ABSTRACT
This chapter describes new ground on a neglected aspect of the Cold War: Austrian Mediation in the Berlin Crisis 1958-1963 and United States perception of this mediation. It focuses on the Austrian politician Bruno Kreisky of the Socialist Party who became much more well-known as the Austrian chancellor and as a mediator in the Middle East conflict in the 1970s and early 1980s. According to Kreisky’s memoirs, Willy Brandt asked his Viennese friend—back then state secretary in the Foreign Ministry—in late 1958 to check out the chance for a meeting with Nikita Khrushchev. Kreisky had a “comeback” as a minor player in the East-West power struggle during the highly dangerous Cuban Missile Crisis. Kreisky also told the Americans during the Cuban Missile Crisis that the Soviets had contacted the Austrians regarding another Vienna Summit. Kreisky stated that “in this context he had been in favor of Mayor Brandt of Berlin meeting personally with Khrushchev.
