Occupation zones in Austria, 1945-1955

The Austrian Independence Treaty (complete form: Treaty for the re-establishment of an independent and democratic Austria, signed in Vienna on the 15 May 1955), more commonly referred to as the Austrian State Treaty (German Staatsvertrag), was signed on May 15, 1955 in Vienna at the Schloss Belvedere between the Allied occupying powers: France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union, and the Austrian government and officially came into force on July 27, 1955. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1500x1027, 127 KB) This drawing shows the occupied areas in Austria during 1945-1955 drawn by Kagru 05/2005, converted from http://commons. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1500x1027, 127 KB) This drawing shows the occupied areas in Austria during 1945-1955 drawn by Kagru 05/2005, converted from http://commons. ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Inhabitants according to official census figures: 1800 to 2005 Vienna in 1858 UN complex in Vienna, with the non-affiliated Austria Center Vienna in front - picture taken from Danube Tower in nearby Danube Park. ... May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Inhabitants according to official census figures: 1800 to 2005 Vienna in 1858 UN complex in Vienna, with the non-affiliated Austria Center Vienna in front - picture taken from Danube Tower in nearby Danube Park. ... Upper Belvedere Lower Belvedere The Belvedere is a baroque palace complex built by Prince Eugene of Savoy in the 3rd district of Vienna, south-eastern from the citys center. ... The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis Powers during the Second World War. ... Politics of Austria takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Chancellor is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. ... July 27 is the 208th day (209th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 157 days remaining. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Generalities and structure

The treaty re-established a free, sovereign and democratic Austria. The basis for the treaty was the Moscow Declaration of October 30, 1943. Political freedom is the right, or the capacity, of self-determination as an expression of the individual will. ... Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme political (e. ... Democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the laws and structures of government lies, ultimately, with the citizenry. ... The Moscow Declaration declared that the annexation (Anschluss) of Austria by Germany was illegal. ... October 30 is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 62 days remaining. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ...

The signators of the treaty were the foreign ministers of the time: Vyacheslav Molotov (Soviet Union), John Foster Dulles (USA), Harold Macmillan (United Kingdom) and Antoine Pinay (France) on behalf of the Allies, and Leopold Figl as the Austrian foreign minister, as well as the four High Commissioners of the occupying powers: Iwan I. Iljitschow (Soviet Union), Geoffrey Arnold Wallinger (United Kingdom), Llewellyn E. Thompson Jr. (USA), Roger Lalouette (France). A minister for foreign affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the governmental foreign policy of a sovereign nation. ... Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (Russian: , Vjačeslav Mihajlovič Molotov; March 9, 1890 [O.S. February 25] – November 8, 1986), Soviet politician and diplomat, was a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to the 1950s, when he... John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles (February 2, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American statesman who served as Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. ... Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. ... Antoine Pinay, French prime minister Antoine Pinay (December 30, 1891 - December 13, 1994) served as Prime Minister of France from 1952 - 1953 (technically, president of the Council). One of Frances most spirited leaders after World War II, Pinay is today remembered as the longest lived Prime Minister. ... Leopold Figl (October 2, 1902 in Rust, Lower Austria, - May 9, 1965 in Vienna) was an Austrian politician of the ÖVP (Christian Democrats). ... A High Commissioner is a person serving in a special executive capacity. ... Llewellyn E. Thompson Jr. ...

The treaty is divided into 9 parts:

• Preamble
• Political and territorial provisions
• Military and air travel provisions
• Reparations
• Ownership, Law and Interests
• Economic relations
• Rules for disputes
• Economic provisions
• Final provisions

War reparations refer to the monetary compensation provided to a triumphant nation or coalition from a defeated nation or coalition. ...

Important points in the treaty

€2 commemorative coin depicting the Austrian State Treaty

As well as general regulations and recognition of the Austrian state, the minority rights of the Croat and Slovenian minorities are also expressly detailed. Anschluss (political union) with the new Germany, as had happened in 1938, was forbidden. Nazi and fascist organisations were prohibited. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (909x912, 215 KB) fr:: Pièce autrichienne (face) de 2 euros commémorative des 50 ans de la signature du Staatsvertrag en 1995, et figurant les signatures manuscrites des ministres des affaires étrangères de lAutriche, de la France, des... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (909x912, 215 KB) fr:: Pièce autrichienne (face) de 2 euros commémorative des 50 ans de la signature du Staatsvertrag en 1995, et figurant les signatures manuscrites des ministres des affaires étrangères de lAutriche, de la France, des... Motto: none Historical: Antemurale Christianitatis (Latin) English: Bulwark of Christianity Anthem: Lijepa naša domovino Our beautiful homeland Patron saint: Sv. ... German troops march into Austria on 12 March 1938. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Fascism is a radical political ideology that combines elements of corporatism, authoritarianism, nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism, anti-communism and anti-liberalism. ...

Furthermore, Austria announced that it would declare itself permanently neutral after the enactment of the treaty. The USSR had expressed its wish for such a declaration of neutrality as a guarantee that Austria would not join NATO after Soviet troops had been withdrawn. Austrian neutrality was not actually in the original text of the treaty, but it was added by the Austrian parliament. NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation[1] (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for collective security established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on 4 April 1949. ... A neutral country takes no side in a war between other parties, and in return hopes to avoid being attacked by either of them. ...

Result

As a result of the treaty the Allies left Austrian territory on October 25, 1955. October 26 is celebrated as a national holiday (called the Day of the Flag until 1965). It is sometimes thought to commemorate the withdrawal of Allied troops, but in fact celebrates Austria's Declaration of Neutrality, which was passed on October 26, 1955. October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... A neutral country takes no side in a war between other parties, and in return hopes to avoid being attacked by either of them. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Development

First attempts to negotiate a treaty were made by the first post-war government. However, they failed because the Allies wanted to see a peace treaty with Germany first. A treaty became less likely with the development of the Cold War. However, Austria successfully held its part of Carinthia against the demands of a resurgent Communist Yugoslavia, even though the issue of potential reunification with South Tyrol, annexed by Italy in 1919, was not addressed. The climate for negotiations improved with Stalin's death in 1953, and negotiations with the Soviet foreign minister Molotov secured the breakthrough in February of 1955. A peace treaty is an agreement (a peace treaty) between two hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a war or armed conflict. ... For other uses, please see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Carinthia (German Kärnten) is an Austrian state or Land, located in the south of Austria. ... It has been suggested that Democratic Federal Yugoslavia be merged into this article or section. ... South Tyrol-Alto Adige (Italian: Alto Adige, German and Ladin: Südtirol; official in Italian: Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano - Alto Adige, official in German: Autonome Provinz Bozen - Südtirol, official in Ladin: Provinzia Autonòma de Balsan - Südtirol) is an autonomous province of Italy that belongs to the region... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვი&#4314... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Occupation Zones in Austria
• Austrian Army

In 1955, Austria declared her Everlasting Neutrality and made neutrality a constitutional law. ...

External links

• (German) www.staatsvertrag.at - eine akustische webausstellung - an acoustic web exhibition on the "Austrian Independence Treaty"
• (German) Leopold Figl zeigt einer Menschenmenge den Staatsvertrag (Video)
• (German) Austria is free
• Website of the 2005 Jubilee Year
• Counter-website to the 2005 national celebrations