Bruno Kreisky stands like no other for the foreign policy of the Second Republic of Austria. Beginning as State Secretary, then as Foreign Minister and Federal Chancellor, he shaped Austria's policy of neutrality, and was internationally respected for the impact he made with his Near East policy. Kreisky's interest for international politics can be explained by his biographical background. In his early childhood, Austria was still a monarchy; he witnessed the crisis-ridden First Republic and the authoritarian Dollfuss/Schuschnigg regime. In 1938, he was forced into Swedish exile. The author traces his life course and the development of foreign policy issues and their implementation. As a consequence of his life experiences, Kreisky sought to give the small state of Austria a new profile in international relations. He built on a policy of identity, drawing on a re-evaluation of history, thereby integrating his own life course as a leitmotif. Despite the opposition with which he was confronted as a Jew and an emigrant, he himself became an Austrian monument. His international mission established an Austrian identity. German text.
