Austria RESTORED INDEPENDENCE UNDER ALLIED OCCUPATION
Saint Stephan's Cathedral, Vienna
Courtesy Embassy of Austria, Washington
Foundation of the Second Republic
As the Soviet troops advanced on Vienna, they occupied the
town where Socialist leader Karl Renner lived in retirement.
Despite his anti-Soviet reputation, Renner was chosen by the
Soviet leaders to form and head a provisional government,
apparently believing the aging politician would be an easily
manipulated figurehead. Renner, however, established authority
based on his leadership role in the last freely elected
parliament, not on the backing of the Soviet Union. Conditions
did not permit the members of the old parliament to be summoned,
as had been done in 1918, so Renner turned to the leaders of the
three nonfascist parties that the Soviet leaders had already
allowed to become active and established a provisional city
administration in Vienna in early April. The three parties
consisted of the Socialist Party of Austria (Sozialistische
Partei Österreichs--SPÖ), a reorganization of the SDAP; the
Austrian People's Party (Österreichische Volkspartei--ÖVP), a
reorganization of the CSP; and the Communist Party of Austria
(Kommunistische Partei Österreichs--KPÖ).
Renner apportioned ministries in the provisional government's
cabinet roughly based on the political balance of the pre-1934
era, but the nationalist bloc was excluded and Communist
representation increased. The SPÖ held ten ministries; the ÖVP,
nine; and the KPÖ, only three, but these included the important
ministries of interior, which controlled the police, and of
education. Three additional ministries were held by members
without party affiliation. Because of widespread distrust of the
Communists, Renner created undersecretary positions for the two
other parties in the Communist-headed ministries.
On April 27, 1945, the provisional government issued a decree
nullifying the Anschluss and reestablishing an independent,
democratic Republic of Austria under the 1920 constitution as
amended in 1929. Germany had yet to surrender, however, and the
formation of a provisional government in Soviet-occupied Austria
surprised the Western Allies, who had yet to enter Austria. The
Western Allies feared that the provisional government was a
puppet of the Soviet Union and declined to recognize it. This
decision left the Renner government dependent on the Soviet Union
but forced it to allow the provisional government the means to
establish reasonable credibility so Western acceptance could be
won. Thus, as pre-1938 political figures became active in the
areas occupied by United States, British, and French troops, the
Renner government was allowed to establish contact with them
despite initial Soviet plans to seal off its occupation zone.
Data as of December 1993
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