Austria in the First Cold War, 1945-55: The Leverage of the Weak FROM THE PUBLISHER
At the height of the Cold War in the early 1950s, the western powers worried that occupied Austria might become "Europe's Korea" and feared a Communist takeover. The Soviets exploited their occupation zone for maximum reparations. American economic aid guaranteed Austria's survival and economic reconstruction. Their military assistance turned Austria into a "secret ally" of the West. Austrian diplomacy played a vital role in securing the Austrian treaty in bilateral negotiations with Stalin's successors in the Kremlin demonstrating the leverage of the weak in the Cold War.
FROM THE CRITICS
International History Review
...assiduously researched,carefully written,and adds substantially to our knowledge of the politics of memory in Austria...
Booknews
Bischof (history, U. of New Orleans) describes how the eastern European country, by nurturing its image as the Nazi's first victim and emphasizing its dangerous proximity to the Soviet Union, managed to find a comfortable and independent place in the interstices of the Cold War. When the smoke of World War II cleared, he recounts, Austria was occupied by four great powers. The Soviets, recalling Austrian complicity in the looting of Russia, extracted reparations at a high rate. In order to stave off a feared communist takeover, the US poured in aid to match the reparations and secretly rearmed forces in the western part of the country. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Home
