Bruno Kreisky

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Bruno Kreisky
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
16 July 1959 – 19 April 1966
Chancellor
Preceded byLeopold Figl
Succeeded byLujo Tončić-Sorinj
Personal details
Born(1911-01-22)22 January 1911[1]
Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died29 July 1990(1990-07-29) (aged 79)
Vienna, Austria
Resting placeVienna Central Cemetery
Political partySocial Democratic Party
Spouse
Vera Fürth
​
​
(m. 1942; died 1988)​
Children2
EducationUniversity of Vienna

Bruno Kreisky (German:

Foreign Minister from 1959 to 1966 and as Chancellor from 1970 to 1983. Aged 72 at the end of his chancellorship, he was the oldest Chancellor after World War II
. His 13-year tenure was the longest of any Chancellor in republican Austria.

With his 13-year chancellorship, known as the Kreisky era, he is one of the most important political figures in the country as well as in Western European social democracy. Partly at the same time as him, the Social Democrats Willy Brandt of West Germany and Olof Palme of Sweden were heads of government, with whom he worked closely in the Socialist International.

Life and political career

Kreisky was born in

Holocaust by emigrating to Sweden, where he remained until 1945. On 23 April 1942, he married Vera Fürth (30 December 1916 – 5 December 1988)[5]
and had one son and one daughter.

He returned to Austria in May 1946, but he was soon back in

Theodor Körner appointed him Assistant Chief of Staff and political adviser. In 1953, he was appointed Undersecretary in the Foreign Affairs Department of the Austrian Chancellery and in this position he took part in negotiating the 1955 Austrian State Treaty
, which ended the four-power occupation of Austria and restored Austria's independence and neutrality.

Kreisky was elected to the Austrian parliament, the

Nationalrat, as a Socialist during the 1956 election. He was elected to the Party Executive along with Bruno Pittermann, Felix Slavik, and Franz Olah, and thus became a member of the central leadership body of the party. After the 1959 election, he became Foreign Minister in the coalition cabinet of Chancellor Julius Raab (ÖVP), a post he continued to hold under Raab's successors Alfons Gorbach (1961–1964) and Josef Klaus (1964–1966). He played a leading role in setting up the European Free Trade Association, helped solve the South Tyrol question with Italy, and proposed a "Marshall Plan" for the countries of the Third World
.

In

Washington D.C. (1979)

In February 1967, Kreisky was elected chairman of the Socialist Party. At the March 1970 elections, the Socialists won 81 seats, two short of a majority. Kreisky became the first Socialist Chancellor since 1920, heading the first purely left-wing government in modern Austrian history. He was also Austria's first Jewish Chancellor. Kreisky's government was tolerated by the then national-liberal Freedom Party in return for electoral reforms that expanded the Nationalrat and increased the proportionality of votes. Following the passage of these reforms, he called fresh elections in October 1971. Although the reforms were intended to benefit smaller parties, the Socialists won a strong majority government with 93 seats. They also won half the popular vote, something no Austrian party had ever achieved in a free election. Kreisky was reelected in 1975 and 1979 elections

, each time winning comfortable majorities in the Nationalrat.

Kreisky turned 70 in 1981, and by this time the voters had become increasingly uncomfortable with what they saw as his complacency and preoccupation with international issues. At the

transplant. During his final years he occasionally made bitter remarks directed at his party, who had made him their honorary chairman. He died in Vienna in July 1990.[6]

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Political views and programs

Kreisky (left) with Abul Fateh in Vienna, 1962

In office, Kreisky and his close ally, Justice Minister

Roman Catholicism. He reformed Austria's family law and its prisons, and he decriminalized abortion and homosexuality. Nevertheless, he sought to bridge the gap between the Catholic Church and the Austrian Socialist movement and found a willing collaborator in the then Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna, Franz König
. Kreisky promised to reduce the mandatory military service from nine to six months. After his election, military service was reduced to eight months (if performed in one stretch, or six months plus eight weeks if broken into two segments).

