عنوان

British policy towards occupied Austria 1945-1950.

TLets281673

British policy towards occupied Austria 1945-1950.

[Thesis]

Knight, Robert Graham.

London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)

1986

Ph.D.

London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)

1986

This study examines British policy towards Austriain the context of post-war international politics, on thebasis of hitherto unused British and Austrian archivalmaterial.By the end of the war the British found themselvesin occupation of an area where they had few fundamentalstrategic or economic interests. Austria's survivaldepended on the commitment which the United States mauein the course of 1946.The problem of German external assets acted as amotor in this process. Soviet determination to exact aheavy economic price from Austria may not have involvedthe intention to undermine a western-minded Austria butby 1947 many in the West assumed that it did. Thediscussions over the Austrian Treaty from 1947 to 1948failed largely because the Soviet economic enclave whichit appeared necessarily to entail, was seen as anunacceptable risk.The Yugoslav territorial claim tc part of southernAustria played an iirportant part in the public debatesbut was essentially a side-issue.By 1949 the British and Austrian desire to see aTreaty, even one involving economic concessions to theRussians, began to conflict with the growing Americanconcern with the strategic and domestic repercussions ofsuch an agreement. By the time the Americans had shiftedtheir ground the Soviet Union was no longer interestedin a Treaty.The basis of the State Treaty was not merely thechange in Soviet policy early in 1955 but also thedecline in the importance to Austria of the UnitedStates' commitment.

Political science

Knight, Robert Graham.

London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London)

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y