Austria, Allied Occupation; A Souvenir of Salzburg Medal 1946

In silvered zinc with red, white and blue enamels, obverse illustrating various buildings in the City of Salzberg backed by mountains, the flag of the United States of America above, the Salzberg civic coat-of-arms flanked by an edelweiss on the left and an alstroemeria on the right below, surrounded by the inscription "SOUVENIR OF SALZBURG 1946", reverse missing its pinback, measuring 53 mm in diameter, chipping evident in the red enamels on the coat-of-arms, scattered oxidation spots, better than very fine.

Footnote: The Allied occupation of Austria started on April 27, 1945 as a result of the Vienna Offensive and ended with the Austrian State Treaty on July 27, 1955. Subsequent to the Anschluss, Austria had generally been recognized as a constituent part of Nazi Germany. In 1943 however, the Allies agreed in the Declaration of Moscow that Austria would instead be regarded as the first victim of Nazi aggression, and treated as a liberated and independent country after the war. In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, Austria was divided into four occupation zones and jointly occupied by the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France. The City of Salzberg was in the American zone. Vienna was similarly subdivided but the central district was collectively administered by the Allied Control Council. Whereas Germany was divided into East and West Germany in 1949, Austria remained under joint occupation of the Western Allies and of the Soviet Union until 1955. Its status became a controversial subject in the Cold War until the warming of relations known as the Khrushchev Thaw. After Austrian promises of perpetual neutrality, Austria was accorded full independence on May 15, 1955 and the last occupation troops left on October 25th that year.