Page 53 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Austria

THE HIST OR Y OF A USTRIA  51

was divided into four occupation zones
by the Allied powers.
The first parliamentary elections, in
November 1945, were won by the
Christian-Democratic Party (ÖVP),
with the Socialist Party (SPÖ) coming
second. Both parties were to control
the political life of the country for the
next 50 years. De-Nazification continued
until 1948. In 1955 the Austrian State
Treaty was signed, restoring Austria to
full sovereignty. Foreign troops were
withdrawn from its territory and parliament
proclaimed permanent neutrality. In
December 1955, Austria became a member
of the United Nations, and in 1995 joined
the European Union (EU).
Soldiers of the occupying forces salute each other
in Vienna, 1951 From the 1990s onwards, attention has
been focused on the rise of the right and
Seyss-Inquart, proclaimed Austria’s integration reaction to the global refugee crisis. In
into the Third Reich (Anschluss) on 13 March 2000, Austria was sanctioned by the EU
1938, which met with the approval of the for seven months, after the right-wing
majority of the Austrian population. German Freedom Party became part of the coalition
troops marched into the country. In 1938, government. Austria has also adopted
some 200,000 Jews lived in Vienna, yet after several contentious measures regarding
the Holocaust only 7,000 remained. refugees and in 2017 banned the wearing
of the Islamic veil in schools and courts.
World War II and the Second Republic
Following the Anschluss, Austria became
a part of Greater Germany until the end of
World War II. Opposition against the Nazi
adminis tration was negligible. Before the
end of the war, at the Moscow Conference
in 1943, the Allied forces decided to restore
an indepen dent Austrian state. In April 1945,
Karl Renner formed the first provisional
government of the restored Second
Republic, and in December he was Simon Wiesenthal and Ariel Musicant, Austrian inves tigators into
elected president. In July 1945, Austria Nazi crimes, at the Jewish memorial

1973 Konrad Lorenz 2006 Austria heads 2012 New right-
receives Nobel Prize in 2004 Elfriede EU Presidency wing political
Physiology and Medicine Jelinek receives party, Team
Nobel Prize for 2008 Far-right Stronach, is
1995 Austria Literature leader Jörg Haider launched
joins the EU
dies in car crash
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
1972–81 Austrian diplomat 2000 Nationalist 2010 Heinz Fischer of the
1961 Vienna Kurt Waldheim holds office of Austrian Freedom Social Democractic Party
Summit of John F. UN Secretary General Party enters wins the presidential
Kennedy and government elections with just under
Nikita Khrushchev coalition 80 per cent of the vote
Austrian anti-globalization protest

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