During Kreisky's premiership, a wide range of progressive reforms was carried out. Amongst other reforms, employee benefits were expanded, the workweek was cut to 40 hours, and legislation providing for equality for women was passed. Kreisky's government established language rights for the country's Slovene and Croatian minorities. Following the 1974 oil shock, Kreisky committed Austria to developing nuclear power to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, although this policy was eventually abandoned after a referendum held in 1978. A moderate reform of the penal code was carried out, discrimination against illegitimate children was eliminated, marriage grants were introduced, mother-child pass (a pre-natal/post-natal care and infant health program) was established, a major reform of the penal code was carried out, and sex equality legislation was passed. In addition, four weeks of annual vacation were introduced, the office of ombudsman was established, the law of parentage was reordered, consumer protection legislation was passed, and social security coverage of the self-employed was introduced.[7] In 1979, restrictions on redundancy and the dismissal of employees were made.[8]

Widows' pensions were indexed in 1970, and in 1972, free medical checks for healthy people were made available, while optional health insurance for students was introduced. Periods of study, illness, and unemployment were allowed pensionable status, and in 1974 family and birth benefits were indexed.[9] The 1973 Special Subsidies Act introduced subsidies for those made redundant as a result of structural changes. The Wage Continuation Act of 1974 introduced wage continuation for workers in private enterprises in cases of sickness. In 1976, accident insurance was extended to work-related activities. The Night-shift/Heavy Manual Work Act of 1981 introduced preventive healthcare and a special early retirement pension for heavy manual workers.[10]

Full sick pay was extended to blue-collar unions in 1974, and family benefits were expanded to include full school transport (1971), a marriage payment (1972), payment for school books (1974), and a birth payment (1976). In 1978, due to a change from tax allowances to direct payments for children, family benefits increased significantly. Between 1973 and 1980, expenditure on health and education rose on average by 13.7% and by 12.9% per annum respectively. In education, pupil/teacher ratios fell sharply and a new university law was passed in 1975 in order to make higher education more democratic.[11] The educational sector was significantly expanded under Kreisky, greatly increasing the numbers of Austrians receiving a university education.[12]

The 1972 Crime Victims Act established the principles of compensation for health damages caused (directly or indirectly) by crimes punishable by more than 6 months' imprisonment. The 1974 Town Renovation Act dealt with the renovation of residential town areas, while the 1975 Housing Property Act established the property rights of house- and flat-owners. In 1975, housing supplements were extended to cover costs of housing improvements. In 1974, the work prohibiting periods before and after work birth were extended up to 8 weeks, and in 1976 the regulations were extended to adoptive mothers. A 1981 law adapted pension schemes to changes in the families' loads equalization scheme, and introduced a widowers' pension equivalent to the widows' pension. In 1976, accident insurance for pupils and students was introduced, while an act passed that same year enabled people to undertake the care of close relatives who were ill.[13] Under the Bankruptcy Wage Continuation Act of 1979, claims against bankrupt firms were paid from a special fund.[14] In 1982, a maternity allowance payable for 16 weeks was introduced for self-employed women.[15]

Kreisky played a prominent role in international affairs, promoting dialogue between North Korea and South Korea, and working with like-minded European leaders such as Willy Brandt and Olof Palme to promote peace and development.[citation needed] Although the 1955 State Treaty prevented Austria from joining the European Union, he supported European integration. Austria cast itself as a bridge between East and West, and Vienna was the site for some early rounds of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the United States and the Soviet Union.[citation needed]

Kreisky questioned

1973 hostage taking. He once said that he was "the only politician in Europe Golda Meir can't blackmail." He cultivated friendly relations with Arab leaders such as Anwar Sadat and Muammar Gaddafi, and in 1980 Austria established relations with the Palestine Liberation Organisation. He tried to use his position as a European Jewish Socialist to act as a mediator between Israel and the Arabs.[citation needed
]

Kreisky was notable for his allegedly apologetic approach to former

bitter conflict, which did not end until Kreisky died. In 1986, Wiesenthal sued Kreisky for libel. Three years later the court found Kreisky guilty of defamation and forced him to pay a substantial fine.[17]

In 1976, the Bruno Kreisky Foundation for Outstanding Achievements in the Area of Human Rights was founded to mark Kreisky's 65th birthday. Every two years, the

Bruno Kreisky Human Rights Prize
is awarded to an international figure who has advanced the cause of human rights.

Later in his life Kreisky tried to help some Soviet dissidents. In particular, in 1983 he sent a letter to the Soviet premier Yuri Andropov demanding the release of dissident Yuri Orlov, but Andropov left Kreisky's letter unanswered.[18]

Legacy

Today, Kreisky's chancellorship is the subject of both controversy and nostalgia. Many of his former supporters see in Kreisky the last socialist of the old school and look back admiringly at an era when the standard of living was noticeably rising, when the welfare state was in full swing and when, by means of a state-funded programme promoting equality of opportunity, working class children were encouraged to stay on at school and eventually receive higher education.[citation needed] All this resulted in a decade of prosperity and optimism about the future.

