Gertrude Enderle-Burcel, Dieter Stiefel, Alice Teichova (Hrsg.): Sonderband 9. „Zarte Bande” – Österreich und die europäischen planwirtschaftlichen Länder / „Delicate Relationships” – Austria and Europe’s Planned Economies (2006)
Eduard Kubů: Restoration and Régularisation of Economie Cooperation under the Circumstances of Accelerating Cold War
Eduard Kubù memorandum of 1 August on the exchange of coke from the Ostrava-Karvinâ mining district for Austrian oil took place.5 An important step in the régularisation of Czechoslovak-Austrian relations in all fields was taken when the Provisional Austrian Government (Provisorische österreichische Regierung) was officially recognised on November 14, 1945. On this occasion, the Prime Minister Zdenëk Fierlinger stated that Czechoslovakia wishes to establish universal friendly relations with Austria as soon as possible. The Austrian State Chancellor Karl Renner expressed a similar wish. This official recognition was to be followed by the establishment of diplomatic missions. The Czechoslovak Republic was one of the first countries, which recognised Austria. The pre-war Czechoslovak-Austrian trade agreement of 4 May 1921 and its amendments were regarded by Prague as inadequate for the post-war situation and therefore they were also officially declared invalid.6 On December 15, 1945, the Czechoslovak-Austrian Compensation Agreement was concluded.7 This was the historically first interstate economic agreement signed by Austria after the war. The document, with a term of merely six months, envisioned that Austria would pay for the deliveries of coal, potatoes and sugar by delivering steel, graphite, salt and some industrial consumer products worth a total of 40 million Reichmarks. However, the agreement came into force only after it had been approved by the Allied Council in Vienna on February 11, 1946 with retroactive effect as of January 1, 1946. The Allies had a number of reservations about the compensation deal with Czechoslovakia, however, these reservations were not officially communicated to Czechoslovakia. The negotiations about the agreement took place in Prague and the Austrian party paid special attention to them. Austria’s objective pursued in the negotiations was to ensure as much coal and food as possible. The Austrian economy devastated by war was in a difficult economic situation characterised by energy and nutrition crisis. There was not only enough energy coal to sufficiently ensure the operation of business and industry but there was even not enough coal for gas works, power plants and transport enterprises. The already low food rations had to be further reduced. Karl Gruber, the Secretary of State at the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who participated in the negotiations in Prague as the leading figure and was given audience by the president Bene§, stated that Czechoslovakia has an essential 5 NAP, MFT 1945-1968, Teritorialni odbory [Territorial departments hereinafter referred to as TD], Rakousko 1945-1952 [Austria 1945-1952], dossier Kompenzaini smlouvy [Compensation agreements]; ibid, MZO - dodatky 1945-1946 [MFT - amendments 1945-1946], Austria; AMFA, Archives of international agreements (hereinafter referred to as A1A), No. L 1 821 and 1 822a. 6 VyhlâSka ministra zahraniCnich vëci ze 4. 2. 1946, C. 116/1946 Sb [Intimation of the Minister of foreign affairs, dated Feruary 2, 1946, No. 116/1946 of Law collection of Czechoslovak Republic]. 7 AMFA, AIA, No. L I 823. 200
