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PARTISAN REVIEW
time Austria was reminded of its responsibility for participation in the
war. There was a clause to the effect that before a final postwar ar–
rangement, Austria would be judged by its own contribution to the lib–
eration of the country. The small but genuine role of the Austrian Resis–
tance Movement, the beginning of the Cold War, and skillful Austrian
diplomacy made possible the state treaty of May 1955. Ten years after
the end of the war, Austria regained its sovereignty, and for forty-five
years, remained the only country which Russian soldiers had left volun–
tarily. In November 1955 the Austrian Parliament passed a law declaring
"its everlasting neutrality." Austria relinquished the idea of joining any
military pact.
"The Germans rigidly opposed these negotiations on neutrality sta–
tus," writes Austrian historian Oliver Rathkolb. "In 1955, they were
panicking, fearful that following the Austrian example, the Soviet Union
might get the idea of neutralizing Germany, suggesting this deal as a
prize for the reunification of the two Germanies." Germany could not
effectively block the Soviet-Austrian agreement in the spring of 1955,
and remained divided.
In the years that followed, the relationship between Germany and
Austria went through many stages. At times, it was filled with resentment
and with a bit of envy. Despite being preoccupied with their own suc–
cessful
WiederauJbau
(reconstruction of the country) - the Germans did
look over its neighbor's fence: Here is that lucky, small country; it's free ,
and it's profiting from the German
Wirtschaftswunder
-
the economic
miracle - with the essential help of the American Marshall plan. The
Germans have always treated the Austrians with a bit of aloofness, al–
though they secretly and incessantly have admired them for their
Gemutlichkeit
-
for obviously taking life a little easier. A bit amused,
Germans watched Austrians play the role of the ever-neutral mediator in
the 1970s. Chancellor Bruno Kreisky's interest in and knowledge of for–
eign policy, and his engagement in the Middle East conflict, gave Austri–
ans a feeling of importance, even of being influential in the world.
The fiftieth anniversary of Austria's Second Republic is being cele–
brated this year. But the last five years have drastically changed its inner
and outer realities. From the "Insel der Seligen," "island of the blessed,"
as the Pope once put it, at the edge of the Iron Curtain, it was swirled
into the center of Central Eastern Europe. German reunification started
in Austria. In late summer 1989, the first wave of East Germans came via
Hungary into Austria. The barbed wire was cut at the Czech-Austrian
and Hungarian-Austrian borders. The euphoria of the first weeks subsided
and made room for the tough realities. The tourists from the East were
