Bruno Kreisky

Bruno Kreisky (January 22, 1911—July 29, 1990) was a jewish -Austrian politician. Kreisky served as Chancellor of Austria from 1970 to 1983. Download high resolution version (1536x2048, 369 KB)Source: © BKA / BPD This work is copyrighted. ... Download high resolution version (1536x2048, 369 KB)Source: © BKA / BPD This work is copyrighted. ... January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... July 29 is the 210th day (211th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 155 days remaining. ... This article is about the year. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... 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. ... The Federal Chancellor of Austria (Bundeskanzler) is the head of government in Austria. ...

Life and political career

Kreisky was born in Vienna, the son of a Jewish clothing manufacturer. At 15 he joined the youth wing of the Austrian Social Democratic Party, and remained politically active while studying law at the University of Vienna. In 1934, when the Socialist Party was banned by the Dollfuss dictatorship, he joined underground political work. He was arrested in January 1935 and convicted of high treason, but in June 1936 he was released. In March 1938 the Austrian state was incorporated in Germany, and in September Kreisky emigrated to Sweden, where he remained until 1945. In 1942 he married Vera Fürth. Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]; Slovenian: Dunaj, Croatian and Serbian: Beč Romanian: Viena, Hungarian: Bécs, Czech: Vídeň, Slovak: Viedeň, Romany Vidnya;) Vienna is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ... The Social Democratic Party of Austria (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ) is a political party in Austria. ... University of Vienna, main building, seen from Beethovens apartment The University of Vienna (German: Universität Wien) in Austria was founded in 1365 by Rudolph IV and hence named Alma mater Rudolphina. ... Engelbert Dollfuss Engelbert Dollfuss (German: Dollfuß) (October 4, 1892, Texing—July 25, 1934, Vienna) was an Austrian statesman, serving as chancellor for two years from 1932 until his assassination in 1934. ... Under English, and later British law, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Sovereign. ...

He returned to Austria in May 1946, but he was soon back in Stockholm, assigned to the Austrian legation. In 1951 he returned to Vienna, where Federal President Theodor Körner appointed him Assistant Chief of Staff and political adviser. In 1953 he was appointed Undersecretary in the Foreign Affairs Department of the Austrian Chancellery. In this position he took part in negotiating the 1955 Austrian State Treaty, which ended the four-power occupation of Austria and restored Austria's independence and neutrality. The Old town in Stockholm from the air (help· info) is the capital of Sweden, located on the east coast at the entrance of lake Mälaren. ... Theodor Körner (April 23, 1873 - January 4, 1957) served as President of Austria between 1951 and 1957. ... The Austrian Independence Treaty (complete form: Treaty for the re-establishment of an independent and democratic Austria, signed in Vienna on the 15th 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...

Kreisky was elected to the Austrian parliament, the Nationalrat, as a Socialist in 1956. He was elected to the Party Executive along with Bruno Pittermann, Felix Slavik, and Franz Olah, and thus became a member of the central leadership body of the party. After the 1959 elections, he became Foreign Minister in the coalition cabinet of Chancellor Julius Raab in July of that year (ÖVP). He played a leading role in setting up the European Free Trade Association, helped solve the South Tyrol issue with Italy, and proposed a "Marshall Plan" for the countries of the Third World. The Federal Assembly of Austria or Österreichische Bundesversammlung is a federal-level deliberative body consisting of the members of the two houses of the Austrian parliament, the National Council and the Federal Council, in joint session. ... The elections to the Austrian National Council of 1956 were the first elections after the conclusion of the Austrian State Treaty. ... In the elections to the Austrian National Council of 1959, the SPÖ leaped ahead of the ÖVP in votes, but trailed behind it by one seat. ... A coalition is an alliance between entities, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest. ... Julius Raab (November 29, 1891 - January 8, 1964) was a Conservative Austrian politician. ... The Austrian Peoples Party (de:Österreichische Volkspartei, or ÖVP) is an Austrian political party. ... member states The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was established on May 3, 1960 as an alternative for European states that were not allowed or did not wish to join the European Community (now the European Union). ... South Tyrol (German and Ladin: Südtirol, Italian: Alto Adige; official in German: Autonome Provinz Bozen - Südtirol, official in Italian: Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano - Alto Adige, official in Ladin: Provinzia Autonòma de Balsan - Südtirol) is an autonomous province of Italy that belongs to the region of Trentino... Map of Europe showing the countries that received Marshall Plan aid. ... For the Jamaican reggae band, see Third World (band). ...

