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Invisible Austria: Canada's View 1938–1959

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2009

Robert H. Keyserlingk
Affiliation:
University of Ottawa

Extract

Ambiguity and ambivalence may be legitimate tools for diplomats and politicians, but not for historians. On the surface, Canada's Austrian policy between the 1938 Anschluβ and its 1959 accession to the 1955 Austrian State Treaty was equivocal and obscure. Canada appeared indecisive or vacillating on the subject of Austria after 1938 and again after 1945. In 1948 Canada stoutly announced that it had never recognized the Anschluβ nor been at war with Austria. What did this sudden declaration, unique within the Commonwealth, mean? Why did Canada then wait until 1956 to name an ambassador to Austria and until 1959 to sign the State Treaty? A fog hangs over the subject and opinions differ radically. Experts wander aimlessly through vague statements and interpretations, no longer even agreed on when, before or after World War II, Canada and Austria first entered into official diplomatic relations with each other.

Information

Type
The Republics: Affairs Domestic and Foreign
Copyright
Copyright © Center for Austrian Studies, University of Minnesota 1984

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