used to form the command
British Troops Austria British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
. The new command maintained the gold crusader cross insignia of the Eighth Army. The Allied Council of four military governors convened for its first meeting in Vienna on 12 September 1945. It refused to recognize Renner's claim of a national government but did not prevent him from extending influence into the Western zones. Renner appointed vocal anti-communist
Karl Gruber Karl Gruber (3 May 1909 in Innsbruck – 1 February 1995 in Innsbruck) was an Austrian politician and diplomat. During World War II, he was working for a German firm in Berlin. After the war, in 1945 he became Landeshauptmann of Tyrol for a short t ...
as Foreign Minister and tried to reduce Communist influence. On 20 October 1945, Renner's reformed cabinet was recognized by the Western allies and received a go-ahead for the first legislative election.Bischof 2009, p. 176.


Occupation zones

On 9 July 1945 the Allies agreed on the borders of their occupation zones. Movement of occupation troops ("zone swap") continued until the end of July. The French and American zones bordered those countries' zones in Germany, and the Soviet zone bordered future
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...
states: *
Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...
and
North Tyrol North Tyrol, rarely North Tirol (), is the main part of the Austrian federal state Tyrol, located in the western part of the country. The other part of the federal state is East Tyrol, which also belongs to Austria, but doesn't share a border wi ...
were assigned to the French Zone *
Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
and
Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...
south of the Danube were assigned to the American Zone. *
East Tyrol East Tyrol, occasionally East Tirol (), is an exclave of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, separated from North Tyrol by parts of Salzburg State and parts of Italian South Tyrol (''Südtirol'', ). It is coterminous with the administrative ...
,
Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...
, and
Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...
were assigned to the British Zone. * ,
Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...
, and the area of Upper Austria, north of the Danube, were assigned to the Soviet Zone. * Vienna was divided among all four Allies. The historical center of Vienna was declared an
international zone An international zone is any area not fully subject to the border control policies of the state in which it is located. There are several types of international zones ranging from special economic zones and sterile zones at ports of entry ex ...
, in which occupation forces changed every month. In determining the occupation zones, the administrative changes made after the Anschluss were applied in the western zones (Steirisches Salzkammergut to Upper Austria and East Tyrol to Carinthia) and were disregarded in the Soviet zone (Vienna not enlarged and Burgenland re-established).


First general elections after the war

The election held on 25 November 1945 was a blow for the
Communist Party of Austria The Communist Party of Austria (, KPÖ) is a communist party in Austria. Established in 1918 as the Communist Party of Republic of German-Austria, German-Austria (KPDÖ), it is one of the world's oldest Communist party, communist parties. The KP� ...
which received a bit more than 5% of the vote. The coalition of
Christian Democrats Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...
(
ÖVP The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...
) and
Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...
(
SPÖ The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...
), backed by 90% of the votes, assumed control over the cabinet and offered the position of Federal Chancellor to Christian Democrat
Julius Raab Julius Raab (29 November 1891 – 8 January 1964) was a conservative Austrian politician who served as Federal Chancellor of Austria from 1953 to 1961. Raab steered Allied-occupied Austria to independence, when he negotiated and signed the Austr ...
.Wollinetz 1988, p. 94. The Soviets vetoed Raab, because he had been a member of the austrofascist Fatherland Front during the 1930s. Instead President Karl Renner, with the consent of parliament, appointed
Leopold Figl Leopold Figl (2 October 1902 – 9 May 1965) was an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (Christian Democrats) and the first Federal Chancellor after World War II. He was also the youngest Federal Chancellor of Austria after the w ...
, who was just barely acceptable to the Soviets.Bischof 2009, p. 176. They responded with massive and coordinated expropriation of Austrian economic assets. The
Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...
allowed confiscation of "German external assets" in Austria, and the Soviets used the vagueness of this definition to the full. In less than a year they dismantled and shipped to the East industrial equipment valued at around US$500 million. American High Commissioner
Mark W. Clark Mark Wayne Clark (1 May 1896 – 17 April 1984) was a United States Army officer who fought in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. He was the youngest four-star general in the U.S. Army during World War II. During World War I, he wa ...
vocally resisted Soviet expansionist intentions, and his reports to Washington, along with
George F. Kennan George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly hist ...
's '' The Long Telegram'', supported Truman's tough stance against the Soviets. Thus, according to Bischof, the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
in Austria began in the spring of 1946, one year before the outbreak of the global Cold War. On 28 June 1946, the Allies signed the Second Control Agreement which loosened their dominance over the Austrian government. The
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
was '' de facto'' relieved of Allied control. From now on, its decisions could be overturned only by unanimous vote by all four Allies.Bischof 2009, p. 172. Soviet
veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...
es were routinely voided by Western opposition. Over the next nine years the country was gradually emancipated from foreign control, and evolved from a "nation under tutelage" to full independence.Bischof 2009, p. 173. The government possessed its own independent vision of the future, reacting to adverse circumstances and at times turning them to their own benefit. The first allied talks on Austrian independence were held in January 1947, and deadlocked over the issue of "German assets" in Soviet possession.


