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From its emergence out of the ashes of World War II through to the economic and political challenges of today, Austria has embodied many of the contradictions of recent European history. Written by one of the nation's leading historians, this account of postwar Austria explores the tensions that have defined it for over seven decades, whether in its overlapping policies of engagement and isolationism, its grandiose visions and persistent sense of inferiority, or its position as a model social democracy that has suffered recurrent bouts of xenophobic nationalism. This newly revised edition also addresses the major developments since 2005, including a resurgent far right, economic instability, and the potential fracturing of the European Union.
List of contents
Preface
Chapter 1. Austrian Identity: Between National Pride, Solipsism and European Patriotism
Chapter 2. Peculiarities of Austrian Democracy
Chapter 3. 'Austria Can Beat Everything, If It Only Wants To': Myth and Reality of Austrian Economic Policy since 1945
Chapter 4. Ten Chancellors, and Not One a Woman
Chapter 5. The Newspaper Tycoons of the Second Republic
Chapter 6. Neutrality and the State Treaty in a New Europe
Chapter 7. 'Alles Walzer...': The Politics of Art and Culture as the Early Second Republic's Elixir of Life
Chapter 8. The Austrian Model of the Welfare State and Intergenerational and Intergender Contracts since 1945
Chapter 9. The Shadow of the Past
Chapter 10. Austria's Political Future: Some Trends
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Oliver Rathkolb is Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Vienna. He was Schumpeter Fellow at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University and Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago and is member of the Academic Committee for the House of European History in Brussels.
Summary
Written by one of the nation’s leading historians, this account of postwar Austria explores the tensions that have defined it for over seven decades. This newly revised edition also addresses the major developments since 2005, including a resurgent far right, economic instability, and the potential fracturing of the European Union.
