!!!Staatsvertrag

State Treaty, Austrian, governing the re-establishment of an 
independent and democratic Austria, concluded between the allied 
powers USSR, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, USA and France on the 
one hand and Austria on the other, signed by the foreign ministers of 
the signatory states, V. M. Molotov, J. F. Dulles, H. Macmillan 
and A. Pinay and the Austrian Foreign Minister L.  Figl in the 
Belvedere in Vienna on May 15, 1955. The Austrian State Treaty, which 
was concluded in the 354%%sup th/%  session of the delegations of the 
allied powers, became effective on July 27, 1955, twelve years after 
the  Moscow Declaration of October 30, 1943, in which Great Britain, 
the USSR and the USA sought to liberate Austria from German rule, 
since Austria was considered the first victim of Hitler´s policy 
of aggression.

\\
Closely linked with the State Treaty is the Federal Constitutional Law 
governing Austrian  Neutrality, designed after the Swiss model, which 
was enacted by the Austrian Parliament on October 26, 1955, when the 
occupying forces had withdrawn from Austria. When the Soviet Union had 
stopped insisting on linking the German question with Austria, all 
points at issue between the Soviet Union and Austria were settled in 
the Moscow Memorandum of April 15, 1955, allowing the Treaty to be 
concluded.

\\
The State Treaty consists of a preamble and nine parts: 1) political 
and territorial provisions, 2) military and aviation provisions, 3) 
withdrawal of the allied armed forces, 4) claims resulting from the 
war, 5) property, rights and interests, 6) general economic relations, 
7) settlement of disputes, 8) various economic provisions, 9) final 
clause.

\\
The most important political provisions refer to the re-establishment 
of Austria as a free and independent state, the preservation of 
Austria´s independence and its territorial integrity by the 
allies and the recognition of Austria´s independence by Germany. 
Furthermore the political provisions comprise the prohibition of 
political or economic union of Austria and Germany (prohibition of 
annexation), the recognition of Human Rights and the rights of Slovene 
and Croat minorities. Along with the commitment to the protection of 
democratic institutions, the Treaty enjoins Austria to dissolve Nazi 
and Fascist organisations and prevent the resurgence of National 
Socialist agitation.

!Literature
H. Portisch and S. Riff, Oesterreich II, vol. 2: 
Der lange Weg zur Freiheit, 1986; G. Stourzh, Um Einheit und Freiheit. 
Staatsvertrag, Neutralitaet und das Ende der O-W-Besetzung 
Oesterreichs 1945-1955, %%sup 4/%1998.


%%language
[Back to the Austrian Version|AEIOU/Staatsvertrag|class='wikipage austrian']
%%

[{FreezeArticle author='AEIOU' template='Lexikon_1995_englisch'}]
[{ALLOW view All}][{ALLOW comment All}][{ALLOW edit FreezeAdmin}]