Mounting losses

In late 1945 and early 1946 the Allied occupation force peaked at around 150,000 Soviet, 55,000 British, 40,000 American, and 15,000 French troops. The costs of keeping these troops were levied on the Austrian government. At first, Austria had to pay the whole occupation bill; in 1946 occupation costs were capped at 35% of Austrian state expenditures, equally split between the Soviets and the Western allies. Coincidentally with the Second Control Agreement, the Soviets changed their economic policy from outright plunder to running expropriated Austrian businesses for a profit. Austrian communists advised Stalin to nationalize the whole economy, but he deemed the proposal to be too radical. Between February and June 1946, the Soviets expropriated hundreds of businesses left in their zone. On 27 June 1946, they amalgamated these assets into the
USIA The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies wor ...
, a conglomerate of over 400 enterprises.Fraberger, Stiefel 2000, p. 75 It controlled not more than 5% of Austrian economic output but possessed a substantial, or even monopolistic, share in the glass, steel, oil, and transportation industries.Fraberger, Stiefel 2000, p. 76. The USIA was weakly integrated with the rest of the Austrian economy; its products were primarily shipped to the East, its profits de facto confiscated and its taxes left unpaid by the Soviets. The Austrian government refused to recognize USIA
legal title In property law, title is an intangible construct representing a bundle of rights in a piece of property in which a party may own either a legal interest or equitable interest. The rights in the bundle may be separated and held by different part ...
over its possessions; in retaliation, the USIA refused to pay Austrian taxes and tariffs.Fraberger, Stiefel 2000, pp. 76–77. This competitive advantage helped to keep USIA enterprises afloat despite their mounting obsolescence. The Soviets had no intention to reinvest their profits, and USIA assets gradually decayed and lost their competitive edge. The Austrian government feared paramilitary communist gangs sheltered by the USIALewis 2000, p. 146. and scorned it for being "an economy of exploitation in colonial style". The economy of the Soviet zone eventually reunited with the rest of the country.
South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...
was returned to Italy. The "thirty-second decision" of the
Council of Foreign Ministers Council of Foreign Ministers was an organisation agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference in 1945 and announced in the Potsdam Agreement and dissolved upon the entry into force of the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany in 1991. ...
to grant South Tyrol to Italy (4 September 1945) disregarded popular opinion in Austria and the possible effects of a forced repatriation of 200,000 German-speaking Tyroleans. The decision was arguably motivated by the British desire to reward Italy, a country far more important for the
containment Containment was a Geopolitics, geopolitical strategic foreign policy pursued by the United States during the Cold War to prevent the spread of communism after the end of World War II. The name was loosely related to the term ''Cordon sanitaire ...
of world communism. Renner's objections came in too late and carried too little weight to have effect. Popular and official protests continued through 1946. The signatures of 150,000 South Tyroleans did not alter the decision. South Tyrol is today an Italian autonomous province ( Bolzano/Bozen) with a German-speaking majority.


