CONSUMPTION OF COAL, AUSTRIA, BY CONSUMER GROUPS 1937-1946-1947 (ALL FIGURES IN METRIC TONS, ON A HARD COAL BASIS)*
= 200,000 METRIC TONS TOTAL CONSUMPTION 1937 1946 1947 = 1937 5,030,749 3,603,044 5,030,749 = 1946 (4,950,428)** (3,303,604)** (4,578,813)**
= 1947
* LIGNITE IS FIGURED AT A 2 TO I BASIS ** NOT INCLUDING DOMESTIC PRODUCTION OF COKE
FIGURE XX Austria's Energy Resources delivers power to local users is located on the smaller streams of central and western Austria, where winter freezes and late summer dwindling of the General water flow curtail power generation severely. This necessitates a great Reliable supplies of coal, oil, and electricity are vital factors in Austria's reliance on the thermal generation plants of central and eastern Austria economic existence. Without coal, the steel mills of Linz and Donawitz if sufficient supplementary power is to be made available. Many of the would be useless, over two-thirds of the Austrian railroads would be in reservoir-type plants which are capable of supplying a more uniform flow operative, steam-driven factory and mining machinery would stop, the of electricity throughout the year were built by the Germans in western artificial gas works of Vienna and other cities would be unable to supply Austria to supply the needs of southern and south-western Germany. They heating and cooking gas to their consumers, electric power would be cut were connected to the German grid and not to the Austrian distribution below the subsistance level during the winter months, and the majority of system. Since the separation of Austria from Germany, progress has been made Austrian homes would remain unheated. toward incorporation of these plants into the Austrian economy, but by the Without oil, the vital highway transport, which is largely diesel-powered, end of 1947 their output was still being largely exported beyond Austria's would cease, and river transport would be reduced approximately 50%. borders. Without electricity, which in Austria is mostly derived from water power, nearly one-third of the railroads would be without motive power, practically Coal the entire industrial plant of Austria would shut down, and almost the entire The Situation in 1945 nation would be without household current. Before the war Austria's chief coal needs were for house heating, thermal Since the end of World War II, Austria has been dependent upon more generation of electricity, steam locomotive operation, generation of house or less unreliable supplies of all three sources of energy. The Silesian and hold gas, and generation of steam for the direct operation of industrial Czechoslovakian coal mines, which before the war supplied nearly 75% of all machinery. During their occupation the Germans expanded the Austrian coal imported to Austria, were cut off because of the ruined state of Polish industrial plant, thereby increasing the load on the thermal plants, which was and Austrian transport. The Ruhr mines, which supplied the balance of already great during the winter months. In addition, a large steel mill was imports before the war were unable, during 1945, to supply even the prewar constructed at Linz with six blast furnaces and eight coking batteries. In amounts. Austria's own production revived quickly, but even at the high conjunction with this plant, (formerly the Hermann Goring Werke, now the level reached in 1947 it was only able, on a ton for ton basis, to supply about United Austrian Iron and Steel Works) a 175-megawatt thermal power station 50% of the total needs of the nation. However, the domestic supply is com (known as Htitte Linz) was built. These two installations alone increased posed almost entirely of various grades of lignite; only an optimum of 240,000 Austria's coal needs considerably. The cokeries have a normal capacity for tons a year of hard coal are produced in Austria. Lignite, of course, is unsatis utilization of about 2,000,000 tons annually, and together with other new- factory for many of the uses which the Austrian economy has for coal. installations would bring the demand for coal, in terms of hard coal Austria's only oil fields at Zistersdorf, Lower Austria were developed by equivalent, to slightly over 7,500,000 tons per year, were the nation's the Germans to a point where they are capable of supplying all of Austria's industry to function at a normal rate. domestic needs and providing a surplus for export. But under Soviet control, As stated above, Austria's coal mines produce only a fraction of her coal only a little more than half of the domestic needs have been made available requirements (see St. A. Table 47). This production is almost entirely in the to the Austrian economy, with the result that Austria has had to turn to form of lignite, or brown coal, which is adequate for domestic heating and imports for the satisfaction of a large portion of her demand for petroleum to some extent for steam generation purposes, but is useless for coking or products since the war. for combustion requiring extremely high temperatures. At the end of the Austria has a large potential of hydro-electricity, but less than one-fifth war, therefore, one of Austria's most pressing needs was the resumption of this potential has as yet been developed. Most of the development which of reliable coal imports. Before, and to a certain extent during the war,
81 remained so until late in 1947, when new agreements with the Polish govern DOMESTI c COAL PRODUCTION AND IMPORTS, ment enabled the Austrian government once again to import coal from the AAUSTRIA 1946 AND 1947 East. IN TEN TinIOUSAN D TONS, IN HARD COAL EQUIVALENT Deliveries from the Ruhr were small and uncertain during most of the i: )4€ » second half of 1945; the mines themselves had suffered heavy damage during 52 r A LAC. IQ the war and the labor supply was at first inadequate for full scale operation. 50 In addition, the Austrian and German transport systems were in very poor 48 condition, so that even the coal which was made available by the US and 46 UK military governments of Western Germany could not all be shipped 44 IM POF from the pitheads without frequent and serious delays. 42 TS —- — o
took about 200,000 tons. .. . - • • • / 150 i During the first half of 1947 there was practically no improvement in = - = the general coal situation. Both domestic production and imports increased by 10% to 15%, but the extra availability thus produced was offset by the \ extremely cold winter which froze all principal rivers, nearly stopped hydro electric generation, and threw an abnormally heavy burden on the ther / mal plants. During January and February, both the coal and electricity APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC situations became so critical that practically all Austrian industry was forced to shut down completely. —— — COAL a COKE IMPORTS, VALUE IN $ In the first quarter of 1947, the British government made a direct grant of TOTAL EXPORTS VALUE IN $ 2 million pounds sterling to Austria for the purchase of coal from the Ruhr EXPORTS OF FINISHED GOODS VALUE IN $ FILLED ORDERS FOR RAILROAD FREIGHT CARS mines. This was sufficient to pay for minimum coal deliveries through Au SOURCE : U.S. ALLIED COMMISSION AUSTRIA gust, 1947. Simultaneous improvement in Ruhr productivity made possible an increase in Austrian coal deliveries from Germany. This improvement started in early spring and continued throughout the summer. Figure 31 In September, 1947, US Foreign Relief funds assured Austria of the continuation of sufficient coal imports from the Ruhr throughout the re Imports of coal averaged 347,000 tons HCE per month during the second mainder of the year (see St. A. Table 46). Moreover, the Austrian government half of 1947 as compared with 184,000 for the first half of the year. This, was able to resume imports from Poland. Prior to the extension of the coupled with over 100,000 tons per month from the Austrian mines, gave the dollar credits, purchases from Poland had been impossible except on a very nation a total availability of 466,000 tons per month during the second half small-scale barter basis. Austria's inability to pay in goods, and the Polish of the year, exceeding for the first time since 1945 the level of 1937 availability, government's insistence on dollar payments for cash sales had been the main of 429,000 tons HCE per month. The average monthly availability for 1947 difficulty in resuming this trade. was 419,229 tons, total consumption topping 5,000,000 tons.
83 Industry was the largest single consumer group, receiving 1,622,000 tons, cannot continue to base her economy on gratuitous credits extended by the which represented 32.2% of total consumption. Railroads took over second US government, but in the absence of such grants, there seems to be no easy place by consuming 930,000 tons, or 18.5%. Next were householders with way for her to continue to import coal after the occupation period is over. 834,000, the cokeries were fourth, with 438,000, gas and water plants got The European Recovery Program may provide part of the answer, but it must 443,000, and thermal-electric plants used a record 435,000 tons. The Occu be kept in mind that approximately 50% of the best natural source of coal pying Forces received 279,000 tons during 1947 (see St. A. Table 44). for Austria lies in the East, outside of the influence of the ECA nations. The effects of the increase in coal imports on industrial activity during There is no apparent way of eliminating Austria's dependence on imports the second half of the year were almost immediate. Between April 1947, and for the satisfaction of her coal needs, but there do seem to be several means the end of that year, coal imports rose from 136,570 tons HCE to 384,783 tons by which her overall needs could be reduced. HCE monthly, during which time Austrian coal production remained fairly Austria's oil production, for example, if it were available to the Austrian constant at about 110,000 tons HCE per month. In the same period, total economy, could be exported or partially used as a substitute fuel for coal. exports rose in value from 46 million schillings in April to 125 million If exported, the profits could be applied toward payment for imports of coal. in December (see Fig. 31). This 172% increase was almost matched by Electric power, generated in the hydro plants or in thermal plants which the 153% rise in the export of finished manufactured goods during the same burn locally produced lignite, could also be used either as a valuable export period. or as a substitute source of power. Outlook The Austrian Federal Railroads present a field where substitution of both power sources is at least theoretically possible. The electrification of the The immediate outlook at the end of 1947 in the field of Austrian main lines is actually under way, although even at the highest rate of com coal supply was good. There was every indication that the extreme coal pletion, twenty years would be needed to electrify the 2000 kilometers of trunk shortage experienced by Austria in 1945, 1946, and the first half of 1947 lines. In addition, some of the steam locomotives could be converted from was merely part of the general European coal famine which followed the war, coal to oil burning. There is, however, a strong possibility that the Austrian and that with the continued improvement of the European coal situation Government may find it more profitable to export virtually the entire domestic as a whole the Austrian situation will also improve. The Coal Committee output of oil than to use it as a source of locomotive power. of the Economic Council of Europe, and the Economic Cooperation Ad ministration are in the process of planning a better rationalization of Eu Another plan, which will be discussed more fully in a later section of this rope's coal supplies and the removal of economic barriers between nations. chapter, is the expansion of Austria's hydro-electric generating capacity in such a way as to make hydro-electricity available in constantly large quantities, However, an examination of the nature and sources of Austria's coal regardless of the season, considerably reducing the imports of coal consumed supplies shows that they are highly sensitive to political differences between annually by the thermal plants. Austria and her suppliers and that they, when taken as a cost factor in Austria's industrial production, are a major contributor to the high prices Other means too are available. An increased use of oil or natural gas for of Austrian goods on the world markets. As long as Austria is forced to import domestic heating or industrial power should be possible, although the extent coal from nations which are also producing manufactured goods and which are to which such conversion could be carried will depend upon a re-examination in competition with Austrian products, there seems to be little chance that the of Austria's resources of these two fuels after their exploitation by the Germans Austrian goods will be able to compete in price with those of the coal pro and the Soviets. ducing countries. It is clear, however, that without waiting for an expansion of her hydro Austria's best natural supplies of coal, Poland and Czechoslovakia, continue electric plant capacity, Austria's coal bill, in terms of money, could be paid to demand dollar payment for coal shipments on other than barter deals, to a considerable extent by exports of oil or oil products, were these resources as do the military governments of Western Germany. Obviously, Austria made available to her (see Fig. XXII and St. A. Table 49).
