Estimating Changes and Consistencies: Austria in 1945 and its Post-War Perspective with Special Focus on the View of US and British Intelligence

• In Event: 1945 in Central Europe: Hopes and Uncertainties on the Brink of the Cold War

Abstract

This paper will give an insight into Austria around the end of World War II from April/May 1945 to the first post-war years. Besides an overview with the most important points (denacification, question of possible partition of Austria, migration and DP-question, position towards an upcoming "Cold War"), the paper will focus on intelligence estimations as a source for this topic, and what we can learn out of the materials available.

Author

• Dieter Bacher, Inst for Research on War Consequences (Austria)