Conservatives criticize Kreisky's policy of deficit spending, expressed in his famous comment during the 1979 election campaign that he preferred that the state run up high debts rather than see people become unemployed.[19] They hold Kreisky responsible for Austria's subsequent economic difficulties.

Despite this criticism, Kreisky did much to transform Austria during his time in office, with considerable improvements in working conditions, a dramatic rise in the average standard of living,[20] and a significant expansion of the welfare state,[21][22][23] and arguably remains the most successful socialist Chancellor of Austria.

See also

  • Chancellor of Austria for a complete list of Federal Chancellors since the founding of the Republic in 1918
  • Kreisky-Peter-Wiesenthal affair

References

  1. ^ article Bruno Kreisky, Encyclopædia Britannica.
  2. ^ "Max Marcus Kreisky". 26 February 1876.
  3. ^ "Irene Kreisky". 9 September 1884.
  4. ^ a b "100th anniversary of the birth of Bruno Kreisky - en". Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2011. 100th anniversary of the birth of Bruno Kreisky, 11 January 2011[dead link]
  5. ^ "Wiki – Wien Geschichte Wiki". Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  6. ^ Flint, Peter B. (30 July 1990). "Bruno Kreisky, Austria's Leader for a Record 13 Years, Dies at 79". The New York Times.
  7. ^ Austria under Social Democratic Rule: The Kreisky Years, H-net.org
  8. ^ Biographical Dictionary of European Labor Leaders, Volume 1, edited by A. T. Lane, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995, p.513 (at Google Books)
  9. ^ Biographical The Paradoxical Republic: Austria 1945–2005, Oliver Rathkolb, Berghahn Books, p. 224 (at Google Books)
  10. ^ Growth to Limits: Appendix (synopses, bibliographies, tables), Peter Flora and Walter de Gruyter, 1987, p. 574 (at Google Books)
  11. ^ Socialists in the Recession: The Search for Solidarity by Giles Radice and Lisanne Radice
  12. ^ Political Leaders of Contemporary Western Europe: A Biographical Dictionary, David Wilsford, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995, p. 263 (at Google Books)
  13. ^ Growth to Limits: The Western European Welfare States Since World War II Volume 4 edited by Peter Flora
  14. ^ Growth to Limits: Appendix (synopses, bibliographies, tables), Peter Flora and Walter de Gruyter, 1987, p. 556 (at Google Books)
  15. ^ Women and Social Security: Progress Towards Equality of Treatment, Anne-Marie Brocas, Anne-Marie Cailloux, Virginie Oget, International Labour Organization, 1990, p. 63, (at Google Books)
  16. ^ "The Death of a Right-Wing Populist". Der Spiegel. 13 October 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  17. ^ Anton Pelinka. "Austria's Attitude Toward Israel: Following the European Mainstream". Jcpa.org. Archived from the original on 26 June 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  18. ^ "Kreisky's letter along with Andropov's resolution on it" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  19. ^ As quoted in Socialists in the Recession: The Search for Solidarity by Giles Radice and Lisanne Radice, "I am less worried about the budget deficits than by the need for the state to create jobs where private industry fails."
  20. ^ "Austria", Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2001. © 1993–2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved
  21. ^ The Vranitzky Era in Austria, Günter Bischof, Anton Pelinka, Ferdinand Karlhofer, Transaction Publishers, 1999, p. 62 (at Google Books)
  22. ^ A Concise History of Austria by Steven Beller
  23. ^ The Kreisky Era in Austria, Günter Bischof, Anton Pelinka, Transaction Publishers, p. 100 (at Google Books)

Further reading

  • Bischof, Günter, and Anton Pelinka, eds. The Kreisky Era in Austria (Transaction publishers, 1994).
  • Kreisky, Bruno, et al. The struggle for a democratic Austria: Bruno Kreisky on peace and social justice (Berghahn Books, 2000).
  • Secher, H. Pierre. Bruno Kreisky, chancellor of Austria: a political biography (Dorrance Publ., 1993).
  • Vivekanandan, Bhagavathi. Global Visions of Olof Palme, Bruno Kreisky and Willy Brandt: International Peace and Security, Co-operation, and Development (Springer, 2016).
  • Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 259–65

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bruno Kreisky.


Political offices
Preceded by
Foreign Minister of Austria

1959 – 1966 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chancellor of Austria
1970 – 1983 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by SPÖ Party chairman
1967 – 1983 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Prentis C. Hale
President of Organizing Committee for Winter Olympic Games
1964
 Succeeded by
Preceded by President of Organizing Committee for Winter Olympic Games
1976 		Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by College of Europe Orateur
1981 		Succeeded by


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