84 PRODUCTION ft DISPOSITION OF CRUDE OIL AND REFINED PRODUCTS AUSTRIA, 1947 EASTERN ZONE, GERMANY
CZECHOSLOVAKIA 100,000 TONS
EASTERN ZONE, GERMANY
WORKING LOSS 63,000 TONS
CZECHOSLOVAKIA AUS POLAND
RED ARMY
FIGURE XXI Oil AUSTRIAN OFFICIAL REQUIREMENTS Background AND SOVIET SHIPMENTS Oil was first discovered in Austria near Zistersdorf, Lower Austria (Soviet OF PETROLEUM, OIL AND LUBRICANTS Zone), about 30 miles northwest of Vienna in 1932. Although there are other IN THOUSANDS OF METRIC TONS regions which are believed to contain oil deposits, the entire Austrian petro GASOLINE 1947 leum production is still concentrated in the Zistersdorf region. The first 8 commercial development of any importance took place in 1935, when success ful drilling operations were begun by US, British, Swiss, and Austrian firms. 6
They exploited the fields gradually, until, in 1937, Austria produced about 4 32,000 tons of oil. ***** It should be pointed out that oil having been discovered in Austria at such 2 a late date, her entire economic structure was already firmly based on other rt JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC fuels, chiefly coal. Were this not the case, Austrian oil requirements would KEROSENE be much higher. 947 By the time of the Anschluss in 1938, production had reached an annual 6 —^"^«n——<—-— level of 57,000 tons. Under the German program of development prior to and during the war, output of the Zistersdorf fields was gradually pushed to the record high of 100,000 tons per month in 1944. In 1945, in the hope of delaying the advance of the Soviet armies, the Ger mans shut down the oil fields and systematically sabotaged a large part of the production equipment and installations such as pumps and motors. Then, DIES EL C)IL 1947 as part of the Soviet program of removal of industrial equipment, the Soviet 12 • — — occupation forces removed and shipped to Russia oil well suplies and equip 8 •sssamm ment valued at more than 25 million dollars. •• , _ — Despite this Soviet stripping of the fields, production was started again 4 in May 1945, at the rate of 6,500 tons per month. Equipment was gradually n replaced and the fields restored during 1945 to the point where a monthly LUBE OIL production of approximately 70,000 tons was possible through 1946. I947 Production increased during the first five months of 1947 to an average *^ level of 71,000 tons, and was boosted in August under heavy Soviet pressure to 86,000 tons. At the end of 1947 average production for the year was I- — estimated at 77,000 tons. JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC Soviet Control and Austrian Requirements GREASE | OFFICIALLY NO ALLOCATION OF GREASES IS MADE BY THE SOVIET ELEMENT | The Austrian oil-producing areas and refineries lie within the Soviet Zone of Occupation. The Soviets are thus able to exercise complete and rigid «• ——. OFFICIAL REQUIREMENTS control over the production, refining, and distribution of crude oil and its SOURCE : U.S. ALLIED COMMISSION AUSTRIA —•— — SOVIET DELIVERIES Figure 32 85 products, except for imports to Western Austria. From the beginning of Some part of the equipment had been removed by the Germans for use else the occupation, the Austrian economy has received only such quantities of where, and some was later removed by the Soviet Forces. Moreover, removal petroleum products as the Soviet Oil Administration has seen fit to allocate. of generating equipment by the French Occupation Forces from certain This has approximated 35% to 40% of total production, or 50% to 60% of the plants in the French Zone of Germany which had been supplying power to official minimum requirements for Austria (see Fig. XXI and St. A. Table 49). Austria, resulted in a decrease in availabilities to Austria from these sources The remainder is exported or consumed by the Soviets, with no gain accruing and threw the burden of making up the deficit on to the existing Austrian to the Austrian government or other Austrian agencies. The effective size of system. the Soviet allocations to Austria is further reduced by the fact that deliveries A large-scale program of construction of generating plants and transmission are so irregular that proper planning of their distribution and use is not lines had been started by the Germans in connection with their unification possible, and by the poor quality of most of the refined products. of the Austrian and German economies. This program was about 25% The price of oil products to their ultimate consumers has been raised under complete at the end of the war. the control of the Soviet petroleum distribution monopoly and is high con The German construction was divided into three main parts which were sidering the poor quality of products. The distribution points have nearly correlated with the existing Austrian installations. The Vorarlberg plants always had unlimited quantities for sale at black market prices. in the extreme western portion of Austria possess systems of reservoirs and provide peaking power for the industrial sections of Southern and Western Outlook Germany. The Tyrol plants, also in the West, were linked to the Bavarian If the present political situation continues, and if the Austrian minimum grid to the North. In central, eastern, and southern Austria, where the requirements are to be met in the future, the Austrian government will be bulk of Austrian industry is located, all consumers and producers were forced to continue to import gasoline, high-quality lubricants, and other united into a compound hydro and thermal network whose hydro-electrical petroleum products not now supplied by the Soviet Oil Administration from output was insufficient to meet demand at peak periods, especially in winter. Austrian domestic sources (see Fig. 32 and St. A. Table 50). The thermal plants of the network, aided by energy imports from Germany With only two-thirds of Austrian requirements available to the Austrian were thus obliged to make up the power deficit at such times. The largest economy from domestic production, it is useless for the government to of the thermal plants, the Huette Linz, had been completed during the attempt to carry out any program of expansion of the use of oil and its war but had sustained war damage, and was producing very little at the products within the Austrian economy. Austria may, however, benefit from end of the war. The two Vienna plants, Simmering and Engerthstrasse the export sale of oil in the future. were damaged and partially dismantled by the Soviets. However, the overproduction of the oil fields under both German and Soviet management may force a revision of the estimates of the optimum Developments to the End of 1947 output level. It may be that Austria will be forced to restrict production to little more than domestic oil consumption. After the separation of the Austrian economy from that of Germany, It is sure, though, that if Austria's treaty with the Allies assures Austrian the first step in the rehabilitation and development of the Austrian power control and ownership of the production, refining, and distribution of her own network was the connection of the various parts of the network into one oil, there will, even at a conservative rate of production, be ample oil to system. As indicated, the Germans had not been interested in Austria as an satisfy the domestic needs. economic entity, and had left a power system which was unsatisfactory for purely Austrian uses. Electricity The first major move in this direction was made late in 1947 with the The Situation at the End of the War completed construction of power transmission lines across the Arlberg and The power network itself had sustained little damage, except in the eastern Gerlos passes in Western Austria (see Fig. 33). The former line connects half of Austria, (the Soviet Zone) and the eastern half of the British Zone. the Vorarlberg system at the Buers sub-station with the Tyrolean system,
86 HYPOTHETICAL DISPOSITION OF AUSTRIAN OIL (ASSUMING AVAILABILITY OF TOTAL DOMESTIC OUTPUT TO AUSTRIAN ECONOMY)
GERMANY CZECHOSLOVAKIA SWITZERLAND YUGOSLAVIA HUNGARY POLAND ITALY
AUSTRIA
406,00 REPRESENTS QUALITY POL IMPORTS NOT PRODUCED IN AUSTRIA AS: MOTOR-OILS, PARAFFIN,ANTI-FREEZE, BRAKE FLUID £ OTHER INDIV. OILS.
FIGURE XXII ELECTRIC POWER GENERATING STATIONS $ TRANSMISSION LINES, AUSTRIA ,31 DECEMBER 1947
Frsin Mydlovar (C.S.H)
SIZE OF SYMBOL INDICATES CAPACITY
Lake of
Ebenfu, Neustadt Rhineland
Brege
o Hessenberg Pernggg ORARLBERQ S T Y R 1 A Mixnitz 4trh burs O Peggau 6ratwe'm North
TYROL o'$ebant C A RN I T H
HYDRO-ELECTRIC GENERATING STATIONS: THERMAL-ELECTRIC GENERATING STATIONS? © PUBLIC POWER PLANT PUBLIC POWER PLANT SOURCE : AUSTRIAN INSTITUTE O PRIVATE POWER PLANT FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH TRANSMISSION LINES : TRANSFORMER G UNDER CONSTRUCTION EXISTING : UNDER CONSTRUCTION 5 SUBSTATIONS: O BAVARIAN INSTALLATIONS 220 KV tmma O MOKV PREPARED BY U.S. ALLIED COMMISSION 5 0 KV AUSTRIA Figure 33 87 at Wilten. The Gerlos Pass line connects the Gerlos and Achensee plants link the three separate portions of the Austrian grid, and after fuel for the of the Tyrolean system with the compound network at the Kaprun plant. thermal plants had been delivered by the Allies, production of all electric Up to the end of 1947 there had been little direct benefit to the Austrian power plants in Austria amounted to approximately one-fifth of the hydro consumer of electric power as a result of these lines. The Austrian government electric potential. Of this amount, the hydro stations supply virtually is committed to the continuation of the export of power to south-western 100% during the Spring and early summer when the flow of the principal Germany from the Vorarlberg plants and to Bavaria from the Tyrolean generating rivers is high, but in an unprecedentedly dry, cold winter such system. Not only do the recovery efforts of these two sections of Germany de as 1946-7, when heavy snow fell on the plains but none in the mountains, pend largely upon Austrian power, but the sale of the power has proved a source the thermal plants may be called on to supply as much as thirty percent of monetary credit toward the purchase of coal and other goods. In 1947, of the total Austrian power production. In such extreme cases, however, exports to Germany were approximately 650 million kilowatt hours, slightly the thermal plants cannot make up the entire deficit, and the total output over one-fifth of Austria's total electric power generation. falls off. Construction of another line was completed which runs over the Brenner Austria's hydro-electric plants are located on her major rivers, the IU, Pass between the Austrian Tyrol and the Italian South Tyrol, to connect the Inn, the Enns, the Drau, and the Mur, as well as on some of her smaller the compound network with the plants near Bolzano in Italy. The plan is mountain streams (see Fig. 34). The loss of elevation of practically all to have a cooperative system of importing and exporting power from and rivers and streams is great, since most of them have their origins in high moun to these plants according to the seasonal variations in production and demand. tain springs and lakes, or in the glaciers of the Alpine chain, which runs Still another major transmission line is planned, and was partially com from the Glockner group to the Silvretta on the Swiss border. During pleted at the end of 1947 between the Enns River power plants and the their fall through the steep Alpine valleys, their power potential is as great city of Vienna. as that of the rivers of any European country. Even the Danube, which flows through comparatively level country, loses 432 feet of elevation in its Generation Schedules flow from Passau, Germany, to Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. Total generation of electric power in utility plants connected to the network The major problem is one of harnessing the energy of the falling water was slightly over 2.9 million MWH in 1946, and 3.2 million in 1947 (see St. A. in such a way as will give sufficient production of power at any time of the Table 93), the greatest significant difference having been the greater share year to meet the highest demands. At the end of 1947 many developments generation by thermal plants in 1947, which increased from 12.2% to 15.8%. were located along the major rivers in the course of their flow through the This was caused, in the first place by the greater availability of coal during relatively flat arterial valleys, with insufficient storage capacity, and as 1947, which permitted greater utilization of the thermal plants, and in the such were profoundly affected by the seasonal variations in the flow of second place by the drought which held down hydro-electric production these rivers. that year and obliged an abnormally long use of the thermal plants. The Germans recognized this deficiency of the Austrian system and started construction of their reservoir plants in the Alpine region. It will General Evaluation of the Austrian Power System be necessary for the Austrian government to carry this, or a similar program through to completion before Austria can be freed from her seasonal depen The Hydro-Electric System dency on thermal generating plants, which burn expensive imported coal. It is estimated that the portion of Austria's hydro-electric potential So far the Austrian government plans for the exploitation of the nation's which could be developed economically amounts to approximately 5 million hydro-electric potential are mainly in the blueprint stage, but construction kilowatts, and would have a productive capacity in the neighborhood of is underway on a few major projects. The following paragraphs will be 20 billion kilowatt hours per year. By the end of 1947, after the reorganization concerned only with existing plants or those actually under construction of the power plants and the construction of transmission lines needed to at the end of 1947. POWER GENERATION €! CONSUMPTION IN AUSTRIA BY LAENDER - 10,000,000 KWH CONSUMPTION DECEMBER 1947
- 10,000,000 KWH GENERATION
- TRANSMISSION LINE
- IMPORTS
- EXPORTS
LIECHTENSTEIN
FIGURE XXII! PRINCIPAL RIVERS S MOUNTAINS of AUSTRIA
PREPARED BY U.S. ALLIED COMMISSION AUSTRIA Figure 34
89 DEMAND FOR ELECTRIC POWER COST OF GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER VS. RIVER FLOW, AUSTRIA IN AUSTRIA, 1946
GROSCHEN / KWH STEAM VS. WATER POWER 25 -t
20
•\
\ ^^^^^^•^^^^^LEC T R | C1T Y
\