Bruno Kreisky as a prisoner in 1935

Kreisky left office in 1966, when the Christian Conservatives (ÖVP) of Josef Klaus won an absolute majority in the Nationalrat. In February 1967 he was elected chairman of the Socialist Party. At the April 1970 elections, the Socialists won a plurality (but not a majority) of seats, and Kreisky became Chancellor. He was the first Jewish Chancellor of Austria. In October 1971 he called fresh elections and won an absolute majority. He won comfortable victories at the 1975 and 1979 elections. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Austrian Peoples Party (de:Österreichische Volkspartei, or ÖVP) is an Austrian political party. ... Categories: Stub | 1910 births | 2001 deaths | Austrian history | Chancellors of Austria ... Insert non-formatted text hereInsert non-formatted text here:This article is about the legislative institution. ... The elections to the Austrian National Council of 1970 were the first where a plurality was won by the SPÖ, now led by Bruno Kreisky. ... Various governments have a Chancellor who serves as some form of junior or senior minister. ... The elections to the Austrian National Council of 1971, held only one year after the 1970 elections, were the first after a reform of election law that increased the number of seats in parliament from 165 to 183. ... The elections to the Austrian National Council of 1975 resulted in no changes to the composition of the parliament. ... The elections to the Austrian National Council of 1979 resulted in small gains to the SPÖ led by Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, which had an absolute majority at that time. ...

He turned 70 in 1981, and by this time the voters were reacting against what they saw as Kreisky's complacency and preoccupation with international issues. At the April 1983 election, the Socialists lost their absolute majority in the Nationalrat. Kreisky declined to form a minority government and resigned, nominating Fred Sinowatz, his Minister of Education, as his successor. His health was declining, and in 1984 he had an emergency kidney transplant. During his final years he occasionally made bitter remarks at his party, who had made him their honorary chairman. He died in Vienna in July 1990. The elections to the Austrian National Council talking place in 1983 were the last campaign where the SPÖ was led by Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, who had been the head of government since 1970. ... Fred Sinowatz (born February 5, 1929 in Neufeld an der Leitha, Burgenland) is a former Austrian politician of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ). He was Chancellor of Austria from 1983 to 1986. ... Human kidneys viewed from behind with spine removed The kidneys are bean-shaped excretory organs in vertebrates. ... An organ transplant is the transplantation of a whole or partial organ from one body to another (or from a donor site on the patients own body), for the purpose of replacing the recipients damaged or failing organ with a working one from the donor site. ...

Political views and programs

In office, Kreisky and his close ally, Justice Minister Christian Broda, pursued a policy of liberal reform, in a country which had a tradition of conservative Catholicism. He reformed Austria's family law and its prisons, and he decriminalised abortion and homosexuality. Nevertheless he sought to bridge the gap between the Catholic Church and the Austrian Socialist movement and found a willing collaborator in the then Archbishop of Vienna, Franz Cardinal König. Kreisky promised to reduce the mandatory military service from nine to six months. After the election the military service was reduced to eight months (if it is done at once or six months plus eight weeks later on). Furthermore, during Kreisky's premiership employee benefits were expanded, the workweek was cut to 40 hours, and legislation providing for equality for women was passed. Kreisky's government established language rights for the country's Slovene and Croatian minorities. Following the 1974 oil shock, Kreisky committed Austria to developing nuclear power to reduce dependence on oil, although this policy was eventually abandoned after a referendum held in 1978. This article considers Catholicism in the broadest ecclesiastical sense. ... Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... The Archbishop of Vienna is the metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of Vienna, which includes the dioceses of Eisenstadt, Linz and St. ... Franz Cardinal König (center) His Eminence Franz Cardinal König (August 3, 1905 – March 13, 2004) was Archbishop of Vienna (1956 - 1985), and a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. ... An Energy Crisis is any great shortfall (or price rise) in the supply of energy to an economy. ... A nuclear power station. ... A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ...

Kreisky played a prominent role in international affairs, promoting North-South dialogue and working with like-minded European leaders like Willy Brandt and Olof Palme to promote peace and development. Although the 1955 State Treaty prevented Austria joining the European Union, he supported European integration. Austria cast itself as a bridge between East and West, and Vienna was the site for some early rounds of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the United States and the Soviet Union. The term the North is often used to refer to the wealthy and technologically advanced nations of the world, as opposed to the South, which is poorer and less developed. ... In geopolitics, the term The South is often used to refer to the poorer, less technologically advanced nations of the world as opposed to The North, which is richer and more developed. ... Willy Brandt (December 18, 1913 – October 8, 1992) was a German politician and Chancellor of Germany from 1969 to 1974. ... (help· info) Sven Joachim (January 30, 1927 – February 28, 1986) was a Swedish politician. ... The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks refers to two rounds of bilateral talks and corresponding international treaties between the Soviet Union and United States, the Cold War superpowers, on the issue of armament control. ...

