Wolfgang Mueller is professor of Russian history at the University of Vienna.Gerald Stourzh is professor emeritus of modern history at the University of Vienna.

• Chapter 1: Preconditions and Preparations, 1943–1947Chapter 2: The Negotiations Begin, 1947Chapter 3: The Price of Freedom, 1947–1950Chapter 4: From Cold War to Thaw, 1950–53Chapter 5: Non-Alignment as the Requisite for Freedom, 1953–54Chapter 6: Khrushchev versus Molotov—and the Winner is Austria, February to April 1955Chapter 7: Austria’s Annus Mirabilis, May to December 1955Conclusion: Austria’s International Position, 1945–55: Options, Choices, and Models

A Cold War over Austria is a magnificent exploration of the origins of Austrian postwar independence, charting the slow and often tortuous processes leading to the formation of the State Treaty of 1955, but also a providing a probing examination of the broader ideological matrices and strategic networks that defined postwar diplomacy among the victorious, but rival Allies. This book constitutes a fascinating case study for the political history of postwar international relations in Central Europe between 1945 and 1955, but it also offers many valuable and original insights into the murky world of post-1945 Austrian domestic politics as well. This is an authoritative book, written with a full and masterful command of a vast array of important historical sources.