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC • HYDRO - ELECTRICITY SCHEMATIC DRAWING SHOWING AVERAGE DEMAND CURVE FOR ELECTRIC POWER VS. AVERAGE FLOW CURVE OF PRINCIPAL AUSTRIAN RIVERS IN TERMS OF ELECTRIC POWER POTENTIAL 0 O IOOO 2000 3000 400 0 5000 7000 8000 8760 PREPARED BY U.S.ALLIED COMMISSION AUSTRIAN PREPARED BY U.S. ALLIED COMMISSION AUS1RIA Figure 35 Figure 36 The most important hydro-electric development under way in Austria respectively and are designed to provide peak power on the German network is the 300-megawatt generating station at Kaprun, Land Salzburg, which, especially during times of seasonal power shortage. It may be, however, when completed, will be one of the largest plants in Europe. It will derive that the Austrian government will prefer to continue the export of the its power from several glacial streams which fall more than 3,000 feet down production of these plants, taking advantage of their new transmission the Kaprun Valley. The water will be stored behind a system of dams, link with the main Austrian system only in times of serious shortage of designed to provide a regulated flow to the generating stations at all times power from other Austrian sources, since electric power is among the few of the year. Storage facilities will be great enough to maintain peak operation commodities which Austria can hope to supply perpetually to Germany in through the normal dry seasons. return for Ruhr coal. A second great project, scheduled for completion in the future, is the The Tyrolean Power Company plants are headed by the Gerlos and Ybbs-Persenbeug project, at the confluence of the Ybbs and Danube Rivers. Achensee works. The Achensee plant receives its water from the Achen The capacity will be 140 megawatts, among the highest in Austria. Lake, at whose outlet a higher dam is under construction, which will permit Of the existing power plants in Austria, many are partially lost to the an increase in the storage facilities of the lake. At present there are no ade Austrian economy as far as their power output is concerned. The Vorarlberg quate means for storing the runoff from melting snow during the spring system is still required to export the majority of its energy to south-western runoffs, so that this great potential is not fully available during the dry Germany. The eventual reclamation of these plants would be a valuable seasons, when it is most needed. The equipment of the Gerlos plant was addition to the Austrian system; the principal Vorarlberg stations, Rodund, severely damaged during the war, but this plant was in full operation at Vermunt, and Obervermunt have capacities of 170, 120, and 30 megawatts the end of 1947. 90 of Austria and Bavaria, both of whom claim ownership of the installations. ELE:c"rmc POWER PRODUCTION They are both 72-megawatt stations which were started by the Germans IMPC)R TS AND EXPORTS, AUSTRIA during the war, one of which is not as yet completed, although they are IN TENS OF MILLION KWH already producing over half of their capacities. IS)4e 1 3 Two important plants at Schwabegg and Lavamiind on the Drau River 32 N near the Yugoslav-Carinthian border were built during the German occu / 30 k pation, and are now contributing a yearly amount of nearly 100 million * 28 / ' \\ kilowatt hours of their joint capacity to the transmission lines leading \ J (' \ \ to Vienna. 26 f J / \ 24 \ \N / T The Thermal-Electric System \ /lf f h \ / 1 22 \ \ There are five major thermal-electric public utility generating stations 1 \ / 20 \ f in Austria, which may be divided into three general groups. First, there \ y r / / are the two plants which supply Vienna and its surroundings, both of which 18 /, / > t i * • now burn hard coal. A modern oil-burning plant was built by the Germans 16 / t / and removed as war booty by the Soviets in 1945. 14 V t \ > r Second are the Timelkam (Upper Austria) and Voitsberg (Styria) plants, 12 i which are designed to burn lignite from nearby Austrian mines. \ / 10 i Third is the Huette Linz plant, now undergoing repair, which was designed / 8 i -1 \ by the Germans to burn a mixture of hard coal, lignite, oil, and gas from * \ the blast furnaces of the United Austrian Iron and Steel Company works, 6 / \ / i / at which works this plant is located. 4 • \ The Voitsberg and Timelkam plants are important members of the com *• ^ _ 2 < / s pound network of central Austria. Since they burn locally mined lignite, / \ > —•*• / they are not as vulnerable to shortages of hard coal, which are a constant JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC —— • TOTAL GENERATION POWER EXPORTS danger to the majority of the thermal-electric stations. Their capacities — — — - HYDRO GENERATED POWER IMPORTS of 40 megawatts and 51 megawatts respectively are completely utilized THERMAL GENERATED during the periodic winter hydro-electric shortages; Voitsberg is on the line SOURCE:US ALLIED COMMISSION AUSTRIA which can be used to supplement the output of the two regular Vienna plants; Timmelkam is in the complex of generating and transformer stations Figure 37 between Kaprun and Linz. The Vienna plants, Simmering, now 58 megawatts, and Engerthstrasse, A 150-megawatt project is under construction along the Enns River, 23 megawatts, carry much of the Vienna load and that of its surroundings a portion of which separates the US and Soviet Zones in Upper Austria. despite their obsolescence and the damage sustained by both during There are four stations in the project located at Miihlrading, Staning, Tern- the war. Both are now equipped for coal consumption only; they did burn berg, and Grossraming, all of which will become part of the compound thermal crude oil and for that reason were irregular suppliers of power during the and hydro station group centered around the Huette Linz thermal plant. chronic shortages of oil during 1945/47. The Ering and Obernberg Inn River plants, although located in Upper Huette Linz was built with a capacity of 175 megawatts, the largest in Austria, are operated by the Innwerke Power Company for the joint benefit Austria, but at the end of 1947 was only producing 60 megawatts, partly 91 because of a fuel shortage and partly because sections of the plant are system is being expanded simultaneously, so that railroad operations will not yet repaired. When repaired, the plant will not only supply all of the never have to draw on the general Austrian power supply. power needs of the Linz steel plant, but will also contribute sizeable quantities The principle of continuing power exports even through times of severe of energy to the general Austrian supply. domestic power shortages might seem unsound, but it must be remembered Consumption of Electric Power that hydro-electric power is one of the few commodities with which Austria may hope to compete with her industrially wealthier neighbors. A certain In 1947, with power production at abnormally low levels throughout minimum annual coal import has been shown to be vital to Austria's economic much of the year, domestic consumption of electric energy from all sources existence, most of it obtainable only in areas where Austria has little op totalled approximately 3.6 million megawatt hours. Normally, about one million megawatt hours additional would be available. Production of elec portunity of competing with local producers of manufactured wares. In tricity in 1947 was 4.2 million megawatt hours, the difference of over 600 order to obtain credit for the purchase of coal, she must use electricity as thousand megawatt hours having been exported, principally to Germany. one of her potentially most plentiful and easily marketable commodities. If Austria were to keep her entire electric production for domestic con Among the domestic consumers, industry demands by far the largest sumption until she had expanded her generating capacity to the point single share of the power available, taking approximately half. Metallurgical where a surplus for export was assured throughout the year, the demand industries use 20% of the industrial consumption, the chemical industries 15%, and the paper industry about 10%. for power by the present recipients of Austrian power exports might en courage other hydro-electricity producers, such as Switzerland, to enter as The complete dependence of Austrian industry on the availability of competitors in this market before Austria could expand her production. electric power is shown by the production records of the United Aluminum Works at Ranshofen, near Braunau, Upper Austria. Between November, 1946 and April, 1947, shortage of electric power forced the plant to shut Gas Fuels down completely. In May, with electricity more plentiful, production rose Natural gas from wells at Aderklaa and Neusiedel, east of Vienna, was to more than 1,000 metric tons. Production was fairly steady through August, produced in limited quantities prior to 1943. After that year the output of but in September a severe power shortage developed and output of aluminum the wells increased rapidly from 13 million cubic meters in that year to fell to less than 100 tons per month. 15.6 million in 1945, and to 33.5 million in 1946. This amount continued The capacity of the Ranshofen plant is approximately 60,000 tons an to be delivered to normal consumers through 1947, despite the construction nually, but the exploitation of this potential will continue to depend entirely of a gas-burning electric plant in the Soviet Zone which consumed one on the development of Austria's electric potential. million cubic meters of gas per month. The total 1947 production was, Householders and stores are the second largest consumer of electricity, therefore, approximately 56 million cubic meters. Virtually the entire output accounting for approximately 30% of total consumption. is mixed with household gas manufactured from coal at the Vienna Gas In the overall picture railroads are the third largest consumer, with a Works. The combined production from these two sources of approximately yearly demand of 132,000 megawatt hours, or 6% of total consumption. 300 million cubic meters per year is entirely consumed by Vienna homes However, the Austrian Federal Railways own and operate their own power and industries. network in the areas where lines are electrified. At the end of 1947 there Fuel gas may become a more important source of energy to Austria, were 980 kilometers of electrified track in Austria, and expansion was con as more natural gas wells are discovered and developed, but in the absence tinuing. In 1969 the present program of electrification should be complete, of such expansion no increased use of gas is advisable, in view of the fact with a total of 2,000 kilometers of line electrified, and annual consumption that an increase in the production of gas would necessitate an increase in of electricity at the 800 thousand megawatt hour level. The railways' power coal imports.
92 CONSTRUCTION a REPAIR OF HOUSING, AUSTRIA 1945 1947 ACCORDING TO TYPE OF ACTIVITY
19 4 6 19 4 7 AUSTRIA MINUS VIENNA
VI EN N A
S SCHILLINGS
RECONSTRUCTION a REPAIR OF RECONSTRUCTION 8 MODIFICATION OF NEW a REPLACEMENT HOUSING a ADDITIONS WAR DAMAGE DETERIORATED DWELLINGS TO UNDAMAGED UNITS
NOTE' COSTS REPRESENTED IN AUSTRIAN SCHILLINGS
SOURCE- FEDERAL MINISTRY FOR TRADE AND RECONSTRUCTION
FIGURE XXIV Housing damage of 6,300 dwellings was accompanied by an influx of nearly 100,000 refugees from the fighting areas of Eastern Austria and Germany. It is, The extreme shortage of housing in Austria which resulted from war however, a fact that 29% of the nation's prewar population of 6,652,720 was damage and destruction has been the outstanding factor in the general concentrated in the capital city. Twenty-two percent of the total population housing picture since the war, but it is in reality only the latest, and most live on farms, where damage to living quarters was slight, and 36% live severe feature of the housing problem which has existed, especially in Vienna, in small cities (less than 10,000 population) and in towns which, in general, since the end of the First World War. suffered relatively little damage during the war. Of the remaining 17%% who live in cities other than Vienna, over half are located in communities which The roots of the problem lie in the passage, in 1922, of Austria's first were, at worst, lightly damaged and which have not experienced any out Housing Control Law, which froze existing rents at a level that has hardly standing population increase since the end of hostilities. Furthermore, been changed to the present time. The average rent was fixed at such a low over one-third of all prewar Austrian dwelling units were located within the point that private construction of rental housing was hardly feasible, even city limits of Vienna. Therefore, this study will be principally concerned though new construction was exempted from the control law. The mass of with situations and developments in the one city. renters declined to pay the high rents needed to support private investment in housing, thereby throwing the burden of housing expansion on the munic ipal governments. The Situation at the End of the War Vienna's Municipal Housing Program of the twenties produced workers' The war had two important and conflicting effects on Vienna with respect apartment housing that became a world-famous model of public housing, to the housing situation there. The heavy bombing of the city by the AAF but the program provided only a temporary satisfaction of the need for and the land assault by the Red Army which resulted in the city's capture expansion of living space. During the thirties, the municipal government allow combined to destroy or damage too badly for occupancy, 86,875 of the 709,760 ed its building program to lapse almost completely, while private building dwellings. An additional 28,000 dwellings were damaged to a lesser degree. was necessarily confined almost exclusively to construction of homes for the These figures demonstrate how much more severely Vienna suffered personal use of the builders. than the nation taken as a whole. With one-third of the prewar dwellings Under the Nazis, the housing laws were changed so as to fix all rents, located in Vienna, the city's housing received approximately 42% of the including those on new construction, thereby further reducing the possi damage and destruction done to all of Austria during the war. bility of private interest in housing. During the war, of course, the diversion The tremendous loss of living space would have resulted in a major of nearly all building materials into war production prevented building by housing disaster if the army draft, the transportation of workers to war either private or government agencies. industries in Czechoslovakia, Germany, and other parts of Austria, the This static situation in the field of housing expansion, coupled with expulsion of Jews, the deaths from bombing, and the evacuation of the a normal, steady increase in the population, had produced a housing shortage city in the face of land and air attacks, had not combined to reduce the popu in Vienna even before the beginning of hostilities in 1939. The war damage lation from its 1939 level of 1,929,976 to 1,323,758 at the end of hostilities. to housing, therefore, was an especially severe blow. Using the 1939 average of 2.73 people per dwelling unit, with "dwelling Practically all of Austria's larger cities and many of the smaller popu unit" used here to mean any combination of rooms which serves as a lation centers suffered war damage to varying degrees. In addition, wholesale single dwelling, it appears that the loss of 86,875 dwellings should have population shifts within Austria as a result of the war created maldistri displaced approximately 237,000 people from their homes, whereas there were bution of the population in terms of existing housing. No area was totally actually nearly 600,000 fewer inhabitants of the city than before the war. The unaffected in these ways, but the housing problem of Austria can really be figures are accurate as far as they go, but unfortunately for most of the people told in terms of Vienna alone. This is not to minimize the severe crises existing who had been bombed out of their homes, the population loss had been in some of the smaller cities, notably Salzburg where the destruction or distributed among practically all dwellings. In other words, there were very
