INHALT: In 1990, the existence of a secret anti-Communist stay-behind army in Italy, codenamed "Gladio" and linked to NATO, was revealed. Subsequently, similar stay-behind armies were discovered in all NATO countries in Western Europe as well as in neutral countries, including Sweden, Finland and Switzerland. Based on parliamentary and governmental reports, oral history, and investigative journalism, the essay argues that neutral Austria also operated a stay-behind army during the Cold War which was linked to NATO and the CIA.
