Ukraine surrenders, soon, page-140

@Joannie, @kolubara - Austria was an occupied country after WWII - it was part of the German Reich, guilty of war crimes etc. - I was a young teenager in the 50s and not aware of anything much. Long story, too long to tell - I still remember always crossing to the other side of the road if a soldier - any soldier- came my way. People in those days used footpaths a lot, few had cars, trams were good though. But apart from some horrific rapes in the early days, soldiers behaved well later on. My mum always kept me safe from stories of rapes etc - but some seeped through. I have now forgotten - thank God!

Vienna was divided into 4 zones; according to geography: Eastern parts of Vienna (and Austria) were Russian-occupied, we lived in the 8th district, which was British (that's why I learnt some basic English in Primary School, the kids in the Russian districts learnt Russian, etc.). All the other occupying forces had left years ago, but the Russians hung in there, obviously wanting to incorporate Eastern Austria into the Communist bloc.

Austria then had a wily Chancellor, one 'Dr. Julius Raab' who had incredible patience, obviously a gift for diplomacy and he managed to talk the Russians 'out of Austria' - but one condition insisted upon by the Russians (Molotov) was that Austria was not to join any international military organisation and not to have an army. Austria now does have an army, but it is mostly used in disaster situations - some Austrian soldiers have joined the 'Blue Helmets' and are/were employed in Bosnia and other places round the world in peace-keeping situations - I have such a friend but he retired recently, he is in his 60s now.

My kids just told me per telephone, I should not check the news as much as I do - bad for mental health! bah - bad for physical health for the people involved, Ukrainians and young Russian soldiers . . . . .

https://www.jstor.org/stable/23604951

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Taurisk