Soviet-Austrian Trade and Economic Relations, 1955-1964.

The research project "Soviet-Austrian Economic and Trade Relations, 1955-1964" will be conducted at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on the Consequences of War in cooperation with the Russian State University of Humanities (RGGU) from 2022 to 2025. Numerous international partners such as Harvard University and the University of Helsinki are involved. The aim is to research the economic thinking of the Soviet leaders, which under Khrushchev underwent a decisive change. Greater attention was now paid to the development of bilateral trade and economic relations, especially with Finland and Austria. The aim of this project is to examine the economic interaction of the Soviet Union with one of the capitalist countries of Europe in the context of the development of political relations and taking into account the specifics of Austria`s neutral status. For the Soviet side, trade with Austria had both an economic and a political function: the example of the positive development of economic relations fitted well with Khrushchev`s concept of peaceful coexistence. On the basis of Soviet and Austrian archival sources, it will be investigated - what the conceptual economic and political reasons were for the successful development of trade and economic relations between the USSR and Austria; - whether economic facilitation through trade agreements, but also discounts on compensation deliveries, were used as a soft power instrument against neutral Austria; - to what extent compensation deliveries served to build confidence as a basis for trade; - how trade and economic relations between the Soviet Union and Austria and those between the Soviet Union and Finland developed; - and whether trade and economic relations with neutral Austria were seen by the Soviet Union as an "experimental field" or model for East-West trade in general. As in previous international research projects of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on the Consequences of War, the results of the project will be published in various publicat ions in English, German and Russian.