Austria – the Inception of Neutrality and its Discursive Evolution.

Austria is bound to neutrality by the 1955 Austrian State Treaty and its constitution, which prohibits entry into military alliances. This treaty became possible after agreement by the four Allied forces to leave Austria after ten years of combined occupation. Austria had been divided into four zones. Vienna was also divided into four sectors, together with a common interallied zone. A most interesting facet of this history was the circumstances and considerations of the USSR in agreeing to this. Austria has guarded its neutrality “religiously”. Nonetheless, it joined the European Union in 1995 after extensive debate.