How Austria Escaped the Iron Curtain #W2W #shorts

Austrias postwar fate could easily have mirrored Germanys split between East and West, a pawn in the Cold War.
So why didnt it?

After WWII, the Allies labeled Austria Hitlers first victim. It was a diplomatic loophole and a convenient one. While Austrians had played major roles in Nazi Germany, this framing let the Soviets treat Austria differently.

At first, Moscow looted its occupation zone just like in East Germany. But Austria was small, poor, and strategically awkward not worth turning into another satellite state.

By 1955, the Soviets were looking for a symbolic win. The deal? Austria could go free if it stayed neutral. Vienna agreed, promising not to join NATO or reunite with Germany.

In our linked Short, we explore another turning point of Cold War diplomacy how Britains withdrawal from India reshaped global power after WWII.

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Hosted by: Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson, Sebastian Brandtstetter, Astrid Deinhard Olsson & Anna Deinhard
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Iryna Dulka
Editing by: Pawel Wiszomirski
Sound design by: Marek Kamiński

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