 |
| Austria (Austrian Republic) |
State in Central Europe.
Territory - 83.8 thousand sq. km.
Population - over 7.5 million (end of 1978); over 90% are Austrians, there are also Croats, Slovenes, Czechs and Hungarians.
The capital is Vienna (1.6 million inhabitants).
The state language is German.
More than 90% of believers are Catholics, 6% are Protestants.
The Austrian Republic was formed in November 1918 after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. In March 1938, Austria was occupied by Nazi troops. The USSR played a decisive role in getting rid of the Nazi yoke . In April 1945, the Soviet Army liberated Vienna and a significant part of the country's territory.
From 1945 to 1955, an occupation regime was carried out in Austria: it was divided into Soviet, American, British and French zones of occupation.
The USSR consistently advocated the transformation of Austria into an independent, democratic state, for the implementation of the program of democratization, demilitarization and denazification of the country, against attempts to use Austrian territory in the interests of the NATO military bloc.
In May 1955, representatives of the USSR , USA, England, France and Austria signed in Vienna the State Treaty on the restoration of an independent and democratic Austria. In October 1955, the Austrian parliament passed a constitutional law on the country's permanent neutrality. The foreign policy of the Republic of Austria is based on its obligations under the State Treaty and the status of permanent neutrality adopted by it.
Soviet-Austrian relations are consistently expanding and deepening. Of great importance for their further development were the conversation of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR L.I.Brezhnev with the Federal Chancellor of Austria B. Kreisky, as well as negotiations conducted with him by a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR A.N. Kosygin in February 1978 in Moscow.
Austria is a bourgeois federal republic, consisting of 9 provinces (lands), including Vienna as a province. Provinces have their own constitutions, parliaments and governments. The head of state is the federal president (since July 1974 - R. Kirchschläger). The highest legislative body - parliament, consists of two chambers: the National Council and the Federal Council, whose deputies are appointed by the Landtags (provincial parliaments).
In April 1970, the Austrian Socialist Party formed a one-party government. Now it has 95 seats in the National Council (out of 183).
The Socialist Party of Austria (SPA) - founded in 1945, enjoys influence among a significant part of workers, employees and the petty bourgeoisie, pursues a reformist policy, advocates "social partnership" between workers and entrepreneurs (chairman of the SPA - B. Kreisky). The Austrian People's Party (ANP) —founded in 1945, expresses the interests of the big bourgeoisie and landowners, and is closely associated with Catholic circles. The Austrian Freedom Party (APS) - formed in 1955, unites part of the petty and middle bourgeoisie, focuses on the monopoly circles of the FRG.
The Austrian Communist Party (KPA) - founded in 1918, advocates for the fundamental interests of workers, for Austria's strict adherence to a policy of permanent neutrality, for strengthening European security, and against the deployment of new American nuclear weapons in Western Europe. The Communist Party calls for the establishment of unity of action by all sections of the working class and the implementation of deep democratic reforms in the country. The XXII (January 1974) and XXIII (December 1977) Congresses of the CPA demonstrated the complete consolidation of the party on Marxist-Leninist positions. The documents adopted by the congresses outlined the prospects for the road to socialism in Austria, and worked out a specific program of action for the party. The chairman of the CPA is F. Muri. The central organ is the Volkshtimme newspaper, the theoretical organ is the Weg und Tsil magazine.
The Association of Austrian Trade Unions (OAP) was founded in 1945. It includes 16 branch trade unions, the largest of which are metalworkers and miners, employees of private enterprises, and construction workers. The OAP has over 1.6 million members (1977).
Austria is a highly developed industrial country. It has deposits of oil, iron ore, large reserves of magnesite; significant water resources. The Austrian economy is characterized by a high level of nationalization of industry, especially heavy industry. Public sector enterprises account for about 1/4 of all industrial production. Capitalist monopolies play an important role in the economy.
Foreign, mainly West German, capital occupies a significant position in the economy (about 30% of all foreign investments).
Leading industries: ferrous metallurgy, mechanical engineering, oil, mining, electrical, chemical, electric power. In 19/9, GNP grew by 5%. In 1979, it was produced: steel - 5.4 million tons, pig iron - 3.7 million tons, electricity - 40.4 billion kWh; produced: oil - 1.7 million g, iron ore - 3.2 million tons, natural gas - 2 billion cubic meters. m.
Agriculture in Austria almost completely meets the country's needs for agricultural products. Most of the land area belongs to large owners. According to the 1970 census, farms up to 5 hectares in size, which accounted for 42.9% of all farms, had only 4.5% of the land area. At the same time, farms with a size of more than 100 hectares, constituting 1.7% of farms, had 46.9% of the total land fund.
The main branch of agriculture is animal husbandry. In 1978, there were 2.6 million head of cattle, 4 million pigs, 200 thousand sheep, 45 thousand horses.
In export, along with finished goods, raw materials, semi-finished goods, and also electricity play an important role. 1st place in Austria's foreign trade is occupied by Germany. The share of the socialist countries (excluding Yugoslavia) in Austrian exports reached 13.7% in 1978 and 8.8% in imports. From 1955 to 1978, Soviet-Austrian trade increased more than 20 times.
The monetary unit is the Austrian schilling. 100 shillings = 5.13 rubles. (February 1980). Deficit, foreign trade. balance is covered mainly by income from foreign countries. tourism.
In recent years, the cost of living index in Austria has steadily increased (100 in 1970, 166.8 in 1978).
Consumer prices rose 3.9% in 1979.
The average annual number of officially registered unemployed in 1979 was 56.7 thousand.
){kind=link}