The elections to the Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n National Council

National Council of Austria

The National Council is one of the two houses of the Austrian parliament. According to the constitution, the National Council and the complementary Federal Council are peers...

 of 1953 were the first National Council elections after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 in which the Socialist Party

Social Democratic Party of Austria

The Social Democratic Party of Austria is one of the oldest political parties in Austria. The SPÖ is one of the two major parties in Austria, and has ties to trade unions and the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The SPÖ is among the few mainstream European social-democratic parties that have preserved...

 managed to gain a majority of votes, however the Austrian People's Party

Austrian People's Party

The Austrian People's Party is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Austria. A successor to the Christian Social Party of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is similar to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany in terms of ideology...

 retained a majority of seats. The coalition between the two parties was continued with Julius Raab

Julius Raab

Julius Raab was a Conservative Austrian politician. He was Federal Chancellor of Austria from 1953 to 1961. Raab steered Allied-occupied Austria to independence. In 1955 he negotiated and signed the Austrian State Treaty...

 replacing Leopold Figl

Leopold Figl

Leopold Figl was an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party and the first Federal Chancellor after World War II...

 as Chancellor of Austria

Chancellor of Austria

The Federal Chancellor is the head of government in Austria. Its deputy is the Vice-Chancellor. Before 1918, the equivalent office was the Minister-President of Austria. The Federal Chancellor is considered to be the most powerful political position in Austrian politics.-Appointment:The...

, who had had to resign after facing critizism from his own party, and Adolf Schärf

Adolf Schärf

Adolf Schärf was, from 1957 to his death, the sixth President of Austria. Born into a poor working class family, he put himself through law school working part time and with a scholarship granted for academic excellence...

 of the Socialist Party remaining Vice Chancellor

Vice Chancellor of Austria

In Austrian politics, the Vice-Chancellor is a member of the federal government acting as a deputy to the Federal Chancellor.Art. 69 of the Constitution of Austria states:...

.