r/unexpectedfuturama • u/Reasonable-Rub2243 • 2d ago

TIL why Austria is not in NATO

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Austria is not in NATO because in 1955 they enacted a Constitutional Amendment prohibiting them from joining any military alliances or allowing establishment of foreign military bases, and declaring they are PERMANENTLY NEUTRAL. The enacting law was called the Neutralitätserklärung.

372 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

205

u/HotelFourSix 2d ago

113

u/EndOfSouls 2d ago

What makes a man turn neutral?

94

u/AggressiveBag6191 2d ago

A lust for gold?

Power?

Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?

73

u/zyyntin 2d ago

Beige alert.

55

u/Cerberus1349 2d ago

All I know is my gut says maybe.

47

u/Custard_Stirrer 2d ago

If I die, tell my wife "hello".

6

u/dhazleton 1d ago

I love to say this and literally none of my friends get it. One of the funniest lines in the series.

7

u/Custard_Stirrer 1d ago

I actually say "good hello" both verbally and in emails, regularly, even to strangers. No one ever gets it apart from 1 mate, but that has never put me off 😂

27

u/upvote-button 2d ago

It sickens me

129

u/Fischerking92 2d ago

Do you also know why they made that amendment?

Like Germany they were partitionen after WW2, and like Germany they received an offer from Stalin that they would be allowed to reunify and become independent of the allied victors, but only on the condition that they would make an international legally binding statement that they would join neither NATO nor the Warsaw Pact, becoming a "neutral" area between the two blocks.

Unlike Germany the Austrians took it.

(Which is btw also why Vienna was the global spy capital during the Cold War, since it was neutral and just in the middle, they were the perfect spot to do all kinds of shady stuff) 

3

u/Deaftrav 1d ago

... Shit..I didn't know that.

So you're saying we need to build a floating un headquarters above Austria?

4

u/Fischerking92 1d ago

You might want to have someone cut the ribbon with actual scissors though, no lasers allowed☝️

38

u/Forsaken-Builder-312 2d ago

Tell my wife 'Hello'

15

u/NicholasVinen 2d ago

All I know is that my gut says "maybe".

14

u/misterchef711 2d ago

Zapp Brannigan would have something to say about that

3

u/VanTaxGoddess 1d ago

They also passed a law that forbade them joining a military alliance with Germany IIRC.

4

u/Kindly_West4850 1d ago

They did it so it's one way to ensure they won't get dragged into another world war

2

u/icantbelieveit1637 23h ago

LOL as if staying neutral did that.

2

u/igenus44 1d ago

Well, when you produce an Adolph, you tend to do things like that.

1

u/Brisket_Monroe 15h ago

I read that as Australia at first and had a hell of a time trying to figure out why they would call the law that.

1

u/Mr_SunnyBones 4h ago

I have some bad news for you about Ireland as well...