Hunger

In 1947, the Austrian economy, including USIA enterprises, reached 61% of pre-war levels, but it was disproportionately weak in consumer goods production (42% of pre-war levels). Food remained the worst problem. The country, according to American reports, survived 1945 and 1946 on "a near-starvation diet" with daily rations remaining below 2000 calories until the end of 1947. 65% of Austrian agricultural output and nearly all oil was concentrated in the Soviet zone, complicating the Western Allies' task of feeding the population in their own zones.Bailey, p. 148, wrote "65% of pre-war yield", not actual post-war output. From March 1946 to June 1947, 64% of these rations were provided by the
UNRRA United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA, pronounced ) was an international relief agency founded in November 1943 on the joint initiative of the United States, United Kingdom, USSR, and the Republic of China. Its purpose ...
.Lewis 2000, p. 143. Heating depended on supplies of German coal shipped by the U.S. on lax credit terms.Gimbel 1976, p. 163. A 1946 drought further depressed farm output and
hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
generation. Figl's government, the Chambers of Labor, Trade and Agriculture, and the
Austrian Trade Union Federation The Austrian Trade Union Federation or Austrian Federation of Trade Unions ( de: ''Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund'', abbreviated OeGB or ÖGB) is a labour union of employees. It is constituted as an association and is subdivided into seven ...
(ÖGB) temporarily resolved the crisis in favor of tight regulation of food and labor markets. Wage increases were limited and locked to commodity prices through annual price-wage agreements. The negotiations set a model of building consensus between elected and non-elected political elites that became the basis of post-war Austrian democracy,Lewis 2000, p. 149. known as ''Austrian Social Partnership'' and '' Austro-corporatism''. The severe winter of 1946–1947 was followed by the disastrous summer of 1947, when the potato harvest barely reached 30% of pre-war output. The food shortages were aggravated by the withdrawal of UNRRA aid, spiraling inflation, and the demoralizing failure of State Treaty talks. In April 1947, the government was unable to distribute any rations, and on 5 May Vienna was shaken by a violent food riot.Lewis 2000, p. 147. Unlike earlier protests, the demonstrators, led by the Communists, called to curb the westernisation of Austrian politics.Lewis 2000, p. 148. In August, a food riot in
Bad Ischl Bad Ischl (Austrian German ) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the river Traun in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Ahorn'', ''Bad Ischl'', ''Haiden ...
turned into a
pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...
of local Jews. In November, the food shortage sparked workers' strikes in British-occupied
Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...
. Figl's government declared that the food riots were a failed communist putsch, although later historians said this was an exaggeration.Bischof 2009, p. 178. In June 1947, the month when the UNRRA stopped shipments of food to Austria, the extent of the food crisis compelled the U.S. government to issue $300 million in food aid. In the same month Austria was invited to discuss its participation in the
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in economic recovery pr ...
.Lewis 2000, p. 145. Direct aid and subsidies helped Austria to survive the hunger of 1947 while simultaneously depressing
food prices Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices affect producers and consumers of food. Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing and food di ...
and discouraging local farmers, thereby delaying the rebirth of Austrian agriculture.Lewis 2000, p. 143.


