ABSTRACT
Austria: From orthodoxy to 'normalisation' StadlerKarl. To study the history and the role of the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) in the context of Eurocommunism may at first sight appear unjustified, for this is the party which has survived intact every one of the crises that the world communist movement experienced since 1945. The perspective was of a government of national unity representing the different social classes and political groupings the political parties to join for national purposes in a 'national front', supported by all-party trade unions, women's, youth and student's organisations. There were to be no revolutionary social changes, and the country was to return to the constitution of the first republic. The history of the KPÖ since the establishment of the second republic can best be summarised under two headings. There, was, first, the role it played in national affairs, and, second, its own internal development.
