Trouble in Vienna

For five years, the Russians had lulled Vienna (a city which likes to be lulled) into a sense of false security. Vienna, like Berlin, is under four-power occupation and lies deep inside the Russian occupation zone of Austria; but the Russians, content to plunder Austria's wealth, never tried to blockade the city and made relatively little trouble in other ways. Seemingly they did not even have much to do with Austria's Communist Party. A good many Austrians had concluded that their Russians were different. Last week, Vienna bitterly learned that Reds are Reds.

Recently, ECA officials in Austria decided that the country was living beyond its means and was relying too heavily on ECA money. They cut some ECA subsidies; as a result, the Austrian government decided to raise food, coal and electricity prices by an average 30%. It also decided to raise wages, but only by 13%. The Reds saw this measure as a perfect cue to make trouble.

After weeks of careful preparations, the Reds organized a strike of workers in eastern Austria's Russian-operated factories to protest against the government measure. Red army tanks blocked railways leading to the city. A mob of 10,000 gathered at the Ballhausplatz, seat of Austria's chancellory. Western soldiers were beaten up. Despite their small following (5% of the voters), the Communists found sympathizers among other workers who were bitter about the price boosts. Not even the Viennese police were notably enthusiastic in trying to quell the riots.

In Vienna's Quadripartite Control Council, which hitherto had been considered a model of four-power cooperation, American High Commissioner Lieut. General Geoffrey Keyes produced a sheaf of evidence that the Red army had instigated and helped the riots. Russian Deputy Commissioner Lieut. General G. K. Tsinev huffed & puffed about "slanderous allegations," refused assurances demanded by Keyes that the Reds would not do it again. Next day, the Communists announced that, unless the government rescinded its wage-price edict, they would call a general strike this week.

Disillusioned Vienna began to wonder whether it was next on Russia's list.

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