1950 Austrian general strikes
Encyclopedia
The Austrian General Strikes of 1950 were masterminded by the Communist Party of Austria
with half-hearted support of the Soviet
occupation authorities. In August–October of 1950 Austria faced a severe social and economic crisis caused by anticipated withdrawal of American financial aid
and a sharp drop in real wage
s. Negotiations between the government and the trade union
s stalled, and on September 26 the Communists launched the first general strike
. A total of 120 thousand industrial workers walked out of factories, disrupted railroad traffic and harassed government officers. Austrian government, the Socialists
and trade unions defused the situation and on September 27 the Communists backed off. The second strike of October 4–5, limited to Vienna
and Soviet-occupied Lower Austria
, also ended in a humiliating defeat.
The Soviet support to Austrian Communists was limited to the disruption of police action and provision of trucks for moving communist agents. The British and American occupation forces provided only moral support to the Austrian government. All former allies evaded use of force. No one was killed but dozens of police officers and civilians were injured in street fights.
The strikes of 1950 are routinely called a putsch
but actual goals of the Communists remain unknown. According to contemporary American press, the August strikes were "the most widespread and potentially dangerous since the end of World War II". Historians agreed: "the developing strike was the most dangerous since the end of the war" (Bader), "few Cold War
confrontations in Austria were more potentially explosive than the Communist-inspired strikes of September and October 1950" (Williams).
After the conclusion of World War II
the territory of Austria, annexed by Nazi Germany in 1934
, was once again separated from Germany and placed under administration of France
, the Soviet Union
, the United Kingdom
and the United States
. In 1949 they agreed on two-thirds of the draft of the Austrian State Treaty
but its very future was vague, as had been shown by the partition of Germany. By summer of 1950 lack of progress with the Treaty and the communist scare
of the Korean War
had a grave impact on the Austrians' morale.
Allied-occupied Austria was split into four occupation zones. The Soviet Union controlled the provinces of Lower Austria
, Burgenland
and eastern districts of Upper Austria
, but the city of Vienna
, which lies within Lower Austria, was occupied by all four allies. Austrian heavy industry (or what was left of it) concentrated around Linz
, in the American zone, and in British-occupied Styria. Their products were in high demand in post-war Europe. Quite naturally, the administrators of the Marshall Plan
channelled available financial aid into heavy industry controlled by the American and British forces. Industry quickly recovered, from 74.7% of pre-war output in 1948 to 150.7% in 1951. American planners deliberately neglected consumer goods industries, construction trades and small business. Their workers, almost half of Austrian industrial workforce, suffered from rising unemployment.
Agriculture remained in ruin, and Austria relied on food imports from the West. In 1948–1949 substantial share of Marshall Plan funds allocated to Austria was used to subsidize imports of food. American money, effectively, raised real wage
s of Austrian workers: grain price in Austria was at about one-third of the world price. Farmers were depressed by artificially low prices; the Americans were not happy about it too and planned to cut off food subsidies by the end of 1950. Austrian coalition government
chaired by Leopold Figl
was facing an impending social and economic crisis. They had to manage it alone, without allied support and without financial reserves to smooth the transition. Austrian finances were ruined by post-war hyperinflation
. In 1947–1949 the government and organized labor
maintained real wages through annual adjustment of wages to prices. The first two price-wage agreements relieved social tension, but by the time of the third price-wage agreement (1949) failures of this mechanism were obvious. The Communist Party of Austria
made the alleged "ripoff of workers" in 1949 a staple of their campaigning and blamed the very existence of wage-price agreements on American influence.
