No. 853
Editorial Note
On February 22, the Austrian general elections were held with the following results: People’s Party, 74 seats (77 in 1949); Socialist Party, 73 seats (67 in 1949); League of Independents, 14 seats (16 in 1949); and pro-Communist faction, 4 seats (leftist bloc had 5 in 1949). Following the resignation of the previous government on February 25, President Koerner asked Leopold Figl to form a new government on February 28 after he had been designated by the People’s Party as its choice for the position of Chancellor.
The Embassy in Vienna transmitted numerous reports to the Department of State concerning the election campaign of February 1953, including the following: despatch 1159, January 8, “Status and Prospects of the Coalition Parties on the Eve of the 1953 Campaign” (763.00/1–853); despatch 1191, January 14, “The First Week of the 1953 Campaign” (763.00/1–1453); despatch 1245, January 20, “The Second Week (January 14–20) of the 1953 Campaign” (763.00/1–2053); despatch 1295, January 28, “The Third Week (January 21–27) of the 1953 Campaign” (763.00/1–2853); despatch 1345, February 4, “The Fourth Week (January 28–February 3) of the 1953 Campaign” (763.00/2–453); despatch 1425, February 18, “The Campaign from February 4 through February 13” (763.00/2–1853); and despatch 1468, February 26, “Returns in the Austrian Parliamentary Elections of February 22, 1953” (763.00/2–2653).