ABSTRACT
Adolf Scharf and Lois Weinberger affirmed the independence of the new Austria long before the Allies’ Moscow Declaration of November 1943. Plans for post-war Austria were also being made prior to the Moscow Declaration by Austrian exile groups. Even more decisive in bringing about a change of mood within the Austrian resistance and among Austrian exiles was the ‘Moscow Declaration’. At the beginning of 1945 the situation was that Austria was to become a sovereign nation again and to be denazified and democratized under the protectorate of the occupation forces. The Austrian exile organizations had also agreed to regaining sovereignty. The course of military operations in Austria can only be alluded to here, even though it was of great significance for the early history of the Second Republic. The Austrian Social Democrats will debate fraternally with the K.P. and work together on equal footing in rebuilding the Republic.