The fourth price-wage agreement, negotiated in secrecy in August 1950, ended in a deadlock. The unions expected that the government will pick up the food bill previously paid by the Americans. The government could not afford it, and was persuading the unions to accept a sharp drop in real wage
s. The farmers demanded a raise in food price caps
. The Korean War raised worldwide prices of coal, fertilizers and other vital imported commodities. The public remained unaware of the depth of the crisis altogether until the first week of September when the farmers refused to deliver their produce to the cities at old prices. The coalition government plunged into protracted public debates between different interest groups and failed to reach a consensus. As public anxiety mounted, Austrian Communists, who had recently lost municipal elections even in the Soviet zone, grabbed the opportunity and demanded a 15% "straight wage increase with prices frozen". September 24, 1950 communist press announced the upcoming general strike. In case of a conflict they counted on support from the Werkschutz, the paramilitary factory guard employed by the USIA
and manned by communists.
deliberately disarmed his forces in fear of Soviet provocations. The crowd of seven thousand pressed its way through police barricades and rallied in front of the Federal Chancellery building at the time of the Cabinet meeting. Figl refused to speak to the demonstrators, and by 13:00 they left the square. No shots were fired but 23 unarmed police officers were wounded in clashes with the workers.
Heavy industry workers in American-occupied Linz and Steyr
went on strike in the afternoon. The strike in Linz was supported by both pro-communist and pro-socialist workers. Workers in British zone followed suit. In Soviet-occupied Lower Austria strike groups attempted to grab control over railroad stations and post offices, and actually overran some of the latter. Soviet forces maintained friendly neutrality although there was one incident of a Soviet tank involved in blocking the railroad. The Allied Council, chaired by an American, stayed neutral. By the end of the day 120 thousand workers were on strike; Austrian Communists gained some ground, but, most important, they manipulated masses of Socialists into a pro-communist alliance. Socialist leaders were caught unprepared; they mobilized their network on September 27 when the Communists already hastily moved to the second phase of their plan.
In the morning of Wednesday, September 27, thousands of pro-communist strike workers took control over OGB
regional headquarters in Linz and Graz with their communication infrastructure. Again, the police stayed aside but the Socialists in Vienna scrambled all their resources to weaken the communist influence. By the end of the day police and paramilitary units forced the Communists out of OGB buildings in British and American zones. On September 28 the communists barely raised seventy volunteers to storm the national OGB office in Vienna, and were routed by the police. The majority of industrial workers now relied on instructions from the unions, not Communists or their Soviet mentors. By 7 p.m. of September 27 even the Soviets agreed that the strike failed and their radio program instructed Austrian workers to return to work.
On September 30 pro-communist Conference of Shop Stewards, attended by 2,417 workers' representatives, issued an ultimatum
: raise wages immediately or face another general strike on October 4. The American and British commanders assessed the situation and once again told the Austrian government that their troops will not take action: their armed intervention, should it happen, "would mean shooting... a profound effect inside and outside Austria." The Austrian Minister of Interior concurred: "intervention ... would be the end of the Austrian Government."
troop movements. The New York Times
reported that fearful Viennese swept all available food from the stores. Fears of another Berlin Blockade
or even worse intensified on the eve of the strike, when the Soviets instructed Austrian police to stay off the streets and blocked the movement of gendarme
s in Vienna. Austrian government responded with arrests of strike leaders in British and American zones and with an appeal to all the workers: "Repel every act of terror... destroy illegal roadblocks, drive the intruders out of factories.".
The actual strike was limited to Vienna and Lower Austria, and involved around 19% of industrial workforce. The communists made the impact worse by disrupting railroad traffic. They stormed the Stadlau station in Donaustadt
three times, were forced away three times, and then blocked the tracks until the evening. On October 5 they resumed blockade of Stadlau since 5 a.m., took control of the Nordbahnhof and threatened the Südbahnhof. With the police disabled, railroads were defended by their employees and the volunteers of the "Olah battalion
". They were armed with clubs, operated in small teams and engaged the Communists in hand-to-hand fighting at first opportunity. There were reports that the Soviets provided trucks to move communist crews around, but this was as far as the Soviets went in supporting the strike.
On October 5 pro-communist representatives convened at another conference in Floridsdorf
(Soviet zone) and admitted failure of the second strike.
, the leader of anti-communist street gangs, shared this opinion. He said that the Communists never had resources to stage a real putsch, and instead their objective was a mere increase in their representation in national and municipal governments. British and American observers also believed that there were no plans for a putsch. Sir Harold Caccia
wrote that the strikes were not the result of a planned putsch, and that Austrian Communists "never committed themselves to an all-out effort."
