The Soviet War Memorial in

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. ...

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 ...

, more formally known as the Heroes' Monument of the Red Army (), is located at Vienna's Schwarzenbergplatz. The semi-circular white marble

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

partially enclosing a twelve-metre figure of a Soviet soldier was unveiled in 1945. The Heroes' Monument of 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 ...

of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in Vienna was built to commemorate the 17,000 Red Army soldiers

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

during the Vienna offensive in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Background

Near the

end of World War II in Europe The end of World War II in Europe occurred in May 1945. Following the Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide of Adolf Hitler on 30 April, leadership of Nazi Germany passed to Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz and the Flensburg Government. Soviet Union, Soviet t ...

, Soviet forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front were ordered by

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 ...

to capture Vienna, both for strategic military purposes and for use as a post-war bargaining chip with the Allies. Glantz, David,
The Soviet-German War 1941-1945

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

, October 11, 2001. Retrieved April 2, 2011. After intense urban fighting, Vienna was captured by the Soviet Forces on 14 April 1945.

Construction and Austrian perception

The creation of an Allied Commission for Austria was envisaged by Allied leaders at the various sessions of the

European Advisory Commission The formation of the European Advisory Commission (EAC) was agreed on at the Moscow Conference (1943), Moscow Conference on 30 October 1943 between the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Anthony Eden, the United States, Cordell Hull, and ...

and established by the Agreement on Control Machinery in Austria in London on July 4, 1945. The agreement mandated the creation of four occupation zones (American, British, French and Soviet) in Vienna, similar to Berlin. Perhaps not coincidentally, although several sites were considered for the Soviet memorial, ultimately a prominent location in the 3rd district near the

Palais Schwarzenberg Palais Schwarzenberg is a Baroque palace in front of Schwarzenbergplatz, Landstraße, the 3rd district of Vienna, Austria. It is owned by the princely Schwarzenberg family. Construction started in 1697 under the architect Johann Lucas von Hild ...

was chosen, imposingly within sight of the location used by the four allies to govern Vienna. German

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

and Austrian construction workers were used to build the site. The memorial includes a triumphal arch and is dominated by the figure of a soldier with a

PPSh-41 submachine gun The PPSh-41 () is a selective-fire, open-bolt, blowback submachine gun that fires the 7.62×25mm Tokarev round. It was designed by Georgy Shpagin of the Soviet Union to be a cheaper and simplified alternative to the PPD-40. The PPSh-41 saw ...

on his chest. The soldier wears a golden helmet and holds a Soviet flag and a golden emblem of the Soviet Union.Chernov, Sergey
"Austrian Capital Preserves Imperial Ambience"
'' The St. Petersburg Times'', January 26, 2010, Retrieved April 3, 2011. The emblem of the memorial has ''17'' ribbons, although the real state emblem of the Soviet Union had a maximum of ''16'' ribbons, as many as there were at most Soviet republics (in the years 1940–1956). In fact, the emblem of the memorial should have only ''11'' ribbons, as the Soviet War Memorial in Berlin's Tiergarten has and the real Soviet emblem had between 1936 and 1946, i.e. also during World War II.

Russian President The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. I ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

visited the memorial in 2007 to lay flowers and specifically give thanks to Austria for maintaining it. The city paid to refurbish the memorial, despite objections from some members of the local press.

Vandalism

The monument has been increasingly subjected to acts of politically inspired vandalism in the 21st century. * In April 2012 red paint was thrown over a part of the memorial. * In May 2014 it was daubed with the colours of the Ukrainian flag during the onset of the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. * In February 2015 black paint was poured over an order on the monument from Joseph Stalin congratulating Soviet Forces on their victory in the Vienna Offensive in 1945.

Stone tablet text

The text of the stone tablet in front of the monument begins:

References

Informational notes Citations

External links

{{Commons category, Heldendenkmal der Roten Armee Soviet military memorials and cemeteries Vienna in World War II Austria–Soviet Union relations Austria–Russia relations Monuments and memorials in Vienna Outdoor sculptures in Austria Vandalized works of art Soviet monuments outside Russia