A "War Child" as a Historian of Austria's Nazi Past

This article presents four interwoven lines of argumentation: first, it describes the trajectory of a common Austrian in the first half of the 20th century, my father, his political inclinations towards authoritarianism and Nazism, and his "career" and death as a Wehrmacht soldier in the light of changing societal and political contexts; secondly, the author's process of interpreting scarce written documents, photographs, and vague oral accounts in an attempt to establish some historic "truth" is reported; third, this ("traditional") historiographical work is juxtaposed with Austria's conflicting "collective memories" since the 1960s and with the historical-political struggles around prominent Austrian figures (like Waldheim, Friedrich Peter, and other forgetful or silent participants in the Nazi war of extermination or the NSDAP and the SS) in which the author himself participated actively. In this way, the recent cultural historical dimensions of a modern (and successful) European state which has been struggling to come to terms with a strong dictatorial past are illuminated. But the author also discovers as a "participant observer" or "ego-historian" in how fragile and deceptive his own critical opinions and attempts to overcome the Nazi structures of his own society had been: they have unconsciously and indirectly perpetuated taboos about a harmful past and influenced his political as well as professional activities

Political Violence, its Forms and Strategies in the First Austrian Republic

In this article, the author uses political violence, that is, the politically motivated physical damage human beings inflict on each other in any number of ways, as a lens to examine forms and patterns of extreme social conflict that emerged in the First Austrian Republic. In his analyses, the author uses quantitative and qualitative analyses of violence by different political groups to determine the impact of social and economic factors, among others, on this violence. After an introduction this contribution deals with the quantitative changes in political violence between 1918 and 1934 and the qualitative changes in the structure of political conflict. After that the forms and patterns of political violence that emerged in this connection are described and some explicit strategies of violence by individual political groupings are given. Finally, the social causes of political violence are examined and provide new explanation of the breakdown of Austrian democracy and the twofold civil war (in February and July) 1934. These events are not only a result of anti-democratic political decision making but also of the consequence of the rising waves of social conflicts and self-enforcing violence

The Jews of Vienna from the "Anschluß" to the Holocaust

In this article, the author examines the socio-economic driving forces and political authorities behind the persecution of Jews in Vienna from 1938 to 1943 in order to demonstrate that the anti-Semitic mobilization of substantial sections of the population was directly related to social and economic interests. This becomes clear through the author's analysis of the radical nature of Viennese anti-Semitism from the pogroms of 1938 and the systematic deportation of Jews to extermination camps. This article is structured as follows: 1. Introduction, 2. Exploration of the Perpetrators' Emotional Potential and Demonstration of Jewish Defencelessness, 3. The Conceptual Delineation and Definition of the Enemy Group, 4. Destruction of Economic Means of Subsistence, 5. Forced Emigration, 6. Radicalization and Reichskristallnacht, 7. Spatial Segregation (Ghettoization), 8. Realizing the Nazi Stereotype of the 'Jew', 9. Removal and Annihilation

The Short- and Long-Term Effects of the Authoritarian Regime and of Nazism in Austria: the Burden of a 'Second Dictatorship'

This article considers two types of right extremism in Austria’s history: Nazism and the preceding ‘Austro-Fascism’ that tried to resist Nazism. By first considering the roots of ‘Austro-Fascism’, followed by how Austrians reacted to Nazism on social, political and economic levels, the author identifies the ‘victim myth’ found in Austrian history after 1945 and is able to uncover how the post-war period was impacted by and tried to distance itself from Austria’s long relationship with German nationalism and two dictatorial pasts (the authoritarian dictatorship of Dollfuß and Schuschnigg, and the Nazi regime). The article is structured as follows: 1. ‘Austro-Fascism': Interlude and Austrian Symptom, 2. Impacts of the Nazi Dictatorship (1938-1945), 3. National Identity and the ‘Victim Myth’, 4. Reconstruction of the State, Inconsistent Denazification and Continuities, 5. The ‘Long Durée’ of the Nazi Heritage, 6. Conclusion

New Tasks of the Hungarian Military Intelligence Office after NATO Accession

The purpose of this article is to discuss the changes in the tasks and roles of the Hungarian Military Intelligence Office (MIO). The introductory paragraphs give a short view of the historical roots of Intelligence, then go on to cite milestones of MIO history, and end with an outline of the organization of the MIO, stressing its strong link to Intelligence gathering and decision making. The major parts of the article explain first, how the MIO has adapted and responded to the challenges facing modern-era Intelligence agencies; and, second, its proposed restructuring, the result of Hungary\u27s NATO accession. The concluding portion contains a summary of the MIO\u27s goals

A Internacional Comunista, a União Soviética e seu impacto no movimento de trabalhadores da América Latina

The Soviet Union and the Communist International had an adverse influence on the Latin American workers’ movement, continually diverting it fighting for a  emocratic socialist society. They subordinated the workers’ movements to the interests of the Soviet Union’s ruling class, the Communist bureaucracy. At one  oment, they led the workers’ movement in disastrous uprisings, while in a subsequent era they encouraged it to build alliances with capitalist and imperialist power.A União Soviética e a Internacional Comunista tiveram uma influência adversa no movimento latino-americano de trabalhadores, frequentemente,  distraindo-o de sua luta por uma sociedade socialista democrática. Ambas subordinaram os movimentos de trabalhadores aos interesses da classe dominante na União Soviética, a burocracia comunista. Em um momento, dirigiram o movimento de trabalhadores para levantes desastrosos, enquanto em um período subsequente encorajaram-no a fazer alianças com poderes capitalistas e imperialistas