93 few empty dwellings in Vienna, although many of those left standing were only in the City of Vienna and in Lower Austria, this law, generally refered to inhabited by an abnormally small number of people. The few houses and as "Law 138," was extended, with Allied Control Council approval, to all apartments that were empty, as well as some others which were still occupied of Austria in February of 1946. by their owners were quickly requisitioned by the four Allied Powers, whose Principal provisions of Law 138 included the following: initial requisitions removed slightly over 6,000 dwellings from potential 1. Authority for exercising housing controls was given to Vienna and other use by indigenous house-hunters. The order of requisition observed by United municipalities having their own statutes and, subject to decree of the Land States, British, and French forces was to requisition first apartments or Governors or the Ministry of Social Administration, to smaller communities houses occupied or recently abandoned by Nazi Party officials, and only demonstrating need. after these possibilities had been exhausted to turn to the dwellings of other 2. Municipalities were empowered to requisition dwelling space under residents. certain conditions in order to provide necessary housing. The paradox was that in a city where the population per dwelling unit 3. Requisitioning was specifically authorized in the case of "illegal" (pre had dropped from 2.73 in 1939 to 2.13 in July, 1945, there were homeless 1938) Nazis and Nazis refusing to exchange their houses or apartments for people wandering the streets and sleeping in parks. The housing control others offered to them by the Housing offices. Vacant or under-occupied machinery which had existed throughout the war had collapsed with the apartments, houses, and surplus rooms were likewise subject to requisition. military defeat of the German armies, as most of the housing officials, like 4. Members of the Nazi Party could be required to accept a choice of officials in other branches of the Land and municipal governments, had been one or two offered houses or apartments in exchange for their present accom Nazis, and fled their posts during the last few weeks of the war. modations. The outlook during the early summer of 1945 was even darker than the exist 5. The right of people affected by a requisition to appeal to the Ministry ing situation. It was certain that there would be an influx of returnees, of Social Administration or to the courts, under general statutes, was assured. whereas the complete breakdown of central government and of the trans 6. Landlords were obligated to notify municipal housing offices regarding portation and communications systems made it extremely doubtful that all dwellings legally subject to requisition. The municipalities, in turn, any extensive repair work could be accomplished before the beginning of could conduct investigations and surveys in order to procure information winter. directly. 7. Municipal housing offices were required to list all housing applicants, The Emergency Period —Winter, 1945—1946 classified in at least three groups according to urgency and merit. The highest priority was specified for Nazi victims, bombed-out families, and persons The first move of the Provisional (Renner) Government toward solution lacking or in immediate danger of losing shelter. of the problem was the surveying of actual conditions. The Occupying Powers 8. Assignment of persons to requisitioned dwelling space had to be on cooperated by aiding the local governments to run hasty population and the basis of priority classification. dwelling counts in their Zones of Occupation during July and August, and 9. AH voluntary exchanges of dwelling units were subject to approval in Vienna the municipal government conducted a house to house canvass by the housing offices. during the month of August. These surveys provided the logical basis for The law was an emergency measure, designed to meet a critical situation, a return to the wartime housing controls which had lapsed during the last and it was necessary for the welfare of the nation as a whole, but it was drastic. days of the war. Municipal housing offices were re-established under the The provisions relating to dispossession and compulsory exchange of dwellings direction of the local Biirgermeister (Mayors). on the part of former Nazis, and those permitting intervention in the personal The legal basis for the drastic action that was obviously going to be neces affairs and living arrangements of numerous other persons stirred up especially sary in the way of requisitioning and assignment of living quarters was strong protests. Appeals from housing office decisions piled up faster than the provided by the Housing Control Law of 1945, passed by the Provisional Ministry of Social Administration and the courts could render decisions. Government of Austria on 22 August of that year. Immediately effective On frequent occasions Allied authorities, as well as the press and the public,
94 found grounds for criticism of the methods and manner of the administrators. which have been mentioned, but the black market building boom showed This was particularly true of the Vienna Housing Office, which was confronted no signs of collapsing until after the currency reform late in 1947. The with by far the most complex task. Notwithstanding recurring examples of deflationary effects of the reform caused an immediate drop in prices of administrative inefficiency and irregularities in carrying out the law, the building materials on the black market, and at the end of 1947 there were necessity for its continuance was recognized, and efforts centered on the indications that supplies were beginning to flow in legitimate channels in promotion of more effective implementation through spot checks of housing amounts which justified the formation of plans for systematic reconstruction office performance and discussions with responsible officials. This closer super of housing. vision of the housing offices improved their performance considerably, and their efficiency was further increased during 1946—1947 by the general Developments, 1945—31 December 1947 increase in stability and personnel quality of government which followed Population Changes the November 1945 elections. There were great obstacles in the way of successful supervision and control There has been no official census of Austria since before the Anschluss. of housing construction, however. The obvious fact that construction Population figures since then, therefore, have come from other government of all types would have to go on at a high rate for several years to come had bureaus whose functions include contact with 100% of the Austrian people, brought into existence hundreds of new construction firms throughout Austria, or from combinations of local censuses. Postwar counts have been made all of them lured into the field by the promise of quick profits in the building on the basis of ration cards issued. While there is no chance of such a count boom. At the same time, though, building materials were in extremely producing too high a figure there is always the possibility of large numbers short supply, chiefly because of the coal shortage which curtailed production of people living in a community and preferring to live underground or off of cement and bricks. Controls over allocation were not adequate to the the black market rather than have their presence become known to the task of distribution of materials in the face of the huge demand. Private government. As time goes on, however, this type of error tends to decrease builders, who were also having to compete with one another for the services with the decline of the black market and the general amnesty granted to of the building trades workers, could not afford to maintain payrolls for former Nazis of lesser guilt. Also, money has become more scarce, so many long periods of time while waiting for materials to reach them through official people who found it easy to live without working at officially recognized jobs channels, so they turned to the black market for their supplies. As the buyers' have been forced into legitimate work, and are now entitled to ration cards competition in the black market intensified, the profits to the producers and appear in the census for the first time. of building materials rose, and more and more materials were diverted from Despite the lack of perfectly accurate figures, however, there is no doubt legitimate channels into the black market. about the rapid increase of the Vienna population since the first count was made in July 1945, when there were 1,323,758 inhabitants. The accompanying With the conditions described above in effect, there was obviously little table shows the almost incredible rate at which returning soldiers, workers, chance for the execution of any plans for the systematic reconstruction and refugees flocked back to their homes. of Austrian housing. There was a great deal of non-essential building, such as the construction of bars and restaurants. Builders who attempted to Population Increase, Vienna 29 July, 1945 — 31 December 1947 conform to government regulations found themselves, in a great many cases, 29 July 1945 1,323,758 unable to obtain the necessary materials. 23 Sept 1945 1,417,298 Naturally, with most of the building materials coming from the black 29 Dec 1945 1,575,452 market, the financing of the use of these materials was only possible for 19 May 1946 1,618,072 black marketeers in other fields, as they were virtually the only people in 5 Jan 1947 1,691,519 Austria with sufficient funds to meet the exorbitant construction prices. 31 Dec 1947 1,730,613 The Federal and Land governments made several attempts to establish The national population may decline somewhat more before a natural in effective control over the supply and use of building materials, some of crease is resumed, since slightly more than 500,000 of the 7,057,140 inhabitants
95 counted on 31 December 1947 were classed as Displaced Persons or other Construction and Repair temporary residents of Austria, most of whom intend to emigrate to countries In 1939, there were 706,047 dwelling units in Vienna, not counting hotel other than Austria rather than settle there permanently. What proportion or other furnished rooms. Between 1939 and the end of the war, 5,673 units of them will actually be able to do so is, of course, an unsettled political were added through new construction and modification of existing structures, question. while 1,960 units were lost to the city through razing of deteriorated buildings Vienna, on the other hand, seems destined for a continuation, at least for a and through modification, giving a net gain of 3,713 units. year or two, of the rapid increase of the past thirty months. The population Bombing and ground fighting destroyed or damaged approximately 114,000 at the end of 1947 was still 199,000 lower than in 1939, whereas the birth dwellings, of which 86,875 were classed as destroyed or temporarily uninhabit rate was roughly equal in those two years, with the death rate at a new low able. Of the latter group, less than half, probably about 40,000, although figure for all years since 1937. no reliable figures are available, were destroyed or damaged beyond repair, One factor of the Vienna population which is having a considerable effect on whereas a substantial number of the remaining units were uninhabitable the housing situation is the steady increase in the number of marriages. owing to destruction of stairways or roofs, with comparatively light damage From a low monthly average of 821, in 1945, the number increased through to the dwelling space itself. 1946 to produce an average for the year of 1,363 per month, and through 1947 The first step toward reconstruction of the city was the clearing away of for an average of 1,621. The majority of new marriages result, naturally, the rubble left by the destruction of Vienna's stone and brick buildings. This in an addition to the list of apartment-seekers, although in a few cases the was largely accomplished in 1945 and early 1946, with the US Army taking couple is able to move into the dwelling already occupied alone by one or the the lead in making available heavy trucks and bulldozers. other of the pair. Simultaneously, the planning of the reconstruction and the establishment There are no figures available to show the number of Viennese presently of controls over building got underway. Following the November 1945 living elsewhere in Austria and merely awaiting a return to normal housing elections, the Ministry of Trade and Reconstruction was given the conditions before moving back to the city, but the farm-dwelling population responsibility for allocation of construction materials and coordination has risen at a rate slightly higher than normal. This may or may not be of the reconstruction programs of the various Laender. A conference of indicative of a reluctance on the part of some Viennese to return to the representatives of the Laender, called by the Ministry in April 1946 estab city, but in any case the number is probably not large, as few people could lished uniform priority and construction standards for all of Austria, and afford to remain away from their normal places of employment. delegated responsibility for the enforcement of these standards to the Land On the other hand, it may be that there are considerable numbers of eastern Governments. This made possible the alteration of the previous Ministerial Austrians living in Vienna because of enforced population shifts in the Soviet decree which had required that all construction projects costing more than Zone. Again there are no figures available, although population figures for 2,000 schillings be approved by the Federal Ministry. Projects costing up to the Soviet Zone show a marked decline since 1939 which is not evident in 30,000 schillings could now be cleared by the Land governments. With this the figures for other Laender (see St. A. Table 1). The population of enormous portion of requests removed from the Ministry machinery, clear Lower Austria in 1939, for example, was 1,297,898, and at the ance by the Ministry of the remainder of the cases was greatly expedited. end of 1947 1,281,301. In Burgenland, another of the Soviet-occupied In October 1946, the Land representatives met again in Vienna and Laender, the population dropped from 286,296 in 1939, to 267,613 drew up plans for a national construction program for the following year. in 1947. Actual construction, of course, was entirely dependent upon the supply One thing is sure. The presence of considerable numbers of displaced persons of building materials. Despite the wealth of timber in the mountainous regions and other refugee groups, plus the political pressures resulting from the of the country, this meant the supply of brick and cement, as brick and stone occupation will prevent a return to stability of population for several years construction have always predominated in the cities. Unfortunately, Austria's to come. largest suppliers of bricks are located in the Vienna area, where the fuel