Marshall Plan

Austria finalised its
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in economic recovery pr ...
program in the end of 1947 and received the first
tranche In structured finance, a tranche () is one of a number of related securities offered as part of the same transaction. In the financial sense of the word, each bond is a different slice of the deal's risk. Transaction documentation (see indent ...
of Marshall Plan aid in March 1948.Lewis 2000, p. 144. Heavy industry (or what was left of it) was concentrated around
Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...
, in the American zone, and in British-occupied
Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...
. Their products were in high demand in post-war Europe. Naturally, the administrators of the Marshall Plan channeled available financial aid into heavy industry controlled by the American and British forces.Bader, p. 160. American military and political leaders made no secret of their intentions:
Geoffrey Keyes Geoffrey Keyes (October 30, 1888 – September 17, 1967) was a highly decorated senior United States Army Officer (armed forces), officer who served with distinction in Allied invasion of Sicily, Sicily and Italian campaign (World War II), Italy ...
said that "we cannot afford to let this key area (Austria) fall under the exclusive influence of the Soviet Union." The Marshall Plan was deployed primarily ''against'' the Soviet zone but it was not completely excluded: it received 8% of Marshall plan investments (compared to 25% of food and other physical commodities). The Austrian government regarded financial aid to the Soviet zone as a lifeline holding the country together. This was the only case where Marshall Plan funds were distributed in Soviet-occupied territory. The Marshall Plan was not universally popular, especially in its initial phase.Lewis 2000, p. 138. It benefited some trades such as metallurgy but depressed others such as agriculture. Heavy industries quickly recovered, from 74.7% of pre-war output in 1948 to 150.7% in 1951. American planners deliberately neglected consumer goods industries, construction trades, and small business. Their workers, almost half of the industrial workforce, suffered from rising unemployment.Bader, pp. 160–161. In 1948–1949, a substantial share of Marshall Plan funds was used to subsidize imports of food. American money effectively raised
real wage Real wages are wages adjusted for inflation, or equivalently wages in terms of the amount of goods and services that can be bought. This term is used in contrast to nominal wages or unadjusted wages. Because it has been adjusted to account for ...
s: the grain price was about one-third of the world price, while agriculture remained in ruins.Williams, p. 122. Marshall Plan aid gradually removed many of the causes of popular unrest that shook the country in 1947, but Austria remained dependent on food imports. The second stage of the Marshall Plan, which began in 1950, concentrated on
productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proce ...
of the economy.Tweraser 1995, p. 93. According to
Michael J. Hogan Michael Joseph Hogan (April 22, 1871 – May 7, 1940) was an American businessman and politician from Brooklyn, New York. A Republican, he was most notable for his service on New York City's board of aldermen and as a U.S. Representative from N ...
, "in the most profound sense, it involved the transfer of attitudes, habits and values as well, indeed a whole way of life that Marshall planners associated with progress in the marketplace of politics and social relationships as much as they did with industry and agriculture." The program, as intended by American lawmakers, targeted improvement in factory-level productivity, labor-management relations, free trade unions and introduction of modern business practices.Tweraser 1995, p. 94. The
Economic Cooperation Administration The Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) was a U.S. government agency set up in 1948 to administer the Marshall Plan. It reported to both the State Department and the Department of Commerce. The agency's first head was Paul G. Hoffman, a form ...
, which operated until December 1951, distributed around $300 million in technical assistance and attempted steering the Austrian social partnership (political parties, labor unions, business associations, and government) in favor of productivity and growth instead of redistribution and consumption. Their efforts were thwarted by the Austrian practice of making decisions behind closed doors.Tweraser 1995, p. 106. The Americans struggled to change it in favor of open, public discussion. They took a strong anti-
cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collaborate with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers ...
stance, appreciated by the Socialists, and pressed the government to remove anti-competition legislation but ultimately they were responsible for the creation of the vast monopolistic public sector of the economy (and thus politically benefiting the Socialists). According to Bischof, "no European nation benefited more from the Marshall Plan than Austria."Bischof 2009, p. 179. Austria received nearly $1 billion through the Marshall Plan, and half a billion in humanitarian aid.Eisterer 2009, p. 201. The Americans also refunded all occupation costs charged in 1945–1946, around $300 million.Eisterer 2009, p. 202. In 1948–1949, Marshall Plan aid contributed 14% of national income, the highest ratio of all involved countries.Berg, p. 169. Per capita, aid amounted to $132 compared to $19 for the Germans but Austria also paid more
war reparations War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war. War reparations can take the form of hard currency, precious metals, natural resources, in ...
per capita than any other Axis state or territory.Fraberger, Stiefel 2000, p. 85. Total war reparations taken by the Soviet Union including withdrawn USIA profits, looted property and the final settlement agreed in 1955, are estimated between $1.54 billion and $2.65 billion (Eisterer: 2 to 2.5 billion).