Austrian accounts of the 1950 strikes emphasize internal political struggle and downplay the Soviet involvement. On the other side of the spectrum, Audrey Kurth Cronin argued that the events were a Soviet-inspired putsch, in fact, the second one after the 1947 food riots. This version is backed by GRU
veteran Boris Volodarsky although he did not present any new evidence to prove it.
The degree of Soviet involvement and any plans entertained by the Soviets are still subject to interpretation. According to a series of interviews with unnamed witnesses published by Hugo Portisch in the 1980s, the Soviets were dissatisfied with the disruption caused by Austrian communists. The Soviets allegedly committed all resources to the Korean War
and keenly evaded radical confrontation in Europe. According to Portisch, Soviet representatives in Austria were split over the 1950 strikes: some saw an opportunity to suppress the Western influence, others were unwilling to provoke the West, yet others had to meet production targets and opposed any disruption in the Soviet zone. Portisch wrote that Moscow actually intervened to defuse the situation and instructed the Soviet command in Austria to prevent any overt acts by Austrian Communists, in a way that would allow them to save face after a defeat.
Communist Party of Austria
The Communist Party of Austria is a communist party based in Austria. Established in 1918, it was banned between 1933 and 1945 under both the Austrofascist regime, and German control of Austria during World War II...
with half-hearted support of the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
occupation authorities. In August–October of 1950 Austria faced a severe social and economic crisis caused by anticipated withdrawal of American financial aid
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
and a sharp drop in real wage
Real wage
The term real wages refers to wages that have been adjusted for inflation. This term is used in contrast to nominal wages or unadjusted wages. Real wages provide a clearer representation of an individual's wages....
s. Negotiations between the government and the trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s stalled, and on September 26 the Communists launched the first general strike
General strike
A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
. A total of 120 thousand industrial workers walked out of factories, disrupted railroad traffic and harassed government officers. Austrian government, the Socialists
Social Democratic Party of Austria
The Social Democratic Party of Austria is one of the oldest political parties in Austria. The SPÖ is one of the two major parties in Austria, and has ties to trade unions and the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The SPÖ is among the few mainstream European social-democratic parties that have preserved...
and trade unions defused the situation and on September 27 the Communists backed off. The second strike of October 4–5, limited to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and Soviet-occupied Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
, also ended in a humiliating defeat.
The Soviet support to Austrian Communists was limited to the disruption of police action and provision of trucks for moving communist agents. The British and American occupation forces provided only moral support to the Austrian government. All former allies evaded use of force. No one was killed but dozens of police officers and civilians were injured in street fights.
The strikes of 1950 are routinely called a putsch
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
but actual goals of the Communists remain unknown. According to contemporary American press, the August strikes were "the most widespread and potentially dangerous since the end of World War II". Historians agreed: "the developing strike was the most dangerous since the end of the war" (Bader), "few Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
confrontations in Austria were more potentially explosive than the Communist-inspired strikes of September and October 1950" (Williams).
Crisis of 1950
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the territory of Austria, annexed by Nazi Germany in 1934
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
, was once again separated from Germany and placed under administration of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 1949 they agreed on two-thirds of the draft of the Austrian State Treaty
Austrian State Treaty
The Austrian State Treaty or Austrian Independence Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on May 15, 1955, in Vienna at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying powers and the Austrian government...
but its very future was vague, as had been shown by the partition of Germany. By summer of 1950 lack of progress with the Treaty and the communist scare
Red Scare
Durrell Blackwell Durrell Blackwell The term Red Scare denotes two distinct periods of strong Anti-Communism in the United States: the First Red Scare, from 1919 to 1920, and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. The First Red Scare was about worker revolution and...
of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
had a grave impact on the Austrians' morale.
Allied-occupied Austria was split into four occupation zones. The Soviet Union controlled the provinces of Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
, Burgenland
Burgenland
Burgenland is the easternmost and least populous state or Land of Austria. It consists of two Statutarstädte and seven districts with in total 171 municipalities. It is 166 km long from north to south but much narrower from west to east...
and eastern districts of Upper Austria
Upper Austria
Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...
