KARL GRUBER. Between Liberation and Liberty: Austria in the Post-War World. Translated by Lionel Kochan. Pp. 240. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1955. $4.50

• Author: E.C. Helmreich
• Published date: 01 March 1956
• Date: 01 March 1956
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271625630400171
• Subject Matter: Articles

187

communism

in

Germany?

There

is

in

these

pages,

apart

from

their

ideological

bias,

nothing

that

could

be

called

new

or

in-

structive-they

rather

illustrate

the

say-

ing :

&dquo;Books

generate

books.&dquo;

The

writer,

it is

true,

claims

first-hand

knowledge:

&dquo;I

saw

and

heard

in

action

most

of

the

men

and

women

who

speak

from

these

pages

and

of

whom

these

pages

speak.

I

knew

many

of

them.

I

am

not

an

actor

in this

book,

though

you

might

have

found

me

in

many

of

the

crowds

I

describe&dquo;

(p.

xi).

But

since

the

author,

at

the

time

of

the

revolution,

was

a

lad

of

just

14

(according

to

the

biographical

information

on

the

flap

of

the

jacket

he

was

born

in

1904),

we

will

be

permitted

to

maintain,

with

due

allow-

ance

for

prodigious

precocity,

a

degree

of

scepticism

in

regard

to

his

authenticity

as

an

eyewitness.

HELMUT

KUHN

University

of

Munich

Germany

KARL

GRUBER.

Between

Liberation

and

Liberty:

Austria

in

the

Post-War

World.

Translated

by

Lionel

Kochan.

Pp.

240.

New

York:

Frederick

A.

Praeger,

1955.

$4.50.

Mr.

Gruber

was

head

of

the

resistance

movement

in

Tyrol

which

took

over

the

province

a

few

days

before

American

troops

entered

on

May

3,

1945.

For

a

brief

period

he

acted

as

Governor

of

that

province

under

both

American

and

French

occupation

forces,

and

he

makes

some

in-

teresting

contrasts

between

the

two.

On

September

25,

1945,

he

resigned

this

post

and

took

over

the

direction

of

Austrian

foreign

policy

in

the

central

government

headed

by

Karl

Renner.

To

speak

of

an

Austrian

foreign

office

or

a

foreign

service

at

this

time

would

be

a

misnomer,

but

there

were

many

problems

to

be

dealt

with

and

under

Gruber’s

direction

Austria

progres-

sively

won

back

her

position

in

interna-

tional

affairs.

In

1953,

while

still

in

ofhce,

Gruber

published

the

German

edition

of

this

volume,

and

excerpts

were

printed

in

the

Vienna

press.

This

led

to

heated

con-

troversy,

particularly

in

regard

to

some

of

his

observations

on

internal

politics,

and

the

question

was

raised

whether

a

foreign

minister

should

publish

his

views

in

book

form

while

still

in

office.

In

a

Foreword

to

the

second

edition

Gruber

defended

his

right

to

do

so,

but

nevertheless

the

episode

led

to

his

resignation

and

subsequent

ap-

pointment

as

Ambassador

to

the

United

States.

The

book

is

written

discreetly

as

one

might

expect,

and

there

are

no

startling

revelations.

On

the

other

hand

it

is

in-

formative

in

a

broad

sense.

There

is

a

good

chapter

on

the

question

of

South

Tyrol,

but

much

more

needs

to

be

said

to

clarify

the

position

taken

by

the

powers.

There

were

plenty

of

American

officials,

who

knew

about

the

historical

aspects

of

this

issue

than

Gruber

seems

to

think.

If

the

powers

fell

back

on

the

boundaries

of

1938

in

this

case,

they

also

did

so

in

the

case

of

the

boundary

difficulties

with

Yugo-

slavia.

Gruber

attributes

much

of

the

Austrian

success

in

the

latter

dispute

to

his

adamant

stand

that

Austria

would

never

agree

to

a

diminution

of

her

fron-

tiers.

Much

is

also

said

about

the

ne-

gotiations

for

a

state

treaty,

but

again

the

account

is

general

and

details

must

be

sought

elsewhere.

In

this

matter

the

de-

scription

of

the

Moscow

Conference

in

1947

and

Austria’s

appeal

to

the

United

Nations

in

1952

is

most

informative.

Al-

though

there

can

be

no

question

as

to

Gruber’s

Western

orientation,

he

has

no

bitter

diatribes

against

the

Russians.

They

are

hard

bargainers,

schooled

in

the

ways

of

the

market

places

of

the

East,

but

they

can

be

dealt

with

if

one’s

patience

holds

out.

The

book

is

interlarded

with

humor

and

acute

observations

on

personalities

and

politics.

Characterized

more

by

English

than

American

idiom,

the

translation

seems

excellently

done,

and

the

book

reads

smoothly

and

easily.

E.

C.

HELMREICH

Bowdoin

College

CHARLES

W.

HALLBERG.

Franz

Joseph

and

Napoleon

III,

1852-1864.

Pp.

448.

New

York:

Bookman

Associates,

1955.

$5.00.

This

book

by

the

author

of

The

Suez

Canal:

Its

History

and

Diplomatic

Im-

portagce

is

typical

of

the

better

diplo-

matic

studies-detailed,

archival,

narrow