People's Republic of Austria

The People's Republic of Austria (Österreichische Volksrepublik) was a country in Central Europe that was the predecessor of the modern Republic of Austria. It consisted of the territory that was administered and occupied by Soviet forces following the end of World War II—the Soviet occupation zone of the Vienna Offensive. A satellite state of the Soviet Union, Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to Austrian communist leaders in 1949 and the PRA began to function as a state in 1950. However, Soviet forces remained in the country throughout the Cold War.

The economy was centrally planned and increasingly state-owned. Prices of housing, basic goods and services were heavily subsidized and set by central government planners rather than rising and falling through supply and demand.