96 supply in 1946 and 1947 was most critical. In fact, the fuel situation became so of bombed out dwellings on the basis of the lessee paying the cost of recon critical that production of bricks, normally about 650 million annually, struction. The cost of rebuilding averaged approximately 6,000 schillings dropped to 160 million in 1946, and to 130 million in 1947 (see St. A. per room, which placed such units far out of the reach of the ordinary Table 77). person. Black marketeers, in fact, were practically the only single group The Austrian cement industry, whose 1937 production of approximately who were able to finance private reconstruction. An added inducement to 430,000 tons was great enough to permit some export, was hampered in its building of this sort was the fact that such reconstructed space was not efforts to restore production after the war by a shortage of skilled labor, subject to the space allocation laws which affected all old housing. Most fuel, and transportation facilities, all of which combined to hold the 1946 Austrians with sufficient cash on hand preferred to invest it in housing, as output to 387,000 tons, and the 1947 production to 281,000 tons. the currency itself was a shaky commodity, and there were virtually no A shortage of labor in the building industry could reasonably have been consumer goods available. expected after the war, but the severe shortage of building materials con During 1947, war damage repair fell off somewhat, the instances of small fined building activity to a level at which the labor supply was nearly damage having been virtually eliminated during the preceding year and adequate in 1946—1947. Even with the severe curtailment of building a half. 20,519 units were repaired and 2,981 built new in all of Austria. activity, employment during 1946—1947 fluctuated between 120% and In Vienna, 11,679 were repaired and 137 built entirely new. 135% of the 1937 figure, with the demand for labor not quite satisfied. Another million and a half schillings were spent in building up the plant Despite the lack of transportation facilities and the general lack of central of the building material industry, with the lion's share of 1,331,000 schillings coordination of building activities in Austria during most of the summer going into new construction. The remaining 200,000 schillings was split and fall of 1945, considerable expansion of housing took place during that evenly between further repair of war damage and modernization and other year. A total of 5,888 war-damaged dwelling units were restored, 3,270 of modification of existing, undamaged plants. them in Vienna. Of the latter number, 2,128 had been totally uninhabitable. Housing came in for its share of modernization, despite the emphasis Seven thousand twenty-nine additional units were in the process of being placed on mere expansion of the housing facilities. In Vienna, 92 units repaired at the end of the year. Three hundred sixty-five new dwellings were were modified in 1945; 767 in 1946; and 1,075 in 1947. finished in Austria during 1945 (see St. A. Tables 95 & 97). A review of the expenditures for all construction projects since the war Over 206,000 schillings were spent during the same period on repair of shows that 40.7% of the money spent in all of Austria went into housing. war damage to plants of the building material industry. Reconstruction of industrial plants, transportation facilities, public utilities, Building activity during 1946 showed a sharp increase over the preceding and agricultural, forestry, and conservation projects took another 45.3% year. 28,766 damaged units were restored, 17,861 of them in Vienna, 5,485 with the rest going into public buildings of various sorts. of these having been totally unusable. 15,919 additional repair jobs were In Vienna the apportioning of funds followed this pattern closely, with underway at the end of the year. housing accounting for 36.1% of all building in 1945, dropping to 30% in 2,670 new dwellings were completed during the year in all of Austria, 1946, and rising again to 42.2% in 1947. The drop during 1946 was accounted Vienna's share being 116. for by the fact that bridge reconstruction took an exceptionally high amount Nearly one and a half million schillings were spent to improve the capac of money, 47 million schillings being spent during the year for repair of ity of the building material industry, 761,000 going into repair of war the Danube River bridges in Vienna. damage, 554,000 into new construction, and the remainder into moderni zation and repair of existing structures undamaged by war (see St. A. General Observations Table 96). It should be noted here that a great deal of the building activity At the end of 1947 there was, in the strict sense of the word, no "emer throughout Austria, and especially in Vienna during 1946, and much of gency" situation existing in the Austrian or Viennese housing pictures. 1947, was financed by black marketeers who took advantage of Paragraph 3 There was, however, a severe housing shortage, especially in the City of of the Austrian Housing Law which permitted the rebuilding and leasing Vienna. Somewhat less than 14,000 of the 86,000 destroyed or uninhabitable
97 dwelling units had been restored. In terms of total number of units destroyed The low fixed rents of Austria are also a vital factor in the creation of and damaged to any degree, only 33,064 of 114,000 units had been restored. new housing. The average rent paid in Vienna in 1947 was only 23 schillings Vienna's population, on the other hand, showed every indication of per month, or about 3% of the cost of living for the average worker and continuing its increase toward the prewar figure. The two factors taken his family. together point toward the continuing need for a high speed building pro Since in 1947 the cost of construction of a three room flat was about gram. The end of the occupation by the Four Powers will, of course, release 30,000 schillings, it is obvious that, if the builder is to receive a normal 5,678 dwelling units, most of them in the form of apartments or entire rate of return on his investment, the rent charged for the flat would be at houses, but the uncertainty of the international political scene hardly per least six times the controlled price for existing housing. mits the Austrian government to include these units in their planning of Nor is this a situation born of high postwar building costs. The accom building to meet future needs. At any rate, the number is quite small when panying table, showing the importance of government (mostly municipal) fitted into the total picture. building in Austria between 1926 and 1933, demonstrates that, since the The housing shortage in Vienna is not merely a combination of war enactment of the basic rent control law of 1922 which is still in effect, damage to housing and of population growth. It is evident, although no private housing construction has been virtually impossible. statistics are available at the present time, that there are several, more obscure factors contributing to the shortage of dwelling space in the city. Living units built in Austria: 1926—1933 1. During the Nazi regime there was a mushrooming of small business Showing importance of municipal construction enterprises in Vienna. Since no new office space could be made available Total Dwellings Built by at that time or subsequently, and since, in fact, the addition of many Nazi Year Constructed Municipality % of T01 government functions to the already huge Austrian bureaucracy caused 1926 7,864 6,753 85.9 many small office space users to be evicted, a large number of dwellings 1927 5,364 4,584 85.5 became office or store space in whole or part. 1928 5,576 5,003 89.7 2. Much office space needed for vital functions, such as government 1929 7,962 6,862 86.2 offices, banking, etc., was destroyed during the war or requisitioned by the 1930 7,703 5,920 76.9 Occupying Powers immediately thereafter. The original users of this space 1931 6,940 5,258 75.8 have forced less important office users into dwelling units. 1932 4,032 2,789 69.2 3. The encroachment on dwelling space by commercial functions is The Vienna housing situation from the standpoint of rents looks, there furthered by the nature of the Austrian and Vienna systems of commercial fore, somewhat as follows. licensing. Virtually every commercial function in Vienna is licensed either by the Federal Government or by the Municipality. The licenses, due to Although a relaxation or abolition of rent controls as a stimulus to pri numerical limitations or political favoritism in their issuance, are often vate building of housing would greatly increase living costs, thereby increasing valuable commodities. Since maintenance of a license usually requires the prices of goods produced in Austria, the freeing of rents would undoubtedly maintenance of an office, many "dummy" offices are maintained, usually bring about greater equity of distribution of housing. People would, through in dwellings. more normal pricing of housing, tend to live in dwellings of the size, location, 4. The distribution of housing is inequitable. Because of the extremely and general style commensurate with their needs and means. As the matter low fixed rents in Vienna, elderly small-income couples whose children no stands, a single person, or an elderly couple retired on a small pension can longer live with them are able to keep the large apartments or houses which afford to live in an apartment large enough for a worker and his large family. formerly held entire families. The Housing Law of 1945 has tended to This would be a positive good result of turning over trie burden of housing correct this inequity, but there are numerous cases remaining. construction to private industry.
98 Another good, of course, would be that, in the race to reap the greatest Another factor in favor of large scale government building is that, since harvest profits, builders would erect large quantities of housing in the it is generally done on a large scale, it is capable of inexpensive completion. shortest possible time. Materials and fixtures may be purchases at a lower profit margin. On the other hand, the present system of controlled low rents has the Should the government provide housing on a large enough scale to permit controlled rents and free distribution of dwellings, the nation may effect of helping to keep prices of Austrian-produced goods at a low find itself with too large an investment in housing to permit a sound level simply by obviating any rises in this factor of the workers' cost of financial structure. living. If rents should remain under control, a big but unanswered question is Also, a new government program of low-rent workers' housing would how long they are to be pegged at a level which was part of the price-wage take care of one large, important, and individually weak (economically) structure set up to combat the post-World War I inflation, and which has group of home-seekers. This would ease the strain on existing housing, little, if any relationship to present realities. The Federal government has thereby making it possible for the large middle class of shop owners and considered this problem since the war, but has decided that it is both white collar workers to secure living space. The more prosperous economically and politically most expedient to hold the line on housing class of Austrians can, of course, afford to support the cost of private prices while allowing slight increases in the price levels of other cost of building. living items.
99 under the Act of May 1919. In the same year collective bargaining was recog Social Administration nized as the legal procedure for establishing wages and working conditions. Introduction The 8-hour work day, the 48-hour work week, and the establishment of 2 weeks paid vacation for manual workers (Arbeiter) were also enacted into A strong democratic trade union movement can be the best guarantee of law in 1919. In 1922 the whole system of labor courts inherited from the democracy in any country. In Austria, the labor movement was the back Empire was overhauled to extend their jurisdiction and to give workers bone of the first Republic; its destruction was a necessary prerequisite representation. for the success of Fascism; its reconstruction has been a necessary foundation Under the first Republic the trade unions and the Socialist Party became for the redevelopment of democracy in Austria. Hence, considerable effort the center of the workers' lives. There was a large and lively labor press, has been directed by the US occupational authorities toward assisting the and an educational and cultural program was fostered by the labor move trade unions in the difficult process of recreating the institutions and prac ment. Workers' libraries were maintained in all parts of the country, and tices that once made the Austrian labor movement famous, and encouraging music, drama and sports groups were encouraged. The low-rent workers' the most democratic ideas and elements within this movement. This led dwellings erected by the Socialist Vienna municipality were famous through to the establishment of such contact as would permit free and full discussion out the world. in a friendly atmosphere between American officials and trade union leaders, without in any way surrendering the right to criticize freely and vigorously There was only one serious problem; the trade union movement was not those activities and programs which appeared contrary to the best interests unified. Every political party competed for the working class vote. The of a democratic Austria and the fulfillment of the US occupation mission. largest group of unions were the "Free Trade Unions", which were closely con In such discussion, whether unofficially or through quadripartite channels, nected with the Socialist Party, and which included 77 % of all the trade union it has always been necessary to remember that the Austrian trade union move members in 1932. The Christian Trade Unions, affiliated with the Christian ment is not a new movement, but that it has its own traditions and ideals, and Socialist Party, had 15% of the organized workers, and the German Trade that many of its leaders have been seasoned, not only by years of experience Unions, affiliated with the Pan-German Party, 8%. There was also a small prior to 1934 but by bitter underground struggle and concentration camp group of "Independent Unions", connected with the Clerico-Fascist Heim internments in the dark years when Fascism ruled Austria. wehr which, however, did not publish membership figures.