Cold War

The British had been quietly arming
gendarmes A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (). In France and som ...
, the so-called
B-Gendarmerie The B-Gendarmerie was a secret military formation that was raised in Allied-occupied Austria in the aftermath of World War II.https://www.bmlv.gv.at/omz/ausgaben/artikel.php?id=17 The unit, which was first created in 1949, was the predecessor of ...
, since 1945 and discussed the creation of a proper Austrian military in 1947. The Americans feared that Vienna could be the scene of another
Berlin Blockade The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, roa ...
. They set up and filled emergency food dumps, and prepared to airlift supplies to Vienna while the government created a backup base in
Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
.Bischof 2009, p. 181. The American command secretly trained the soldiers of an underground Austrian military at a rate of 200 men a week. The B-Gendarmerie knowingly hired
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
veterans and VdU members; the
denazification Denazification () was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by removing those who had been Nazi Par ...
of Austria's 537,000 registered Nazis had largely ended in 1948. Austrian communists appealed to Stalin to partition their country along the German model, but in February 1948
Andrei Zhdanov Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov ( rus, Андрей Александрович Жданов, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ ˈʐdanəf, a=Ru-Андрей Жданов.ogg, links=yes; – 31 August 1948) was a Soviet politician. He was ...
vetoed the idea: Austria had more value as a bargaining chip than as another unstable client state. The continuing talks on Austrian independence stalled in 1948 but progressed to a "near breakthrough" in 1949: the Soviets lifted most of their objections, and the Americans suspected foul play.Bischof 2009, p. 180.
The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
was convinced that the withdrawal of Western troops would leave the country open to Soviet invasion of the Czechoslovak model. Clark insisted that before their departure the United States must secretly train and arm the core of a future military. Serious secret training of the B-Gendarmerie began in 1950Bischof 2009, p. 181. but soon stalled due to US defense budget cuts in 1951. Gendarmes were trained primarily as an anti-coup police force, but they also studied Soviet combat practice and counted on cooperation with the
Yugoslavs Yugoslavs or Yugoslavians ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslaveni/Jugosloveni, Југославени/Југословени; ; ) is an identity that was originally conceived to refer to a united South Slavic people. It has been used in two connotations: ...
in case of a Soviet invasion.Carafano 2002, pp. 185–186, 187. Although in the fall of 1950 the Western powers replaced their military representatives with civilian diplomats, strategically, the situation became gloomier than ever. The
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
experience persuaded Washington that Austria might become "Europe's Korea" and sped up rearmament of the "secret ally". International tension was coincident with a severe internal economic and social crisis. The planned withdrawal of American food subsidies spelled a sharp drop in
real wage Real wages are wages adjusted for inflation, or equivalently wages in terms of the amount of goods and services that can be bought. This term is used in contrast to nominal wages or unadjusted wages. Because it has been adjusted to account for ...
s. The government and the unions deadlocked in negotiations, and gave the communists the opportunity to organize the 1950 Austrian general strikes which became the gravest threat since the 1947 food riots.Bader, p. 165; Williams, p. 115; Carafano 2002, pp. 196–197. The communists stormed and took over
ÖGB The Austrian Trade Union Federation or Austrian Federation of Trade Unions ( de: ''Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund'', abbreviated OeGB or ÖGB) is a labour union of employees. It is constituted as an association and is subdivided into seven ...
offices and disrupted railroad traffic but failed to recruit sufficient public support and had to admit defeat. The Soviets and the Western allies did not dare to actively intervene in the strikes. The strike intensified the militarization of Western Austria, with active input from
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
.Bischof 2009, p. 181. Despite the strain of the Korean War, by the end of 1952 the American "Stockpile A" (A for Austria) in France and Germany amassed 227 thousand tons of materiel earmarked for Austrian armed forces.Carafano 2002, p. 184.


