| This Mere Men article has not been expanded past 1962 yet. |
| Republic of Austria Republik Österreich (German) Timeline: Mere Men
OTL equivalent: Austria | ||||||
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| Anthem: National Anthem of the Republic of Austria |
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| Capital (and largest city) | Vienna | |||||
| Official languages | German | |||||
| Religion | Catholicism, irreligious, other | |||||
| Demonym | Austrian | |||||
| Government | Federal parliamentary republic | |||||
| - | President | |||||
| - | Prime Minister | |||||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||||
| Establishment | ||||||
| - | Duchy | 17 September 1156 | ||||
| - | Republic | 12 November 1918 | ||||
| - | Anschluss | 13 March 1938 | ||||
| - | Reestablishment | 1946 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 83,871 km2 32,383 sq mi |
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| - | Water (%) | 0.84 | ||||
| Currency | Austrian schilling | |||||
| Time zone | CET | |||||
Austria, officially the Republic of Austria (German: Bundesrepublik Österreich), is a landlocked country in the Central Europe, located mostly in the Eastern Alps. Austria is a federal parliamentary republic with Vienna serving as the capital city. It borders Germany and Bohemia to the north, Moravia-Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west.
Austria evolved from the eastern marches of the Frankish Empire, becoming an independent duchy within the Holy Roman Empire in the 12th century. For most of its existence, Austria was ruled by the Habsburg dynasty, who ultimately led the country to become a great power. The Austrian empire, however, collapsed following the loss in the First World War. Austria became a federal republic, but ultimately fell to a fascist government and was eventually annexed by Nazi Germany. After the Second World War, Austria was restored, but it quickly fell under Soviet influence. Nevertheless, Austria remained one of the most disloyal states of the Soviet Bloc, breaking away from the Soviet government in 1962 and eventually becoming the first European country where the communist regime was brought down.
History[]
Post-war restoration[]
Austria had been annexed to Germany since the Anschluss on 13 March 1938 and divided into a number of Reichsgaue. During the Soviet–German War, the Soviet government prepared a provisional government out of Austrian communists in exile, but in 1946, when the Red Army entered Vienna, former Chancellor Karl Renner suggested to the local Soviet military authorities a formation of a national unity government with himself as the Chancellor. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin agreed to the proposal to give the new Austrian state legitimacy, although the Allies considered the new Renner cabinet a Soviet puppet government similar to other pro-Soviet governments in eastern Europe.
Renner's government included all three reestablished political parties, the Socialist Party of Austria (Sozialistische Partei Österreichs) under Adolf Schärf, the Austrian People's Party (Österreichische Volkspartei) under Leopold Kunschak and the Communist Party of Austria (Kommunistische Partei Österreichs) under Johann Koplenig. Although Renner relied on Soviet support for the government, he tried to combat the influence of the KPÖ by including undersecretaries from the other parties with every ministry. Schärf was also opposed to cooperation with the Communist Party, trying to avoid merging the SPÖ into the KPÖ as happened to social democratic parties in other East European states. Schärf's efforts however proved fruitless, as he died in a car crash in early 1947. Erwin Scharf, who was chosen as his successor despite opposition from Renner and the honorary chairman of the SPÖ Karl Seitz, instead supported close cooperation between the two socialist parties and a National Front was formed by the two parties ahead of the 1948 election. The ÖVP, however, refused to join the front and instead ran independently, ultimately winning the election.
Kunschak, however, decided to continue the grand coalition with the KPÖ-SPÖ front, partly due to Soviet pressure. In 1949, Koplenig and Scharf turned against Kunschak and started criticizing some of his economic policies, demanding his resignation, while a general strike was called at the same time. Although Renner, who had been elected the President of Austria in 1948, urged Kunschak to resist, the Chancellor ultimately gave in and stepped down. Fearing a civil war, Renner reluctantly appointed Koplenig as acting Chancellor, who immediately began forming a Stalinist dictatorship in Austria. The KPÖ and SPÖ were merged into a Socialist Unity Party of Austria (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Österreiches), following the example of neighbouring Germany, while the ÖVP was outlawed for alleged collaboration with the Austrofascists and Nazis before and during the war. Although President Renner made repeated attempts to prevent the formation of another dictatorial regime in Austria, he was largely powerless against the younger communists and his death in 1950 cemented the fate of Austria as a communist state.
Socialist rule[]
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Logo of the Socialist Unity Party of Austria
Following the 1949 Austrian coup d'état, the SEÖ tightened its control of Austria under Koplenig's leadership. In 1950–1, antigovernment protests were held in Tyrol and Vorarlberg and quickly spread across many Austrian cities, but the lack of organisation of the protesters allowed for the quick suppression of the unrest. Nevertheless, many resistance groups formed during the Second World War against the Nazi regime continued to operate and lead resistance against the communist government, among them the Austrian legitimist movements, some even in contact with Otto Habsburg and other Austrian emigrés, quickly became prominent. Opposition from within the party was also suppressed in 1951, when many communist figures were removed from position of power for alleged participation in American espionage following the trial of a former Nazi officer Wilhelm Höttl, uncovered as an American agent, which also resulted in the execution of an influential communist Bruno Frei.
Following Stalin's death in 1953, Koplenig, a staunch conservative, initially resisted calls for reform even after Lavrentiy Beria, who emerged as Stalin's successor, spoke in support of the reformists in Eastern European states, but following the 1954 Burgenland protests, caused by Austrian economic situation, he allowed for an increased reformist presence in the country leadership. However, the events in Czechoslovakia, which eventually grew into the Czechoslovak Renaissance led to an increase in pressure on Koplenig from within the party circles and in 1961 he was forced to resign from the party leadership and replaced by more moderate Ernst Fischer. The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia of the following year had a large impact on Austrian politics, causing the Austrian–Soviet split and increasing the influence of the younger, liberal wing of the SEÖ led by figures like Christian Broda and Bruno Kreisky.