The Labor Movement Suppression of the Unions in 1934 Historical Background With the Dollfuss seizure of power in 1934 this free trade union move ment came to an end. One of the first acts of the newly established Austrian Although the Right of Associations of 1867 gave legal status to the trade "Corporate State" was the dissolution of the unions and the confiscation of unions, it was not until the establishment of the Republic in 1918 that the their properties. Shortly thereafter, the works councils were also dissolved unions were given complete recognition by the government. Under the Repub and one union, the United Trade Union (Einheits-Gewerkschaft) was de lic, there was a rapid growth in union membership and activities and in signated by decree as the only labor organization in Austria. Its officials the developing of collective bargaining institutions. Austria, although one were appointed by the Ministry of Social Administration. This Union was of the smallest countries in Europe, had the third largest trade union move therefore in fact only an agency of the Government. However, in spite ment, and its labor legislation was envied and emulated in other less strongly of repression, local officials of the disestablished unions continued to collect organized countries. dues, to hold meetings and to maintain contact with the workers. When In the early days of the first Republic, the institutional framework for works council elections were held under the auspices of the official United orderly and stable industrial relations was quickly established. Elected Trade Union in 1936, approximately 80% of the representatives elected works councils to represent the employees in each factory were organized were former trade union officials. As time went on, however, repressive and
100 MEMBERSHIP IN THE AUSTRIAN FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS 1945,1946 AND 1947
SOURCE AUSTRIAN FEDERATION OF TRADE UNION VIENNA
PREPARED BY UNITED STATES ALLIED COMMISSION AUSTRIA
POSTAL a TELEGRAPH
CONSTRUCTION a WOODWORKING (MANUAL WORKERS)
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
(MANUAL WORKERS) (PUBLIC SERVICE WORKERS)
(MANUAL WORKERS)
FIGURE XYv' retaliatory measures became more and more severe and these activities became resent one industry. In some cases, owing to the smallness of the country, almost impossible. two or more related industries are combined into one branch. A third The Anschluss with Germany in March 1938 brought an even more effective group of unions, including both manual and white-collar workers, has been repression by the Nazis. The German Labor Front (DAF) took over all organized in the federal service, municipal service, and the state owned property and funds from the United Trade Union. Active labor leaders who railways and utilities. Within the industrial branches the interests of the had failed to flee the country were imprisoned in concentration camps or various crafts are protected by the organization of occupational sections. eventually drafted into the German army. However, some old unionists Organization along geographical lines is also provided, with considerable in managed to escape persecution, and they continued to meet secretly in dependence granted to the Land executives (see Fig. XXVI and St. A.Table 105). their homes and in cafes, to dream of liberation and to plan for the recon The growth of the trade unions since 1945 has been little short of phenom struction of the workers' movement. enal. The Federation had over 300,000 members by the end of 1945, had doubled this number by the following summer and by the end of 1947 Rebirth of the Trade Unions in 1945 had 1,238,088 members, or 67% of the estimated employed population (see The dreams and plans were not futile. In April 1945, shortly after the St. A. Table 105). It should be emphasized that these figures are not swollen entry of the Red Army into Vienna, a national Federation of Trade Unions by the automatic extension of membership through closed-shop agreements. was organized in the capital and received permission to function from the Austrian labor leaders always have been and still are exponents of voluntary Soviet Military Government. The years of suffering had brought the various trade unionism. Closed-shop agreements and the automatic collection of fractions together. Austrian labor leaders, determined that the bitter party dues from employers neither exist nor are they sought by the Federation. antagonism which destroyed the first Republic, and with it the trade unions, Further, the phenomenal growth has taken place in spite of the fact that each would not be repeated, agreed that all three political parties should be rep applicant for membership is screened for former Nazi affiliation. Any Nazi resented in the union. The top leadership (the Praesidien) of each of the taint limits the applicant to provisional membership and prohibits his holding unions were nominated or selected from the old trade union officials with office for a definite period of time. The size of the Union of White-Collar each of the parties more or less equally represented. For the lesser officials Workers is especially noteworthy, in spite of the fact that it cuts across who were elected, largely from the former shop stewards, the tri-party industrial lines, since this group is traditionally the hardest to organize principle gave way to proportional representation and the majority of this in the labor community and was strongly exposed to Nazi propaganda. group are Socialists. The elections of trade union officials in the twelve national conventions held during 1947, reaffirmed this policy of equal tri Federation Constitution party representation in the top leadership and proportional representation In spite of the remarkable growth in membership and organizational among the lower officials. strength, the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions is still operating with In place of the 37 trade unions of the first Republic, 16 branches of the a provisional constitution. This is due to the fact that the Executive Com one union federation were established, covering all industries and crafts mittee of the Federation must wait until all the constituent unions have thus concluding a trend which had begun during the first Republic. (The held their own conventions before holding a federation-wide convention number of trade unions dropped from 54 in 1913 to 37 in 1931 and the Con to draft a final constitution and to elect permanent officials. At the end gress of Free Trade Unions in 1928 adopted the policy of gradually incorpo of 1947 twelve of the unions had already held their conventions and the rating the wage earning and salaried employees into 16 country-wide organi first national congress of the Federation was scheduled to be held in Vienna zations.) These 16 branches were organized along industrial lines, except in May 1948. for wThite-collar workers (Angestellte). Owing to the traditional differentia tion between manual and white-collar workers which had long existed in Trade Union Politics Austria, the salaried employees were given their own organization. The Like all other Austrians, the Austrian worker is politically minded. He industrial organizations which are limited to manual workers usually rep is vitally interested and active in both politics and trade unionism; both
101 are interwoven and a vital part of his life. His newspaper is usually published industries, but the task of carrying out the provisions of collective agree by a political party; his social and political life is tied in with party and ments remains a local problem. Does Hans Schmidt have greater seniority union. He uses his party to further his trade union program. Within the union than Sepp Huber? Is the piece rate set in conformance with the collective organization nominations are submitted by each party fraction in the union agreement? Is the vacation schedule being properly carried out? These and the worker votes for his party. Although the trade unions are non-politi are questions that vary from plant to plant. cal, that is, they are composed of all political parties, all union members are In the United States the trade unions carry out both sets of functions, members of a political party and the possibility of a candidate running the legislative one of writing collective contracts, and the judicial executive without party backing is not usual. The worker has learned, however, that one of interpreting and policing them. In Austria, partly as a matter of a split labor movement is a weakened one. He had seen the several political historical precedent and partly because trade unionism came to the fore trade unions of the first Republic dissipate their energies fighting each other, at a time when the shop steward movement had captured the imaginations and he is convinced that a strong trade union movement must be a unified one. of all European workers, there was no legal relation under the first Republic Top officials of the Federation as well as those of the individual trade between the body which wrote the collective agreement, the trade union unions were carefully chosen to represent all three parties. But since the in conjunction with the employers' association, and the body which im Socialists are the vast majority in the Federation they actually run the plemented that agreement, the Works Council. organization. On the other hand, trade unionists affiliated with the People's The Collective Agreements Act of 1919, as amended in 1930, provided Party sometimes exercise a strategic influence greater than their nominal that wages, hours, and working conditions would be determined by negoti strength, because of the majority held by the People's Party in the Govern ations between employers or trade associations and trade unions. The ment. The Communists form a small, but well-organized and vociferous administration of these agreements, however, was handled separately in each minority. plant by a locally elected Works Council, the members of which were not So far, a common program and a strong desire to cooperate have held the legally required to be trade unionists. In practice, of course, the works coun various political elements within the Federation together, in spite of stresses cil members were normally active trade unionists and there was a high degree and strains. The constant criticism of the Socialist leadership by the Com of cooperation between these two, theoretically distinct, bodies. This sep munists has often proved harrassing, and the People's Party members of the aratist principle was reestablished as soon as the trade unions began to Federation frequently find themselves at odds with their own party leader function again in 1945 and was embodied in the new postwar legislation. ship. It will be interesting to see whether the philosophy of trade union unity can be maintained under the sharpening East-West split. The Collective Agreements Law of 26 February 1947 reestablished the principle that wages, hours, and working conditions were to be determined Basic Labor Law by collective bargaining. Wage increases, however, are subject to the approv al of the Central Wages Commission. For a collective agreement to be Collective Bargaining binding under the law, it must be concluded by either the statutory represent The most important immediate functions of the trade unions, of course, ative bodies, the Chamber of Labor for employees and the Chamber of Com are to obtain for their workers adequate wages and reasonable working con merce for employers, or by voluntary associations, that is trade associations ditions, and to regulate and stabilize the relation between workers and man and trade unions. The "statutory" provisions of a collective agreement agement on the one hand, and among the various groups of workers on the (those provisions which deal with matters which concern the employees other. Except for the settlement of jurisdictional disputes, the economic as individuals) may be extended by the Arbitration Offices to establishments functions of the trade union movement have everywhere a twofold character: other than those of the contracting parties where such establishments are one, that of defining the wages, hours and work relations; and two, that of essentially similar and where application for such extension is made. implementing these definitions in daily life. With the growth of trade union Provision is also made for the settlement of labor disputes through voluntary ism, the sphere of collective bargaining frequently has been extended to whole arbitration. Either party in a dispute may request the intercession of the
102 Arbitration Office as mediator and, if both parties agree in advance, the Ar time union member officials can be candidates for works council memberships bitration Office's decision is binding. In accordance with Austrian tradition, in concerns with more than 500 employees even though they themselves no provision is made for compulsory arbitration. The law provides 9 Arbi are not employees of the firm. tration Offices, one for each Land and the City of Vienna. The chairmen The Works Councils function as watchdogs for the safeguarding of the are appointed by the Ministry of Justice in conjunction with the Ministry interests of the employees. They are empowered to supervise the implemen of Social Administration, while the labor and employer representatives tation of collective agreements and to review the hiring, dismissal, and reclassi in equal number are selected on the basis of nominations submitted by trade fication of employees. They have the right to appeal to the arbitration unions and employer's organizations. Apart from determining the parties office in certain instances and to participate in personnel administration to and the scope of a collective agreement, the major function of these offices insofar as either law or collective agreement is involved. They also may is to facilitate collective bargaining. The enforcement of labor contracts, establish or administer welfare organizations and education facilities for collective or individual, is left to the Labor Courts, discussed below. the workers. On the managerial side, the Works Councils are given the The 1947 Collective Agreements Law is substantially a duplication of the right to review production plans and operations, to make proposals to manage amended 1919 law. The one point of departure, however, is significant. Under ment and to provide two members for the board of directors of joint stock the original act, the individual employer was recognized as a proper party companies employing more than 500 workers. In these large plants, the Coun to a collective agreement, while the new law defines the bargaining agents cils may appeal through the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions to a Nation as those professional organizations of employers and employees "which al Economic Commission when a shut-down threatens or when plans or ac exercise a decisive influence on the economic life of their trade". In short, tivities of an establishment appear to be contrary to the public interest. the appropriate bargaining unit has shifted from the individual employer The members of the National Economic Commission are appointed in equal to the industry. Actually this is what had been happening under the first number by the Chamber of Labor and the Chamber of Commerce, with the Republic. With the development of collective bargaining, fewer and fewer Minister for Property Control and Economic Planning as Chairman. individual and more and more master contracts were written. Nevertheless, Two provisions in the 1947 Act represent departures from and improve from a legal point of view the innovation is radical. 2 Both Socialists and Communists were disappointed in their attempt to ments over the earlier law. The Works Councils may be suspended by a /3 include, agricultural, forestry, and home workers among those classes subject vote of 50% of the employees or may resign as a whole upon a majority vote to the law. This was successfully opposed by the People's Party who argued of its members. The other provision specifies that members of a Works that such workers, in keeping with the Austrian Constitution and with tradi Council are to be granted time with pay during working hours necessary tion, must be excluded from a law of this type, since the Federal Government to enable them to function efficiently. In firms having 200 employees or could state principles, but only the Land Governments could pass imple more, one or more Works Council members, in proportion to the size of the menting legislation in agriculture and forestry. firm, are to be released from their regular duties to devote full time to council activities, with pay. Works Councils Like the Collective Agreements Law, although an advance over previous Like the Collective Agreements Law, the Works Council Law of 1947 con legislation, this measure represents a compromise between the original de tains most of the provisions of the Act of 1919, but also includes modifications mands of the trade unions and the attitude of the employers. The exclusion and additions which give Austrian labor a greater influence than it has ever of agricultural and forestry workers, as in the case of the Collective Agreements exercised before. The law provides for the democratic election by the workers Act, represents a temporary compromise since the provisions of both laws of a Shop Steward in all privately owned establishments with less than twenty will be extended to these groups in later separate legislation. The real basis employees, or of a Work Council in establishments having twenty or more of the dispute between the Socialists and Communists on the one side and employees, except in agriculture and forestry. The number of council mem the People's Party on the other was the extent to which the Works Councils bers varies in arithmetical progression with the number of employees. Full- would participate in plant management and personnel administration.
103 The original draft as written by the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions Other significant Socialist victories at Communist strongholds were recorded. gave the Council a much larger voice in the field of employment and dis In Fohnsdorf the Socialists captured 8 of the mandates against 7 for the Com missal than did the final bill. In fact, by subjecting all prospective employees munist Party as compared with a previous 10 CP and 5 SP; at the Steyr to the approval of the Council and by permitting the Council to protest such Motor Works the Communist representation dropped from 7 to 6 members employment to the Arbitration Office, it granted the Council something while the Socialists increased their leadership from 13 to 16 seats. very close to co-determination in the hiring of personnel. Under the final Although all the elections had not been held by the end of 1947, official draft of the bill as it was enacted into law, the Council need not be informed figures published in December by the Austrian Trade Union Federation of employment until the employee is enrolled in the social insurance program. included results from most of the major establishments and it was probable Nor does the law provide any procedure for the withdrawal of employees that final results would show no substantial change in the total picture. In who are not acceptable to the Works Council. In the case of termination 1,555 enterprises 4,564 works councillors had been elected. Of this number or transfer, however, the Works Council may protest to the Arbitration 67% were Socialist, 9% Communist, 2% People's Party, and 22% non-party Office, if such transfer involves lower wages or less favorable working con representatives. ditions, and if the termination is discriminatory in the Council's opinion The term "non-party" deserves some explanation. On the basis of an anal or would cause hardship to the employee. This latter only applies in cases ysis of 138 Vienna firms in each of which at least one candidate was success of employees who have been employed 6 months or longer with the firm. ful who had not indicated party affiliation, it was found that the vast majority The major difference between the draft and the final bill, insofar as employee of such cases occured in small establishments and involved the election of participation in management is concerned, is that the right to protest against only one to three shop representatives. In such small groups individual the management of a firm for ignoring the suggestions and proposals of a popularity often was the decisive factor, and the relationship among em Council is limited to firms with more than 500 employees. ployees as well as between them and the employer was such that workers might well prefer not to create avoidable friction by stress on political Works Council Elections labels. It was concluded that this group is fundamentally composed along Although no law providing for the election of works councils existed party lines very similar to that shown by actual declaration. in the period between the reconstitution of the trade unions and the passage of the measure discussed above, employers and workers agreed to set up Labor Courts employee representation on a plant basis by the election of works councils Neither the works councils nor the arbitration offices, however, can en in conformity with the earlier law of 1919. During 1945, 1946 and a part of force the provisions of a collective agreement if the employer fails to carry 1947, this program was carried out. In the new law provision was made for out their recommendations. This function is left to the Labor Courts which the replacement of these representatives by those selected under the 1947 law. have jurisdiction over all statutory provisions of the works contracts as well The first elections of works councils under the postwar law began on as all the rights and privileges granted to employees by law. 20 October 1947. Because this series of elections was the first real test of These labor courts serve a twofold purpose. First, they provide a quick and political strength since the general elections of November 1945, each party informal agency for settling disputes. Second, by reducing cost to a minimum was extremely anxious to make as good a showing as possible. One of the and making legal procedures as simple as possible, they enable the individual most hotly contested elections was at the Alpine Montan Donawitz plant in worker to seek the aid of the court without the fear of prohibitive costs or Styria which employs over 5,000 workers. The Communists had held 10 of the drawn out litigation. Since the courts are composed of two lay judges rep 20 previous seats and the Socialists 9. Owing to the size of the plant and resenting the employer and employee as well as a trained judge appointed the narrow margin of difference, both parties felt this to be a test case and by the Ministry of Justice, assurance is provided that a case will be decided both sent in their most powerful and effective speakers. The final result, 11 not only on legal merits but also in accordance with the practical knowledge Socialist and 10 Communist members, with the chairmanship of the council, of the laymen. It is the duty of tKe presiding judge to select lay judges who therefore, going to the Socialists was an important victory for the latter party. come from the same field of work as the parties to the dispute.
