Bruidge Builders in the Cold War

During the Cold War, Austria was a sought-after mediator and bridge-builder between East and West. The signing of the CSCE Final Act (= Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe) in Helsinki in 1975 marked the culmination of the policy of détente. Europe) in Helsinki in 1975, the policy of détente reached its climax. The neutral countries played a decisive role in the many years of preparation. Austria was involved - successfully - above all in human rights issues and humanitarian matters. Moscow`s main aim with the Pan-European Security Conference in Helsinki was to consolidate the division of Europe in order to preserve its hegemony over East-Central Europe. For the first time, Soviet documents are used to show how the USSR tried to use neutral Austria to assert its interests. As early as 1966, Soviet General Secretary L. I. Brezhnev had declared a pan-European conference on security and cooperation to be the main foreign policy objective of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact. From then on, Moscow turned in particular to the European neutral states in order to win them over as advocates and possible initiators. Austria was the focus of Soviet attention due to its geographical location on the edge of the "Iron Curtain", its recent neutral status and its desire to host international conferences. New Soviet sources were used to investigate the role of neutral Austria in relation to the conference project that was finally realized from 1973-75 - in Helsinki and Geneva - as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). The endeavor to integrate Austria more strongly into the pan-European policy of détente corresponded to Moscow`s goal of putting a stop to Austria`s strong economic and political dependence on the FRG and increasingly pointing the Austrian radar towards the East. The monograph shows the ways in which attempts were made to win Austria over to the conference, which Moscow assumed to be Austria`s main motivation. The main motivation on the part of Austria to become involved in such a conference - and later in such a conference - what tasks and goals Austria actually took on, how this was assessed by Moscow and in which areas it attempted to exert influence.