Protokolle des Ministerrates, Kabinett Figl I Bd. 7

The Edition of the Minutes of the Cabinet Meetings Figl I constitutes an important contribution to research on the early years of Austrias Second Republic and the reconstruction and renewal of the state and its political components after World War II. The minutes of the cabinet meetings have to be regarded as central source materials on this early and complex phase of the Second Republic. Volume 7 of the Edition encompasses the minutes of meeting No. 79 of September 9, 1947 to meeting No. 88 of November 18, 1947 as well as the accompanying minutes of the Wirtschaftliches Ministerkomitee from that period of time. In terms of content, the discussions between the members of government documented therein pertain to a broad thematic spectrum, dealing with matters of foreign, domestic and economic policy and reconstruction, with the difficult relations between the Austrian government and the four allied occupational forces (especially the Soviet force) as well as with various aspects and problems of every-day life during those scarce and difficult years. The various positions of the members of government on the matters at hand, open conflicts of interest as well as the developing and changing state of discussion on specific problems can be traced through the minutes. The slow progress of the ongoing deliberations on the Austrian State Treaty (one of many common threads running through all volumes of this edition), at that point in time mostly revolving around the difficult Article 35 of the Treaty, pertaining to the German Assets in Austria, is being reflected in this volume by various cautious comments on the success (or lack thereof) of these developments by Chancellor Figl. The results of the Special Commission, which had been deliberating in Vienna since May 1947 and concluded its work in October 1947, was evidently not viewed with much enthusiasm by the Austrian government. More prominent were the ever-present matters of securing the basic level of nutrition for the Austrian and especially the Viennese population as well as the difficult dealings with the allied occupational forces. The economic and political complexities and intricacies of this time period become evident in the way those different areas intertwine. For example, the matter of the so-called Ischler Milchprozess touched on questions of allied military jurisdiction, sustenance, the problem of the so-called Displaced Persons and on antisemitic residues, coupled with communist agitation. The minutes contained in this volume shed light on the various steps undertaken by the Austrian government to once again transform Austria into a sovereign state, integrated into the international community. The minutes demonstrate the extent of the legislative measures necessary to achieve this. Many of those measures dealt with matters which were specifically tied to the past War and the National Socialist era. One example contained in this volume were claims of restitution by the Banque des Pays de lEurope Centrale in Paris, targeted at the Länderbank Wien. Another example is the Bundesgesetz über die Geltendmachung von Rückstellungsansprüchen aufgelöster österreichischer Verbrauchergenossenschaften. But special mention must be made of the Bundesgesetz, betreffend die Verringerung des Geldumlaufes und der Geldeinlagen bei Kreditunternehmungen (Währungsschutzgesetz), which was designed to reduce monetary circulation and thereby amongst other things damage the virulent black market. The only communist member of government, Bundesminister für Energiewirtschaft und Elektrifizierung Dr. Karl Altmann, vetoed the law, which led the other members of the Figl cabinet to adopt the law by basically overruling Altmann, something which had never happened before in the history of the Council of Ministers. Therefore, the last minute contained in this volume (No. 88) also is the last meeting of the Council of Ministers attended by a communist member of government, because only days later, Altmann resigned in the wake of these developments. As has been standard practice in the history of this Edition, the scientifically annotated minutes are complemented by a biographical index, containing detailed biographies on all relevant individuals, and thereby contributing to the research into political, social and cultural elites. Detailed geographical and subject indices are included as well as transcriptions of the Gabelsberger-shorthand notes which are the basis of the final minutes.