, but the city of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, which lies within Lower Austria, was occupied by all four allies. Austrian heavy industry (or what was left of it) concentrated around Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
, in the American zone, and in British-occupied Styria. Their products were in high demand in post-war Europe. Quite naturally, the administrators of the Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
channelled available financial aid into heavy industry controlled by the American and British forces. Industry quickly recovered, from 74.7% of pre-war output in 1948 to 150.7% in 1951. American planners deliberately neglected consumer goods industries, construction trades and small business. Their workers, almost half of Austrian industrial workforce, suffered from rising unemployment.
Agriculture remained in ruin, and Austria relied on food imports from the West. In 1948–1949 substantial share of Marshall Plan funds allocated to Austria was used to subsidize imports of food. American money, effectively, raised real wage
Real wage
The term real wages refers to wages that have been adjusted for inflation. This term is used in contrast to nominal wages or unadjusted wages. Real wages provide a clearer representation of an individual's wages....
s of Austrian workers: grain price in Austria was at about one-third of the world price. Farmers were depressed by artificially low prices; the Americans were not happy about it too and planned to cut off food subsidies by the end of 1950. Austrian coalition government
Austrian legislative election, 1945
The elections to the Austrian National Council held in fall of 1945 were the first after World War II. The elections were held according to the Austrian election law of 1929, with all citizens at least 21 years old eligible to vote, however former Nazis were banned from voting, official sources...
chaired by Leopold Figl
Leopold Figl
Leopold Figl was an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party and the first Federal Chancellor after World War II...
was facing an impending social and economic crisis. They had to manage it alone, without allied support and without financial reserves to smooth the transition. Austrian finances were ruined by post-war hyperinflation
Hyperinflation
In economics, hyperinflation is inflation that is very high or out of control. While the real values of the specific economic items generally stay the same in terms of relatively stable foreign currencies, in hyperinflationary conditions the general price level within a specific economy increases...
. In 1947–1949 the government and organized labor
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
maintained real wages through annual adjustment of wages to prices. The first two price-wage agreements relieved social tension, but by the time of the third price-wage agreement (1949) failures of this mechanism were obvious. The Communist Party of Austria
Communist Party of Austria
The Communist Party of Austria is a communist party based in Austria. Established in 1918, it was banned between 1933 and 1945 under both the Austrofascist regime, and German control of Austria during World War II...
made the alleged "ripoff of workers" in 1949 a staple of their campaigning and blamed the very existence of wage-price agreements on American influence.
The fourth price-wage agreement, negotiated in secrecy in August 1950, ended in a deadlock. The unions expected that the government will pick up the food bill previously paid by the Americans. The government could not afford it, and was persuading the unions to accept a sharp drop in real wage
Real wage
The term real wages refers to wages that have been adjusted for inflation. This term is used in contrast to nominal wages or unadjusted wages. Real wages provide a clearer representation of an individual's wages....
s. The farmers demanded a raise in food price caps
Price ceiling
A price ceiling is a government-imposed limit on the price charged for a product. Governments intend price ceilings to protect consumers from conditions that could make necessary commodities unattainable. However, a price ceiling can cause problems if imposed for a long period without controlled...
. The Korean War raised worldwide prices of coal, fertilizers and other vital imported commodities. The public remained unaware of the depth of the crisis altogether until the first week of September when the farmers refused to deliver their produce to the cities at old prices. The coalition government plunged into protracted public debates between different interest groups and failed to reach a consensus. As public anxiety mounted, Austrian Communists, who had recently lost municipal elections even in the Soviet zone, grabbed the opportunity and demanded a 15% "straight wage increase with prices frozen". September 24, 1950 communist press announced the upcoming general strike. In case of a conflict they counted on support from the Werkschutz, the paramilitary factory guard employed by the USIA
Administration for Soviet Property in Austria
The Administration for Soviet Property in Austria, or the USIA was formed in the Soviet zone of Allied-occupied Austria in June 1946 and operated until the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1955. USIA operated as a de-facto state corporation and controlled over four hundred expropriated Austrian...
and manned by communists.
