Abstract In May 1955, the four victorious powers from the Second World War joined with Austria (and eventually Yugoslavia) in signing the Austrian State Treaty. Five months later, the Austrian government adopted a declaration of perpetual neutrality. Nowadays, in the wake of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, Austria's neutrality has again come under scrutiny because of the country's reliance on Russian energy supplies. This article examines the origins of Austria's economic ties with Moscow, rooted in the 1955 State Treaty and Austria's self-imposed neutrality. The State Treaty led to close economic consultations between Vienna and Moscow and the establishment of enduring business relations. Positioned between East and West, Austria played a key role in the USSR's Cold War economic strategy. The article investigates how Austria was used by the Soviet Union as a “testing ground” for East-West trade, which ultimately contributed to the policy of East-West détente. In 1968, Austria became the first Western country to receive Soviet natural gas. Drawing on Soviet and Austrian archival sources, the analysis here explores whether Soviet leaders (1) deliberately set out to foster Austrian economic dependency on Soviet energy supplies, (2) wanted Austria to serve as a model for economic détente, culminating in the signing of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in 1975, or (3) both.
Abstract This article provides an overview of Polish-Vatican negotiations during the pontificate of Paul VI. In highlighting the negotiation model used by the two sides, the article traces the stages of the negotiations, describes the objectives of each side, offers portraits of the negotiators, discusses the negotiation environment (support groups and the opponents’ team), appraises the negotiation techniques, and evaluates the negotiation results. The coverage of the article begins in 1965, with the start of unofficial, secret negotiations, and ends in 1974, with the signing of a protocol/treaty establishing delegations for permanent working contacts. Throughout this period, the Communist regime in Poland had no formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See, but the context by 1974 was markedly different because of the rise of East-West détente. The article is based on materials from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and documentation left by Poland's former Bureau for Religious Affairs and the ruling organs of the Polish United Workers’ Party as well as published collections of documents of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See from Cardinal Agostino Casaroli's archive.