Détente

The death of
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
and the
Korean Armistice Agreement The Korean Armistice Agreement (; zh, t=韓國停戰協定 / 朝鮮停戰協定) is an armistice that brought about a cessation of hostilities of the Korean War. It was signed by United States Army Lieutenant General William Kelly Harrison Jr ...
defused the standoff, and the country was rapidly, but not completely, demilitarized. After the Soviet Union had relieved Austria of the need to pay for the cost of their reduced army of 40,000 men, the British and French followed suit and reduced their forces to a token presence. Finally, the Soviets replaced their military governor with a civilian ambassador. The former border between Eastern and Western Austria became a
demarcation line {{Refimprove, date=January 2008 A political demarcation line is a geopolitical border, often agreed upon as part of an armistice or ceasefire. Africa * Moroccan Wall, delimiting the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara from the Sahraw ...
. Chancellor
Julius Raab Julius Raab (29 November 1891 – 8 January 1964) was a conservative Austrian politician who served as Federal Chancellor of Austria from 1953 to 1961. Raab steered Allied-occupied Austria to independence, when he negotiated and signed the Austr ...
, elected in April 1953, removed pro-Western foreign minister Gruber and steered Austria to a more neutral policy.Carafano 2002, p. 173. Raab carefully probed the Soviets about resuming the talks on independence, but until February 1955 it remained contingent on a solution to the larger German problem. The Western strategy of rearming West Germany, formulated in the
Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...
, was unacceptable to the Soviets. They responded with a counter-proposal for a pan-European security system that, they said, could speed up reunification of Germany, and again the West suspected foul play.
Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...
, in particular, had "an utter lack of confidence in the reliability and integrity of the men in the Kremlin... the Kremlin is pre-empting the right to speak for the small nations of the world". In January 1955, Soviet diplomats
Andrey Gromyko Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko ( – 2 July 1989) was a Soviet politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (1957–1985) and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1985–1988). Gromyko was r ...
, Vladimir Semenov and Georgy Pushkin secretly advised
Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (; – 8 November 1986) was a Soviet politician, diplomat, and revolutionary who was a leading figure in the government of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s, as one of Joseph Stalin's closest allies. ...
to unlink the Austrian and German issues, expecting that the new talks on Austria would delay ratification of the Paris Agreement.Sergeev 2001. Molotov publicly announced the new Soviet initiative on 8 February. He put forward three conditions for Austrian independence: neutrality, no foreign military bases, and guarantees against a new
Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...
.


