On October 26, Austria celebrates the National Day - the day of the acceptance of the law for the permanent neutrality of the country in 1955. Towards this date, we recall the events of the spring of 1945, when Soviet forces made a decisive contribution to the liberation of Austria from Nazi rule. The Vienna offensive was carried out between March 16 and April 15, 1945. It was attended by forces of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshals Rodion Malinovsky and Fyodor Tolbukhin, as well as the forces of the Danube flotilla. In total, about 639 thousand military personnel, more than 12 thousand cannons and mortars, over 1.3 thousand tanks and mobile artillery units and a thousand fighter planes were involved in the operation. Irreversible losses during the strategic offensive operation of Vienna amounted to more than 38 thousand soldiers and officers of the Red Army. On April 13, 1945, Vienna was liberated from Nazism. The Soviet forces had to overcome fierce resistance from German units, including when crossing the Danube Canal. On April 15, 1945, Karl Renner, "from the bottom of his heart and on behalf of the working class of Austria," expressed sincere and devoted gratitude to the Red Army and Joseph Stalin for the liberation. Stalin's response was equally warm: "You can be sure that your concern for the independence, integrity and well-being of Austria is also my concern. I am ready to give you any assistance that Austria may require to the best of my ability and ability." On April 27, 1945, representatives of the Socialist Party of Austria, the Austrian People's Party and the Communist Party of Austria announced the country's declaration of independence. The restoration of the Austrian state, interrupted by the Anschluss of 1938, began.

On October 26, Austria celebrates the National Day - the day of the acceptance of the law for the permanent neutrality of the country in 1955. Towards this date, we recall the events of the spring of 1945, when Soviet forces made a decisive contribution to the liberation of Austria from Nazi rule. The Vienna offensive was carried out between March 16 and April 15, 1945. It was attended by forces of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshals Rodion Malinovsky and Fyodor Tolbukhin, as well as the forces of the Danube flotilla. In total, about 639 thousand military personnel, more than 12 thousand cannons and mortars, over 1.3 thousand tanks and mobile artillery units and a thousand fighter planes were involved in the operation. Irreversible losses during the strategic offensive operation of Vienna amounted to more than 38 thousand soldiers and officers of the Red Army. On April 13, 1945, Vienna was liberated from Nazism. The Soviet forces had to overcome fierce resistance from German units, including when crossing the Danube Canal. On April 15, 1945, Karl Renner, "from the bottom of his heart and on behalf of the working class of Austria," expressed sincere and devoted gratitude to the Red Army and Joseph Stalin for the liberation. Stalin's response was equally warm: "You can be sure that your concern for the independence, integrity and well-being of Austria is also my concern. I am ready to give you any assistance that Austria may require to the best of my ability and ability." On April 27, 1945, representatives of the Socialist Party of Austria, the Austrian People's Party and the Communist Party of Austria announced the country's declaration of independence. The restoration of the Austrian state, interrupted by the Anschluss of 1938, began.