The Constituent Assembly (1919) voted a federal constitution with a president, a national council and a federal council and with wide autonomy for the 9 Länder. THERE. it was in a disastrous economic situation, while the disagreement between Vienna and the provinces that wished to join Germany intensified. After the socialist uprising in Vienna (15 July 1927), with the government of H. Schober there was a constitutional reform in an authoritarian and centralizing sense. The question of annexation to Germany returned to the fore with the advent of the National Socialist regime in this country (1933). After the killing of Chancellor E. Dollfuss by a group of National Socialists and with the birth of the Rome-Berlin Axis the situation worsened until in 1938 the German army forcibly proceeded to annexation (➔ Anschluss). Until 1945 the history of the Austria, which had the ancient Carolingian name of Ostmark, thus remained linked to that of Germany. For Austria government and politics, please check a2zgov.com.
After the Second World War, freed by the allied troops (1945), the Austria it was divided into four occupation zones and Vienna under a four-party administration, which lasted until 1955. After a provisional government, a coalition was formed between the People’s Party (Österreichische Volkspartei) and the Socialist Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs). The State Treaty, concluded in May 1955 between the to. on the one hand and the USSR, Great Britain, France and the USA on the other, recognized the full independence of the Austria within the borders of 1938, prohibiting its reunification with Germany and the restoration of the Habsburgs, and declaring it neutral, a clause later inserted in the Constitution.
The coalition between popular and socialists continued for over 20 years, guaranteeing the Austria high internal stability and the consolidation of its new international position. Then, after an ÖVP government (which had won the 1966 elections), a long phase of socialist hegemony began (legislative elections of 1971, 1975 and 1979, presidential elections of 1974 and 1980). In 1983 the SPÖ lost an absolute majority of votes and a coalition cabinet was formed between socialists and liberals. After the early elections of 1986, which saw a notable success of the liberals and the Greens, bearers of the new environmental issues, the SPÖ and the ÖVP revived a coalition government that conducted a policy of containment of public spending and partial privatizations. J. Haider.
The referendum accession to the European Union and the signing of the Partnership for peace program NATO (1995) redefined Austrian foreign policy, but created discontent with the SPÖ-ÖVP coalition and in the first European elections (1996) Haider won 27.6% of the votes. With the 1999 elections the FPÖ became the second largest party in the country and partner of the ÖVP, but the disputed ideological characteristics of Haider’s movement (with a racist and anti-Semitic component) and its influence on the resurgence of xenophobic violence with a Nazi background that the constitution of the new government would provoke waves of protest in the country and worried reactions in the international field (diplomatic sanctions from Europe). In 2003 the popular renewed the government alliance with the FPÖ, in a climate of internal and external tensions. In 2005, a split occurred in the FPÖ with Haider taking over the leadership of a new political group, the Bündnis Zukunft Österreich (BZÖ). In the 2006 elections the SPÖ was the most voted party but, lacking an absolute majority, it had to form a ‘grand coalition’ with the popular. In the early elections of 2008, however, both SPÖ and ÖVP were heavily downsized, to the advantage of the BZÖ and the Freiheitliche Partei of H.-C. Strache. The grand coalition of the conservatives of for the benefit of the BZÖ and the Freiheitliche Partei of H.-C. Strache. The grand coalition of the conservatives ofÖVP andthe SPÖ Social Democratswas reconfirmed in the government, however, recording a sharp decline in support compared to previous consultations, from the elections for the renewal of Parliament held in September 2013, which – in an extremely fragmented political framework – also marked the clear affirmation far right of the FPÖ.A consistent increase in support for this party, attributable among other factors to the effects of the economic crisis and the intensification of immigration flows to regulate which adequate policies have not been drawn up, was also attested by the presidential elections held in April. 2016, which saw the clear victory in the first round by N. Hofer of the FPÖ, who obtained over 35% of the votes against the 21% awarded by the green Austria van der Bellen. Following the electoral defeat – and after the controversy raised within the European Union by its extremely rigid policy regarding the containment of migratory flows from the Brenner – in the following month, Chancellor W. Faymann has resigned as head of government and leader of the SPÖ, succeeding him in both posts by C. Kern. In the ballot, held in May with a 72.7% turnout, Van der Bellen won with an advantage of 31,026 votes (50.3%), against the 49.7% won by Hofer, but in July, accepting the appeal presented by Hofer, the Constitutional Court annulled the vote for some irregularities that occurred in the ballot operations, setting new consultations for the month of October, further postponed due to irregularities in the ballot papers of the postal vote. In the new ballot, held in December, Van der Bellen clearly established himself on the opponent, obtaining 53.3% of the preferences against the 46.7% won by Hofer. A sharp turn to the right of the However, the Austrian electorate took shape in the early elections for the renewal of Parliament held in October 2017 following the collapse of the Grand Coalition determined in the previous May by the newly elected leader of the ÖVP S. Kurz. Despite not having achieved an absolute majority, the ÖVP won 31.7% of the votes, ahead of the Kern Social Democrats (26.9%) and the far right of the FPÖ (26%); elected chancellor in December, Kurz formed a governing coalition with the FPÖ. In May 2019, the evidence of the involvement of the vice-chancellor and president of the FPÖ H.-C. Strache in a movement of illicit financing forced Kurz to call for early elections; the day after the consultations, the Parliament with a large majority voted no confidence in the entire executive, taking over from Kurz ad interim as Chancellor the President of the Constitutional Court B. Bierlein. In the legislative elections held in September 2019 Kurz’s ÖVP obtained a clear affirmation, receiving 38.4% of the votes against the 21.5% won by the Social Democrats, while Hofer’s ultra-right collapsed to 17.3% of the votes. preferences and for the greens there was a noticeable increase in consensus (12.4%, + 8.6%); reconfirmed in office in January 2021, Kurz – accused of aiding and abetting corruption – resigned in October 2021, replacing him ad interim Austria Schallenberg.
From 1 July to 31 December 2018, Austria held the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
