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A groundbreaking analysis of Vienna’s reconstruction between 1945 and 1949, Red Vienna Revisited bridges policy history with the realities of everyday life, examining the foundational moment when the city transitioned from National Socialism to a democratic political culture. It highlights the pivotal role of Social Democrats in re-establishing governance and addressing social needs amidst material devastation and the complexities of denazification. By exploring the exclusion and subsequent reintegration of "less-implicated" Nazis and the rise of a progressive social justice agenda, this book offers a new perspective on postwar European historiography.
Berg’s manuscript offers a fresh perspective on aspects of Austrian—more specifically Viennese—reconstruction after World War II. The author correctly states that, unlike interwar Red Vienna, post-World War II Vienna remains understudied. Berg addresses this gap by analyzing mainly social reconstruction processes from 1945 to 1949 on the basis of hitherto nearly unnoticed and certainly unused archival material.
— Maria Mesner, University of Vienna
[This book] makes a substantive historiographical contribution by shifting “Red Vienna” studies from the interwar years to the foundational 1945–49 period and convincingly explain[ing] SPÖ durability through the interplay of habitus, milieu, and everyday governance (patronage, housing, schools, denazification practices, returnee welfare).
— Kristina Meyer, Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt Foundation
Matthew Paul Berg is Professor of Modern European History at John Carroll University. His research and publications have focused on Austria after 1945, social democracy in Austria, and postwar occupation. His work has appeared in leading journals such as Journal of Modern History, Central European History and German History, as well as several edited volumes published by Berghahn Books. He is the recipient of Fulbright fellowships for Austria and Germany.
Contents
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction. “Why Vienna? Why the Late 1940s?”
Chapter 1. Excluding, Rehabilitating, and Re-Integrating Former Nazis
Chapter 2. Denunciation as Preparation for Democracy?
Chapter 3. Party Patronage and Its Limits
Chapter 4. Adjudicating Lodging: The Housing Requisition Law and Everyday Life
Chapter 5. Prisoners of War: Repatriation and Reintegration.
Chapter 6. Vienna’s Municipal Schools: Denazification and Democratization.
Conclusion. Reflections on the Legacy of “Red Vienna Revisited”
Glossary
Bibliography
Index