104 ESTIMATED TOTAL WAGE AND SALARY EARNERS BY MONTHS 1946 S 1947 TENS OF THOUSANDS 195
^TTTT T 11111 TTTT>--rTT"" 190 IP inn JTT> > *<• r ,^_ LABOR FORCE^i JJJi 185 MT TTTT+rrT I II 1 < ur^EMPLOYMEN T J 180 y\ ) EMPLOYMEN T * 175 ) A X / I 165 / s AVE RAGE LABOF FORC I 1937 160 y
155
150 , AVEFIAG E IJNEMP LOYME NT 19 i ' 1= 145
140
135
130 AVI :RAGE EMPL(DYME N T 1937 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 1946 1947
NOTE: * ALTHOUGH FIGURES ARE ACCURATE ONLY WITHIN LIMITATIONS, THEY ARE USEFUL TO INDICATE TRENDS.
SOURCE: FEDERAL HEALTH INSURANCE FUNDS
Figure 38 105 Like the two previously discussed statutes, the Labor Court Law of 24 July of coordinating labor supply with labor demand, of developing sound, equi 1946 is almost entirely a restatement of the earlier law of 1922. In fact, the new table, and realistic policies for the utilization of displaced persons' labor and law contains only certain technical innovations and improvements over of rapidly increasing the supply of skilled workers, presented great difficulties. the old one. Under the conditions that were present in the summer and fall of 1945, With the reconstruction of the labor courts in the fall of 1946, the need with black marketing offering more attractive awards than legal occupations, for the Industrial Relations Service in Land Salzburg and Upper Austria and with the breakdown in the routine of daily existence and in government disappeared and these offices were closed. They had been originally organized institutions, it was agreed by both the Austrian Government and the Allied by the Land Labor Offices to meet the need for some authoritative channel Powers that it would be necessary to resort to labor conscription. Such for the voluntary settlement of disputes between individual workers or groups measures were introduced in November 1945, but it was not until 18 April of workers and their employers. The Salzburg office was set up in October 1946 that they became general with the passage of the Compulsory Labor 1945 with a full-time director and an informal arbitration board, consisting Service Law. The law required that males between 16 and 55, and females of representatives of workers and employers. Handling an average of 30 cases between 16 and 40 register with the employment office in order to receive a month, the organization was successful in settling nearly 400 disputes. Over their ration cards. However, most women were exempted from compulsory half of the complaints it received resulted from release or dismissal of em labor service under the law. In addition, Nazis, men under 30 and the un ployees, one fourth were wage claims, and the balance concerned questions of employed were made liable to a 6 month period of labor service needed for classification, vacation rights, and social treatment. A somewhat similar service was furnished by the Upper Austrian Land Labor Office.
The Labor Market UNEMPLOYMENT IN AUSTRIA 194 6— I 947 Getting People to Work The war seriously depleted Austrian manpower. There were heavy losses in killed and wounded and close to a million prisoners of war. Nor were those who returned from the prison camps and many of those who had not gone to war properly trained for the needs of a normal peacetime economy. During the war, young men who would have been completing their appren ticeships were drafted into the army and deflected from their normal course, while young women who would also normally have been acquiring skills were diverted into unskilled war jobs. The enormous expansion of the bureauc racy, necessary for the Nazi war machine, had left a residue of only partially qualified white-collar workers. When the war was over, therefore, Austria, faced with the gigantic problem of both physical and economic reconstruction, found its manpower at lowest ebb, both in quantity and quality. One of the most acute problems which faced both the Government and the Allied Powers at the onset of the occupation was that of obtaining an adequate supply of labor, particularly skilled labor for agriculture, construction and
industry. SOURCE:FEDERAL HEALTH INSURANCE FUNDS The first step, that of reorganizing the labor exchanges and purging them of key Nazis, was quickly accomplished. But the larger problems, those Figure 39 106 reconstruction and the guaranteeing of the food supply. The only recourse male displaced persons camp residents between 16 and 60 had been employed to this provision of the bill has been the use of Nazis in part-time supplemen outside the camps in the US Zone, and not more than 15% of the women tary work, removing debris and shoveling snow, by some communities, between 16 and 60. notably Vienna. In August 1946 it was decided, therefore, to extend the provisions of In practice, the Government has seldom invoked the measure. The existence the Compulsory Labor Law to United Nations displaced persons. Following of the law, however, and the possibility of its application is believed to have this change in regulations, there was a steady growth in the proportion of had a beneficial effect on the labor market (see St. A. Tables 99, 101—102). displaced persons residing in camps in the US Zone, employed in the Austrian Immediately after the law had passed, there was a marked increase in the economy. The percentage of men between 16 and 60 so employed increased number of registered unemployed, particularly of men in Vienna, and em from 31.4% on 31 August 1946 to 50% on 15 October, 54% on 31 March 1947, ployment also increased. In the U S Zone, the U S Military Government 77% on 31 July, and 76% on 31 December 1947. No figures are available authorities took steps to put teeth into the law, and several spot inspections on the occupations of displaced persons. It is believed that a very large propor were made in the spring and early summer of 1946, with the result that several tion of them are used as manual workers in construction and reconstruction hundred persons without labor cards were turned over to the Austrian projects. Part of the problem of utilizing displaced persons arises from authorities. the fact that they do not possess Austrian skill certificates. To date foreign skill certificates are not accepted by Austrian authorities as partial or com Vocational Training and Retraining plete equivalents for Austrian requirements. Another necessary line of attack on the problem of labor scarcities was the development of vocational training, and particularly vocational re Employment training. An office was established in the Ministry of Social Administration In spite of the progress achieved in the labor situation, the problem is to organize such a program. Courses were begun in May 1946 and eventually still by no means solved. Employment, as reported by the sickness insurance covered various building trades, welding, metal working, china painting, funds which overestimate actual employment but are useful as an index of embroidery, stenography, tanning, etc. Owing to the Apprenticeship Law, trends, rose in 1946 to a peak point in November of that year, dropped in however, which required a minimum apprenticeship of 2 years in most the winter of 1946/47 as a result of acute fuel and power shortages, and rose trades, these training courses which normally limited the period of training again in 1947 to reach by June of that year a level somewhat higher than and experience to 1 year had difficulties in recruiting students, for no guaran the top level of 1946. At the end of the year seasonal declines had begun tees could be given that the training would be recognized by the Trade to effect the totals but the overall picture was generally improved. Un Unions. employment remained minimal throughout the period and would not have been a problem except that it was concentrated among white-collar workers Utilization of Displaced Persons' Labor (see St. A. Tables 100). The number of unemployed white-collar workers Although the displaced persons were required to register under the Com varied only slightly from month to month. On the other hand, the economy pulsory Labor Law, only displaced persons from former enemy nations was plagued by acute shortages of skilled workers and significant shortages were required to work in order to receive a ration card. For United Nations of common and agricultural labor. Nor was any amelioration felt in the displaced persons the policy was to encourage, but not require them to work. developing situation. Some efforts were made to recruit small groups of It was found as a matter of experience that this policy was not effective. skilled workers from Volksdeutsche in Germany and seasonal workers from Displaced persons failed to enter the labor market in any great number, Italy. a situation which not only created hostility among the Austrians, but also Moreover, it was generally agreed that productivity was at a low ebb represented a loss of manpower and was demoralizing for the displaced during this period. Although no reliable statistical data were available persons themselves. Prior to 16 August 1946, not more than 27.5% of the on employment by specific industries and the validity of production reporting
107 was also questionable, the Ministry for Social Administration estimated that restored. The trade union movement has scored other successes in the enact productivity per man-hour during 1946 and 1947 was only about 50% of ment of its program. The Chambers of Labor were reestablished giving the pre-war level. Many factors contributed to this problem. Certainly the workers equal authority vis-a-vis the Chambers of Agriculture and the low food ration with its effect on the physical ability of the working Commerce. A law was passed establishing ten paid holidays a year. Paid population was one of the most significant. Moreover, because of the low ra vacations for workers were extended by law (passed 27 September 1946) tion, workers were often compelled to take time off to search for food for which was significant not only because it increased the amount of paid themselves and their families. Poor work clothing and shoes also contri vacation time granted to manual workers (Arbeiter) but because it was a buted to absenteeism, particularly during the winter season and in indus step toward breaking down the historical distinction between workers and tries where the work was outside. The lack of modern machinery was a white-collar employees (Angestellte). A Factory Inspection Bill was intro serious factor. Deterioration during the war years, removals during the early duced into Parliament as well as an Agricultural Workers Law which will grant days of the occupation and war destruction had seriously depleted industrial agricultural workers similar provisions to those obtained by industrial em equipment. In addition, low quality and irregular deliveries of raw materials ployees under the Collective Agreements and Works Council Laws. interrupted production flow and reduced operational efficiency. Power The trade union movement has not confined itself, however, to labor legis and fuel shortages, particularly during the winter months, also crippled indus lation; a social and economic program has always been part of the recon trial production. Finally, the psychological effect of a lack of confidence structed Austrian trade union movement. At various times the unions have in the currency combined with the more substantial earnings possible from championed improved controls in the collection and distribution of internal black market activities caused many workers to have a minimum of interest products, severe measures against black marketeers, improved controls in their jobs. over imports and exports, a higher degree of economic planning with workers' Some of these problems will solve themselves. Once reconstruction is participation therein, denazification measures, increases in the basic ration, achieved, the abnormal demands of the construction industry for skilled and reduction in the high wage taxes carried over from the Nazis. While labor will taper off. The apprenticeship and training programs are slowly the trade unions have not been so successful in the fulfillment of their social creating a new body of skilled personnel. Labor reserves probably exist and political program as they have been in the reconstruction of the legis among Displaced Persons, which are as yet not utilized, owing to the legal lation of the first Republic, many of their demands have been met by the and customary restrictions in defining skills. However, when the pressure Government. A series of strikes in September and October 1946 were partly for common labor for reconstruction is removed and the number of foreigners responsible for the introduction of several laws in November and December, reduced to an assimilable level, it is likely that a more liberal attitude will be reflecting the trade union demands. The basic ration was raised from 1200 to taken by the Austrian Government toward recognizing the skill certificates 1550 calories in November 1947, the wage tax was further reduced, a law of Displaced Persons from their native countries. Some of the problems, providing severe penalties for black marketing was passed. too, will disappear with an adequate supply of tools, machinery and raw Wages and Prices materials and with a return to normal productivity. Nevertheless, the short age of skilled labor may continue to hamper the reestablishment of the The immediate problem in the field of wages in 1945 was to prevent the Austrian economy for some time to come. development of a spiraling inflationary situation. One of the first activities of the U S Military Government was to freeze wages in the US Zone as Social and Economic Program of Trade Union Movement of 1 May 1945. As soon as the Quadripartite Wages Committee was formed, the US Element took the initiative in urging a wage freeze for the entire With the reestablishment of free trade unions, of collective bargaining, country. After it was ascertained that the Austrian Government and the works councils and labor courts, and with the freeing of social insurance Austrian trade unions supported the action, wages were stabilized in the institutions from Nazi influence, the structure of Austrian labor law and entire country at levels existent on 10 April 1945, and an Inter-Allied Wage custom, so badly battered in 11 years of repression, has been in good measure Board was established with final authority over all wage changes.