Kreisky opposed Zionism as a solution to the problems faced by the Jewish people. He cultivated friendly relations with Arab leaders such as Anwar Sadat and Muamar Gaddafi, and in 1980 Austria established relations with the Palestine Liberation Organisation. He tried to use his position as a European Jewish Socialist to act as a mediator between Israel and the Arabs, but many Jews and Israelis regarded him as a traitor. He had a stormy relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. He once said that he was "the only politician in Europe Golda Meir can't blackmail." In the long run his efforts at mediation achieved little. Poster promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s: Toward a New Life (in Romanian),The Promised Land (in Hungarian), in small (down) text is written First Palestinian sound movie 1844 Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews by Mordecai Noah, page one. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qaddafi 1 (Arabic: معمر القذافي Mu`ammar al-Qadhdhāfī) (born 1942), leader of Libya since 1970 and a controversial Arab statesman. ... The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (Arabic: منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية (help· info) or Munazzamat al-Tahrir al-Filastiniyyah) is a political and paramilitary organization of Palestinians dedicated to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the region historically known as Palestine. ... Golda Meir (Hebrew: (help· info)) (b. ...

Kreisky also had a tense relationship with another prominent Austrian Jew, the Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal. When Wiesenthal claimed that four members of Kreisky's 1970 cabinet had "Nazi backgrounds," Kreisky said that Wiesenthal was "living from telling the world that Austria is anti-Semitic. What else can he do?" Wiesenthal retorted that "Kreisky has a disturbed relationship to Nazism and Judaism." Despite Kreisky's ambiguous attitude to Jewish issues, throughout the 1970s Austria was a transit point for Jews leaving the Soviet Union for Israel and the West. Simon Wiesenthal Simon Wiesenthal, KBE, (December 31, 1908 – September 20, 2005) was an Austrian-Jewish architectural engineer who became a Nazi hunter after surviving the Holocaust. ...

In 1976 the Bruno Kreisky Foundation for Outstanding Achievements in the Area of Human Rights was founded to mark Kreisky's 65th birthday. Every two years, the Bruno Kreisky Human Rights Prize is awarded to an international figure who has advanced the cause of human rights. Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ...

As an orator and as far as his media appearance was concerned, Kreisky was a natural. In the 1970s the Austrian state television introduced TV debates before general elections, and Kreisky, highly intellectual as well as quick at repartee, by general consent easily won against a succession of Conservative party leaders. Relying on his wit rather than soundbites prepared by spin doctors, he was never at a loss for words during interviews either. Look up Wit in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wit is a form of intellectual humor, based on manipulation of concepts; a wit is someone who excels in witty remarks, typically in conversation and spontaneously, since wit carries the connotation of speed of thought. ... In film and broadcasting, a soundbite is a very short piece of footage taken from a longer speech or an interview in which someone with authority or the average man on the street says something which is considered by those who edit the speech or interview to be a most... In public relations, spin is a usually pejorative term signifying a heavily biased portrayal in ones own favor of an event or situation. ...

Kreisky's legacy

Today, Kreisky's premiership is still the subject of controversy. Many of his former supporters see in Kreisky the last socialist of the old school and look back nostalgically at an era when the standard of living was noticeably rising, when the welfare state was in full swing and when, by means of a state-funded programme promoting equality of opportunity (Chancengleichheit), working class children were encouraged to stay on at school and eventually receive higher education, all this resulting in a decade of prosperity and optimism about the future. The Standard of living refers to the quality and quantity of goods and services available to people. ... There are three main interpretations of the idea of a welfare state: the provision of welfare services by the state. ... Equal opportunity is a descriptive term for an approach intended to give equal access to an environment or benefits, such as education, employment, health care, or social welfare to all, often with emphasis on members of various social groups which might have at some time suffered from discrimination. ... The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... The University of Cambridge is an institute of higher learning. ... Half full or half empty? Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Optimism Optimism, the opposite of pessimism, exemplifies a lifeview where one looks upon the world as a positive place. ...

Conservatives criticise Kreisky's policy of deficit spending, expressed in his famous comment during the 1979 election campaign that he preferred that the state run up high debts rather than see people become unemployed. They hold Kreisky responsible for, as they see it, Austria's subsequent economic difficulties. Deficit spending is the amount by which a government, private company, or individuals spending exceeds income over a particular period of time, also called simply deficit, or budget deficit, the opposite of budget surplus. ...

See also

• Chancellor of Austria for a complete list of Federal Chancellors since the founding of the Republic in 1918.

The Federal Chancellor of Austria (Bundeskanzler) is the head of government in Austria. ...

External links

• The Bruno Kreisky Foundation (in German)
• Kreisky's dicta (in German)
• The Kreisky Years Politics in the Kreisky Era