Independence

In March 1955, Molotov clarified his plan through a series of consultations with ambassador Norbert Bischoff: Austria was no longer hostage to the German issue. Molotov invited Raab to Moscow for bilateral negotiations that, if successful, had to be followed by a Four Powers conference. By this time Paris Agreements were ratified by France and Germany, although the British and Americans suspected a trap of the same sort that
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
had set for Schuschnigg in 1938.
Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...
and others wrote that the Moscow initiative was merely a cover-up for another incursion into German matters. The West erroneously thought that the Soviets valued Austria primarily as a ''military'' asset, when in reality it was a purely political issue. Austria's military significance had been largely devalued by the end of the Soviet-Yugoslav conflict and the upcoming signing of the
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...
. These fears did not materialize, and Raab's visit to Moscow (12–15 April) was a breakthrough. Moscow agreed that Austria would be free no later than 31 December.Steininger 2008, p. 128. Austrians agreed to pay for the "German assets" and oil fields left by the Soviets, mostly in kind; "the real prize was to be neutrality on the Swiss model." Molotov also promised the release and repatriation of Austrians imprisoned in the Soviet Union. Western powers were stunned. British diplomat and signatory to the treaty,
Geoffrey Wallinger Sir Geoffrey Arnold Wallinger (2 May 1903 – 5 July 1979) was a British diplomat who was envoy to Hungary and ambassador to Thailand, Austria and Brazil. He was a signatory of the treaty that ended the occupation of Austria following World War ...
reported to London that the deal "was far too good to be true, to be honest". But it proceeded as had been agreed in Moscow and on 15 May 1955
Antoine Pinay Antoine Pinay (; 30 December 1891 – 13 December 1994) was a French conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1952 to 1953 and French Foreign Minister from 1955 to 1956. Life Antoine Pinay was born on 30 December 1891 ...
,
Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nickn ...
, Molotov,
John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles (February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat who served as United States secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 until his resignation in 1959. A member of the ...
, and Figl signed the
Austrian State Treaty The Austrian State Treaty ( ) or Austrian Independence Treaty established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on 15 May 1955 in Vienna, at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the Uni ...
in Vienna. It came into force on 27 July and on 25 October the country was free of occupying troops.Steininger 2008, p. 131. The next day, Austria's parliament enacted a
Declaration of Neutrality The Declaration of Neutrality () was a declaration by the Austrian Parliament declaring the country permanently neutral. It was enacted on 26 October 1955 as a constitutional act of parliament, i.e., as part of the Constitution of Austria. Pu ...
, whereby Austria would never join a military alliance such as NATO or the Warsaw Pact, or allow foreign troops be based within Austria. The Soviets left in Vienna the large Soviet War Memorial and to the new government a symbolic cache of small arms, artillery, and
T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II. When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than many of its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, ...
tanks; the Americans left a far greater gift of "Stockpile A" assets.Carafano 2002, pp. 190–191. The only political spokesperson who was publicly upset about the outcome was
West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...
Chancellor
Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...
, who called the affair ("the whole Austrian scandal") and threatened the Austrians with "sending Hitler's remains home to Austria".


High commissioners

American zone: *
Mark W. Clark Mark Wayne Clark (1 May 1896 – 17 April 1984) was a United States Army officer who fought in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. He was the youngest four-star general in the U.S. Army during World War II. During World War I, he wa ...
: 5 July 1945 – 16 May 1947 *
Geoffrey Keyes Geoffrey Keyes (October 30, 1888 – September 17, 1967) was a highly decorated senior United States Army Officer (armed forces), officer who served with distinction in Allied invasion of Sicily, Sicily and Italian campaign (World War II), Italy ...
: 17 May 1947 – 19 September 1950 * Walter J. Donnelly: 20 September 1950 – 17 July 1952 *
Llewellyn Thompson Llewellyn E. "Tommy" Thompson Jr. (August 24, 1904 – February 6, 1972) was an American diplomat. He served in Sri Lanka, Austria, and for a lengthy period in the Soviet Union, where his tenure saw some of the most significant events of the Cold ...
: 17 July 1952 – 27 July 1955 British zone: *
Richard McCreery General Sir Richard Loudon McCreery, (1 February 1898 – 18 October 1967) was a career soldier of the British Army, who was decorated for leading one of the last cavalry actions in the First World War. During the Second World War, he was chief ...
: July 1945 – March 1946 * James Steele: March 1946 – October 1947 * Alexander Galloway: October 1947 – 1 January 1950 *
John Winterton Major General Sir (Thomas) John Willoughby Winterton KCB, KCMG, CBE, DL (13 April 1898 – 14 December 1987) was a British Army officer who was the Military Governor and Commander of the British and US Zone of the Free Territory of Trieste f ...
: 1 January 1950 – 1 August 1950 * Harold Caccia: 1 August 1950 – 5 February 1954 *
Geoffrey Wallinger Sir Geoffrey Arnold Wallinger (2 May 1903 – 5 July 1979) was a British diplomat who was envoy to Hungary and ambassador to Thailand, Austria and Brazil. He was a signatory of the treaty that ended the occupation of Austria following World War ...
: 5 February 1954 – 27 July 1955 French zone: *
Antoine Béthouart Marie Émile Antoine Béthouart (; 17 December 1889 – 17 October 1982) was a French Army general who served during World War I and World War II. Born in Dole, Jura, in the Jura Mountains, Béthouart graduated from Saint-Cyr military academ ...
: 8 July 1945 – September 1950 * Jean Payart: September 1950 – October 1954 * October 1954 – February 1955 *
Roger Lalouette Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...
: February 1955 – June 1955 *
François Seydoux de Clausonne François Seydoux Fornier de Clausonne (15 February 1905 in Berlin – 30 August 1981) was a French diplomat. Seydoux de Clausonne was born the son of a French diplomat. After studying philosophy and law in Paris in 1928, he joined the diploma ...
: 3 June 1955 – 27 July 1955 Soviet zone: Military Commander *
Fyodor Tolbukhin Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin (; 16 June 1894 – 17 October 1949) was a Soviet Union, Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He is regarded as one of the finest Soviet generals of World War II. Born into a peasant family i ...
: 13 April 1945 – July 1945 High Commissioners *
Ivan Konev Ivan Stepanovich Konev ( rus, Ива́н Степа́нович Ко́нев, p=ɪˈvan sʲtʲɪˈpanəvʲɪtɕ ˈkonʲɪf, links=no; 28 December 1897 – 21 May 1973) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union who led Red Army forc ...
: July 1945 – 25 April 1946 *
Vladimir Kurasov Vladimir Vasilyevich Kurasov (; July 7(19), 1897 – November 30, 1973) was a Soviet military leader, Chief of Staff of Kalinin Front (renamed as 1st Baltic Front) during World War II, reaching service rank of Army General, Hero of the Soviet Unio ...
: 10 May 1946 – 2 April 1949 *
Vladimir Sviridov Vladimir Sergeyevich Sviridov (; born 10 May 1990) is a Russian para-athlete competing mainly in category F36 long jump and shot put. In 2013 he took the gold in the shot put at the IPC Athletics World Championships equaling his own world record ...
: 4 May 1949 – 7 June 1953 *
Ivan Ilyichev Ivan Ivanovich Ilyichev (; 14 August 1905 – 2 September 1983) was a Soviet military official and diplomat. ( at WebCite) Born in Navoloki, Kaluga Governorate in 1905, Ilyichev joined the Russian Communist Party (bolsheviks) in 1925 and went ...
: 7 June 1953 – 27 July 1955


