Austria–Soviet Union relations

Austria–Soviet Union relations were established in 1924, discontinued in 1938 following German annexation of Austria and renewed following Austrian independence after World War II.

The rump Austrian state left after the war eventually joined with Nazi Germany in the Anschluss, and was therefore part of the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

After the war Austria was occupied by the allied armies, separated from Germany, and divided into four zones of occupation. The Soviets did not create a separate socialist government in their zone as they did in East Germany. Instead, Austria was required to sign the Austrian State Treaty of 1955 under which it pledged total neutrality in the Cold War confrontation between the Soviet Union and the U.S.-led West. The treaty also mandates that Austria never seek to unify with other German-speaking nations, and perpetual maintenance of the Soviet War Memorial in Vienna.

In 1968, Austria became the first Western European country to begin imports of natural gas from the Soviet Union. Subsequently, Europe's main gas hub was set up at Baumgarten an der March on Austria's eastern border with Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia.

See also

• Foreign relations of Austria
• Foreign relations of the Soviet Union
• Embassy of Austria, Moscow
• Embassy of Russia, Vienna
• Austria–Russia relations
• Allied-occupied Austria
• Austria–Yugoslavia relations

References

Further reading

• Stourzh, Gerald; Mueller, Wolfgang (2018). A Cold War over Austria: The Struggle for the State Treaty, Neutrality, and the End of East–West Occupation, 1945–1955. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-1-4985-8787-7.

1. Allied-occupied Austria
2. Soviet Union–United States relations
3. Sino-Soviet relations
4. Cuba–Soviet Union relations
5. Austria–NATO relations
6. India–Soviet Union relations
7. Austria–Russia relations
8. Austrian State Treaty
9. Germany–Soviet Union relations, 1918–1941
10. Japan–Soviet Union relations
11. Canada–Soviet Union relations
12. Soviet Union–Turkey relations
13. Soviet Union–Yugoslavia relations
14. Foreign relations of the Soviet Union
15. France–Soviet Union relations
16. Angola–Soviet Union relations
17. Holy See–Soviet Union relations
18. East Germany–Soviet Union relations
19. Philippines–Soviet Union relations
20. Russia–United Kingdom relations