The German initiative of Austrian Chancellor Julius Raab in the spring of 1958

In the spring of 1958, Austrian chancellor Julius Raab in trying to re-new discussion of the German question met secretly with Adenauer before going t o Rome, Washington and Moscow. Doing so, Raab hoped to draw on his previous success in Moscow while negotiating the Austrian State Treaty in 1955. A m ixture of different motives underlay Raab's initiative and vies insight int o how Austria after 1955, saw itself as a small neutral sovereign state. Mo re importantly, it reflects how Austrian foreign policy in the broad scale of the Habsburg tradition was conducted. Raab's secret meeting coincided wi th Adenauer's taking up the question of German re-unification with Soviet a mbassador Smirnow in March 1958. Remarkably, Raab's visit in Bonn took plac e between the two meetings Adenauer had with Smirnow in which Adenauer, usi ng Austria as an example, suggested state neutrality as a possible solution for the GDR.