See also

*
Aftermath of World War II The aftermath of World War II saw the rise of two global superpowers, the United States (U.S.) and the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.). The aftermath of World War II was also defined by the rising threat of nuclear warfare, the creation and implementati ...
*
Allied-occupied Germany The entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II, from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Unlike occupied Japan, Nazi Germany was stripped of its sov ...
*
American food policy in occupied Germany American food policy in occupied Germany refers to the food supply policies enacted by the U.S., and to some extent its Allies, in the western occupation zones of Germany in the first two years of the ten-year postwar occupation of Western Germ ...
*
Soviet occupations During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into three differe ...
* ''
The Third Man ''The Third Man'' is a 1949 film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene, and starring Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, Alida Valli as Anna Schmidt, Orson Welles as Harry Lime and Trevor Howard as Major Calloway. Set in post-Worl ...
''


Footnotes


References


Sources

* * * in: . * * * * in: * in:
Russian edition
* * * * in: * in: . * * * in: . * in: . * in: * * * * * in: . * in: * * *


Further reading

* Hogan, Michael J. (1989).
The Marshall Plan: America, Britain, and the reconstruction of Western Europe, 1947–1952
'.
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
. . * Whithan, Donald Robert; Whithan, Florentine (1991).
Salzburg under siege: U.S. occupation, 1945–1955
'.
Greenwood Publishing Group Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG) was an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which was part of ABC-Clio. Since 2021, ABC-Clio and its suite of imprints, including GPG, are collectively imprints of ...
. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Allied-Occupied Austria States and territories disestablished in 1955 World War II occupied territories States and territories established in 1945 Austria–Soviet Union relations Austria–United States relations History of Vorarlberg 1945 establishments in Austria 1955 disestablishments in Austria Federalism in Austria