108 DISTRIBUTION OF MEMBERSHIP AUSTRIAN TRADE UNION FEDERATION BY LAENDER AND IN PERCENT OF TOTAL 1946 VERSUS 1947
VIENNA
9 4 6 /AVA\7A\/A\/A\ vtt • TOTA'L MEMBERSHIP: 418,779
19 46 " 924,274 I 9 4 7 - 1,242,088 3 1 9 4 7 495,169
40,000 MEMBERSHIPS
189,923 ,; L 0 W E R - AUSTRIA.....«: • ) VORARLBERG ; j - A U S T R I A '•:. ... BURGENLAND •*•.. ••"*«. .** 1%
\ ..S A L Z B U R G \
C A R I N T H I A ••
AUSTRIAN FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS VIENNA
FIGURE XXVI Once the general wage freeze had been insti INDEX OF NET WAGES IN VIENNA, 1946 AND 1947 tuted it was necessary to provide a machinery for wage adjustments in hardship cases, to adjust APRIL 1945 = 100 wages in accordance with changes in the cost of SKILLED WORKERS UNSKILLED WORKERS living, and to abolish the inequities introduced by 400 the Nazis who used wage rates as one method of 350 350 diverting labor into war industries. Hence, a Cen 300 tral Wages Commission was established in the 300 / Ministry for Social Administration, consisting of 250 / representatives in equal number of the employers 250 200 and the employees, with the Minister of Social — — 200 Administration as Chairman. The Central Wages ————••
150 •«• 150 « — Commission began to function on 28 March 1946. .mm —
In the first 3 months of its operation it received 100 100 over 500 claims for wage adjustments and trans JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC mitted a total of 51 recommendations to the Inter- FEMALE WORKERS AVERAGE SKILLED t UNSKILLED) Allied Wage Board. It was clear that some proce •ten CALL WORKERS dure would have to be worked out for speeding up the processing of wage claims and for evolving 300 / 300
procedures and principles for processing wage ad / / 250 250 justments. Considerable progress had been made, / ••i — «- / largely through the efforts of the Inter-Allied Wage 200 200 - Board, towards achieving these goals when the 100*+ 150 ISO new Control Agreement was signed. _—
The Control Agreement, as it was interpreted inn IOO by the Allied Commissioner's Executive Commit JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC tee and Legal Directorate gave the Austrian Gov ernment the right to make its own decisions on SOURCE: AUSTRIAN INSTITUTE FOR fcCONOMIC RESEARCH 1946 •1947 wage and price levels. In its decision of 30 August PREPARED BY U.S. ALLIED COMMISSION AUSTRIA 1946, the Executive Committee stated also that the Austrian Government would inform the Allied Figure 40 authorities of any proposed changes 7 to 10 working days before they were to become effective, and that the appropriate Directorates except in cases where there were flagrant violations of the basic principles were authorized to consider such proposals and to take such unanimous decision adopted by the Executive Committee. Such glaring violations were extremely as were deemed necessary. As a result of this decision, the activities of the few in number, and as time went on there was a growing feeling on the Inter-Allied Wage Board largely came to an end. With such a short period part of the Allied Powers that wage control should be left entirely in the of notice provided, a wage increase normally went into effect before the hands of the Austrian Government. Inter-Allied Wage Board was able to come to a unanimous decision concerning The actual progress of wage rates remains to a considerable extent a matter its desirability. Hence the Board was extremely reluctant to take action, of conjecture because available statistics are limited and not too reliable. 109 The collection of Labor statistics in Austria is carried on by a multitude difficult to predict. There was some reason to believe that the action would of public, quasi-public and private agencies, often working at cross purposes neither effectively control the inflationary movement, prevent or materially with each other, with the result that some statistics are duplicated and reduce black marketing, nor close the gap between wage and price levels. others are totally lacking, while standards are variable. A movement is on In the field of wages, however, the provisions of the Central Wages Com foot, supported by the Chamber of Labor, to increase the power of the Central mission did make for a more equitable distribution of earnings among various Statistical Office (Statistisches Zentralamt) in order to provide coordinated wage earning groups. Wage rates of workers in commerce, trade, industry and centralized data. The series maintained by the Austrian Institute for and forestry under certain levels were increased; agricultural workers in Economic Research (Osterreichisches Institut fiir Wirtschaftsforschung), the lower categories also received adjustments to bring wage levels more the only continuous series of wage rates, indicates three things, — first into line with pay for other types of work. Apprentice earnings were raised that wage rates rose more rapidly after the decision of the Executive Com 50%, but not less than 10 Schillings per week. Piece-work adjustments followed mittee in August 1946, second, that the upward movement in wage rates the line set down for hourly rates. The salaries of office employees in private gained impetus with the passage of time, and third, that wage increases lagged occupations were raised 36%, but not less than 140 Schillings and not more behind price changes (see St. A. Tables 107—109). than 280 Schillings per month. In general, the increases were proportionately The continuous upward movement in wages and prices, particularly greatest for the lowest paid employees and tapered off as the wage scale rose. the growing gap between wage and price levels, caused growing concern Although the trial period for this Wage-Price Agreement was to be 3 months both in Austrian Government and Allied circles. Members of the three semi from the initial date of 1 August, it became evident by the middle of Septem official bodies which represent the major economic interests of the country, ber that the agreement would not be entirely successful. The cost of living the Chamber of Labor, the Chamber of Agriculture, and the Chamber of began to climb and by the end of the test period, living costs had increased Commerce, met with officials of the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions about 20% above wage levels. Certain, however, that further wage increases in July 1947 to consider ways and means to deal with prices, wages and cur would only be followed by rises in prices and a further continuation of the rency. A committee was appointed to formulate a program. In broad outline inflationary spiral, the Executive Committee of the Austrian Federation of Trade the recommendation of the Committee which was accepted by the Government, Unions decided on a policy of continuing to hold wages at the August levels, and was that prices and wages should be stabilized at a level 300% above that published a 5-point economic program which, they believed, would bring prices of April 1945 or 50% above the general level of June 1947. It was also the down and thus achieve a more permanent solution. This program included: intention of the Committee to use the general adjustment as a means of estab 1. Currency reform. lishing a more equitable relationship between prices and wage levels and 2. Increased production planning through allocation of raw materials among individual wage rates and prices. The Committee also recommended and half-finished goods to essential industries. that sickness, old age and miner's pensions be raised to offset the living 3. Strict rationing of essential consumer goods. cost increases and, in response to the Trade Union demands, that the wage 4. Detailed examination of basic and group prices in order to reduce increases be exempted from payment of the wage taxes. excessive prices to normal levels. A special session of Parliament was convened on 30 July 1947, and those 5. Stringent control of prices and exemplary punishment of all speculators aspects of the new program which required legislative action, such as utility and black marketeers. rates and pensions, were considered and approved. The Allied Commission The labor movement's activities since that time have been devoted to agreed that the action of the Austrian Government was within its authority. a hold-the-line policy on wages accompanied by firm attempts to carry out Previous to this, on 18 July 1947, the Executive Committee had revised its this economic program. method of reviewing wage and price changes, initiating a system of periodic appraisals of the general wage, price, fiscal and monetary factors affecting Social Insurance the general economic situation. The immediate problem in the field of social insurance was the reestablish The results of the new wage-price policy of the Austrian Government were ment and functioning of social insurance institutions. Under the Nazis,
110 German social insurance laws were substituted for Austrian and Austrian inherited from the Reich, was extremely confused and complicated so that institutions were incorporated into German ones with all records centralized the mere physical work of examining and rewriting it took endless time. Politi in Germany. Actually there were very few changes in benefits, taxes and the cal considerations became involved in apparently administrative matters, number and types of institutions, since the German social insurance system such as the number of social insurance carriers and the participation of the closely paralleled the Austrian. The only major changes introduced by the workers in their management. Germans were the centralization of all social insurance institutions and The law that finally passed Parliament, covering health, disability, old age procedures, and the establishment of old age-pensions for workers (Arbeiter). and miners' insurance, represented an improvement not only over the German In the chaos which immediately followed the liberation, Nazi functionaries system but also over previous Austrian practice. The number of health insur fled, records disappeared and the carefully built-up funds of the insurance ance carriers was, largely as a result of Allied pressure, somewhat reduced; institutions were found to have been dissipated. a democratic appeals procedure was provided; uniform contributions and uni In the US Zone the Military Government authorities quickly adopted form benefits for people in the same occupations and with the same wage a policy which would permit a continued functioning of the basic insurance rates were included; and adequate provision was made for the representation institutions. Provision was made for the continuation of sickness, old age, of employees in the administration of social insurance carriers. It must war invalidity, accident and unemployment insurance carriers. Unemploy be noted, however, that the Austrian social insurance system provided in the ment benefits were prohibited as long as reasonable job opportunities were Transitional Social Insurance Law still suffers from the piecemeal character available in a given area. Since the danger existed that war pensions might given it by its historical development, and that Austria has far to go before become a tremendous strain on the economy and create a favored pro-Nazi she develops the kind of simple general and clear insurance systems that class, military pensions arising out of service in the German Armed Forces exist in France and England. were limited to cases of physical disability resulting in handicap and confined In the absence of an overall social insurance law, the day-to-day problems to immediate dependent relatives. The amounts were held to the lowest figures in this field were met by German law, administrative decrees or by special legis paid for comparable physical disability arising from non-military causes. This lation. Accident insurance (workmen's compensation) was quickly reconstituted skeleton program was soon achieved in other Laender as well, and in order to in in 1945, with equal contributions by employers and employees. With the sure the financial solvency of the health insurance carriers, the Allied Council cooperation of the US and British Elements, both in Austria and Germany in December 1945 initiated a system of reporting by the various carriers. a considerable number of insurance records were found and returned to Austria. Once these minimum objectives had been achieved it became apparent both The Short-Term Unemployment Compensation Law which provided a to the Austrian authorities and the Allied offices working in the field that payment of 60 to 80% of wages from unemployment insurance funds for short- the freeing of Austrian social insurance from German influence and its re term stoppages arising from fuel, power and raw material shortages, was kept jestablishment on a sound and democratic basis required the promulgation on the statute books, in spite of Allied pressure for an overall integrated of a completely new Austrian Social Insurance Law. social insurance law, and even though it was generally recognized that short- It was not the intention of the framers of the Transitional Social Insurance term unemployment compensation of this sort violated the principles of Law to incorporate in this law the major reforms that would enable Austria social insurance. Fortunately, unemployment never became a pressing to come abreast of other democratic, progressive countries in the field of social problem (see Fig. 38 & 39 and St. A. Table 103) and the delay in creating insurance. But a law was immediately required that would assure democ proper legislation was not serious. ratic control and management, would provide adequate insurance against The war disability pensions represent another unsolved problem. The risks and adequate minimum benefits, and would insure the continued sol system is cumbersome and complicated, operating under three different vency of the insurance carriers. laws and has different systems of payment for veterans of the First and In spite of the comparatively modest initial program it was not until Second World Wars. An Advisory Commission on Pensions, set up under March 1947 that Parliament passed the Transitional Social Insurance Law. the chairmanship of the Ministry of Social Administration, is expected to Many factors were responsible for the delay. The social insurance legislation work out legislation unifying the administration of war pensions.
Ill Outlook for 1948
There is no doubt that by the beginning of 1948 Austria's economy was in a much more auspicious position than at the beginning of the preceding two years and particularly of 1946. While the curve of economic development at the end of 1946 took a steep dive, due to the crisis in the power supply caused by insufficient imports of solid fuel and by the catastrophic drought which seriously reduced the output of hydro-power, the situation at the end of 1947 was quite different. A mild and rainy fall in that year gave promise of a good supply of hydro-power, while a steady increase in solid fuel supplies made it possible to hold industrial production at an even level. In addition, the second currency stabilization, which occured at the end of 1947, gave promise of improved monetary conditions. Nevertheless the rate of further improvement was still entirely dependent on the amount of foreign aid which the country would receive during 1948. The establishment of the Economic Cooperation Administration held great promise for Austria too. The 200 million dollars of foreign aid received during 1947 was just sufficient to maintain the minimum subsistence level. If the Austrian economy is to make further progress a still larger amount of foreign aid will be required. Particularly more imported raw materials and more capital goods are needed to bring into full play the economic potential existing in the country. The additional needed amounts are not too large. If they are forthcoming through ECA and the Export-Import Bank, as it is confidently expected, the vicious circle existing in Austria at the end of 1947 may be broken and the country may be able within a few years to stand on its own feet again. However, one thing must not be forgotten; aid alone will not be sufficient. It will require international peace and the full cooperative effort of the whole population of Austria, with no regard to egotistic interests of individual groups.
112