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Summer 2003 "Bound" to Cooperate – Abstract Even though Austria has been considered a veritable center for post-World-War-II espionage and clandestine activities, there is only scarce reliable and public knowledge about the actual work, both successes and failures, of foreign intelligence services on Austrian soil. Nor is there more than casual knowledge or awareness of the three current Austrian services, founded or re-established in the Second Republic, to foil alleged intelligence intrusions on Austrian sovereignty. This article tries to place the question of the Cold War intelligence battles in occupied Austria from 1945 to 1955 and of the continued importance of Austria as an international meeting-ground for dozens of intelligence services since 1955, i.e. up to the end of the Cold War and beyond, in the context of the history of the Republic of Austria since 1918; it also purports to sketch the development and character of the three Austrian services, i.e the Staatspolizeilicher Dienst [security police], just recently (in 2002) re-organized as the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz und Terrorismusbekämpfung [Federal Agency for State Protection and Counter-Terrorism], and the two military services, the Heeresnachrichtenamt [foreign military intelligence] and the Abwehramt [military counter-intelligence], headquartered in Vienna. Finally, and importantly, there is the attempt to define and place these Austrian services within the larger context of European and transatlantic cooperation. |
The Journal of Intelligence History is published by the International
Intelligence History Association, founded in 1993 to promote scholarly
research on intelligence organizations and their impact on historical development
and international relations.