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This book opens new perspectives into the Cold War ideological confrontations. Using Austria and Finland as an example, it shows how the Cold War battles for the hearts and minds of the people also influenced policies in countries that wished to stay outside the conflict.
Following the model of older European neutrals, Austria and Finland sought to combine neutrality with democracy. The combination was eagerly challenged by ideological Cold Warriors on both sides of the divide and questioned at home too. Was neutrality risking the neutrals' commitment to democracy, or did the commitment to the western type of democracy threaten their commitment to neutrality?
Confronting these doubts grew into an organic part of practicing neutrality in the Cold War world. The neutrals needed to be exceptionally clear regarding the ideological foundations of their neutrality. Successful neutrality required a great deal of conceptual consistence and domestic unanimity. None of this was pre-given in Austria or Finland. However, in the model of Switzerland and Sweden, (armed) neutrality was systematically integrated with the official state ideology and promoted as a part of national identity. Legacies of these policies outlived the end of the Cold War.
List of contents
1. Introduction 2. National Traditions in a Comparative Perspective 3. International Reflections 4. Criteria of Neutrality and the Newborn Neutrals 5. The Missing Link 6. Closure and New Challenges 7. Faces of Neutrality in the Cold War World
About the author
Johanna Rainio-Niemi is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Political and Economic Studies, University of Helsinki. She specializes in contemporary European history with a focus on Austria and Finland, the Cold War, the welfare state and related strategies of domestic consensus-building.
Summary
This book opens unique perspectives on the Cold War battle for the hearts and minds of the people of post-1945 Europe. Using the Cold War neutrals Austria and Finland as an example, the study shows how the ideological Cold War also shaped politics in countries that sought not to take sides in the bipolarised conflict.