First strike
Tuesday, September 26, 1950, the strike began in earnest. It could become the greatest challenge to the Second Republic had it been supported by the Soviet Union. In the morning the communist agents in the Soviet occupation zone in Vienna went from factory to factory, recruiting supporters among disgruntled workers. By 10:00 they mobilized around fifteen thousand demonstrators and marched south into the center of Vienna. According to the French High Commissioner, 99% of them worked in the Soviet zone. Police of the Soviet zone did not interfere, the American High Commission stayed aside, the Austrian Minister of InteriorFederal Ministry for the Interior (Austria)
The Federal Ministry for the Interior is a ministry of the Austrian federal government.It has offices in the Palais Modena. The current head of the ministry is minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner....
deliberately disarmed his forces in fear of Soviet provocations. The crowd of seven thousand pressed its way through police barricades and rallied in front of the Federal Chancellery building at the time of the Cabinet meeting. Figl refused to speak to the demonstrators, and by 13:00 they left the square. No shots were fired but 23 unarmed police officers were wounded in clashes with the workers.
Heavy industry workers in American-occupied Linz and Steyr
Steyr
Steyr is a town, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. The town is situated at the confluence of the rivers Steyr and Enns. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and simultaneously the 3rd largest town in Upper Austria....
went on strike in the afternoon. The strike in Linz was supported by both pro-communist and pro-socialist workers. Workers in British zone followed suit. In Soviet-occupied Lower Austria strike groups attempted to grab control over railroad stations and post offices, and actually overran some of the latter. Soviet forces maintained friendly neutrality although there was one incident of a Soviet tank involved in blocking the railroad. The Allied Council, chaired by an American, stayed neutral. By the end of the day 120 thousand workers were on strike; Austrian Communists gained some ground, but, most important, they manipulated masses of Socialists into a pro-communist alliance. Socialist leaders were caught unprepared; they mobilized their network on September 27 when the Communists already hastily moved to the second phase of their plan.
In the morning of Wednesday, September 27, thousands of pro-communist strike workers took control over OGB
Austrian Trade Union Federation
-External links:*...
regional headquarters in Linz and Graz with their communication infrastructure. Again, the police stayed aside but the Socialists in Vienna scrambled all their resources to weaken the communist influence. By the end of the day police and paramilitary units forced the Communists out of OGB buildings in British and American zones. On September 28 the communists barely raised seventy volunteers to storm the national OGB office in Vienna, and were routed by the police. The majority of industrial workers now relied on instructions from the unions, not Communists or their Soviet mentors. By 7 p.m. of September 27 even the Soviets agreed that the strike failed and their radio program instructed Austrian workers to return to work.
On September 30 pro-communist Conference of Shop Stewards, attended by 2,417 workers' representatives, issued an ultimatum
Ultimatum
An ultimatum is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance. An ultimatum is generally the final demand in a series of requests...
: raise wages immediately or face another general strike on October 4. The American and British commanders assessed the situation and once again told the Austrian government that their troops will not take action: their armed intervention, should it happen, "would mean shooting... a profound effect inside and outside Austria." The Austrian Minister of Interior concurred: "intervention ... would be the end of the Austrian Government."
Second strike
In the week that preceded the second strike the government and the unions actively campaigned against it. There were no doubts that without Soviet assistance the Austrian communists would fail again, but the degree of Soviet involvement was unknown. Vienna was overwhelmed by rumours of Soviet and CzechoslovakCzechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
troop movements. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that fearful Viennese swept all available food from the stores. Fears of another Berlin Blockade
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first resulting in casualties. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied...
or even worse intensified on the eve of the strike, when the Soviets instructed Austrian police to stay off the streets and blocked the movement of gendarme
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
s in Vienna. Austrian government responded with arrests of strike leaders in British and American zones and with an appeal to all the workers: "Repel every act of terror... destroy illegal roadblocks, drive the intruders out of factories.".
The actual strike was limited to Vienna and Lower Austria, and involved around 19% of industrial workforce. The communists made the impact worse by disrupting railroad traffic. They stormed the Stadlau station in Donaustadt
Donaustadt
Donaustadt is the 22nd district of Vienna, Austria .Donaustadt is the eastern fourth of Vienna.- Geography :The Donaustadt district is in the northeast part of Vienna and is the largest of the districts in area, occupying about one-quarter of the Vienna city area, 102.24 km².It borders the...
three times, were forced away three times, and then blocked the tracks until the evening. On October 5 they resumed blockade of Stadlau since 5 a.m., took control of the Nordbahnhof and threatened the Südbahnhof. With the police disabled, railroads were defended by their employees and the volunteers of the "Olah battalion
Franz Olah
Franz Olah was an Austrian politician who served as the country's Interior Minister from 1963 until 1964 as a member of the Social Democratic Party ....
". They were armed with clubs, operated in small teams and engaged the Communists in hand-to-hand fighting at first opportunity. There were reports that the Soviets provided trucks to move communist crews around, but this was as far as the Soviets went in supporting the strike.
On October 5 pro-communist representatives convened at another conference in Floridsdorf
Floridsdorf
Floridsdorf is the 21st district of Vienna, Austria .Floridsdorf is located in the northern part of Vienna.The District Office and the centre of Floridsdorf are located round Am Spitz, at the junction of Prager Straße and Brünner Straße .Since 2004, Floridsdorf has had its own tower: the...
(Soviet zone) and admitted failure of the second strike.
Historiography
After the failure of the first strike the Austrian Government presented the September events as a deliberate and planned Communist action aimed at overthrowing the government. The idea of a communist putsch has been shared by the historians although the degree of Communist planning is debated. One school of thought supports the notion of a planned and concerted efforts; another says that the Communists merely grabbed the opportunity and relied on yet unknown outcome of the strike and street violence. The third opinion clears the Communists of any long-ranging plans; according to this point of view, the strikes were just labor action. Franz OlahFranz Olah
Franz Olah was an Austrian politician who served as the country's Interior Minister from 1963 until 1964 as a member of the Social Democratic Party ....
, the leader of anti-communist street gangs, shared this opinion. He said that the Communists never had resources to stage a real putsch, and instead their objective was a mere increase in their representation in national and municipal governments. British and American observers also believed that there were no plans for a putsch. Sir Harold Caccia
Harold Caccia, Baron Caccia
Harold Anthony Caccia, Baron Caccia, GCMG, GCVO, GCStJ was a British diplomat....
wrote that the strikes were not the result of a planned putsch, and that Austrian Communists "never committed themselves to an all-out effort."
Austrian accounts of the 1950 strikes emphasize internal political struggle and downplay the Soviet involvement. On the other side of the spectrum, Audrey Kurth Cronin argued that the events were a Soviet-inspired putsch, in fact, the second one after the 1947 food riots. This version is backed by GRU
GRU
GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...
veteran Boris Volodarsky although he did not present any new evidence to prove it.
The degree of Soviet involvement and any plans entertained by the Soviets are still subject to interpretation. According to a series of interviews with unnamed witnesses published by Hugo Portisch in the 1980s, the Soviets were dissatisfied with the disruption caused by Austrian communists. The Soviets allegedly committed all resources to the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and keenly evaded radical confrontation in Europe. According to Portisch, Soviet representatives in Austria were split over the 1950 strikes: some saw an opportunity to suppress the Western influence, others were unwilling to provoke the West, yet others had to meet production targets and opposed any disruption in the Soviet zone. Portisch wrote that Moscow actually intervened to defuse the situation and instructed the Soviet command in Austria to prevent any overt acts by Austrian Communists, in a way that would allow them to save face after a defeat.
Further reading
- Lewis, Jill (2000). Austria 1950: Strikes, ‘Putsch’ and their Political Context (paid access). European History QuarterlyEuropean History QuarterlyEuropean History Quarterly is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes articles in the field of history. The journal was established in 1971 as the European Studies Review and obtained its current title in 1984...
. Vol. 30, No. 4, pages 533-552.