In 1951, the film „The Four in a Jeep“ premiered in Switzerland. It dramatized the joint military patrols of the USA, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union in the international 1^st district of postwar Vienna. The patrols appeared as an unusual moment of contact with Viennese citizens and a rapprochement between the four occupying powers. This differed markedly from the intensification of geopolitical competition in other divided cities like Berlin. But this was only part of the story.

Far from being an anomaly, the joint military patrols revealed the complex networks of relationships that developed between the Allies and Viennese citizens between 1945 and 1955. These networks were crucial to Vienna’s unique, hybrid form as a sector-based and international border region. They are also significant because they help explain Vienna’s rise to both a center of internationalism and a focal point of covert conflicts between the superpowers.

In my presentation, I examine the relationship between cross-sectoral networks and the unique Viennese borderland they occupied. I explain how the ideological divisions of the Cold War created new boundaries between occupation zones and within international spaces. This helps us understand the new networks of relationships that emerged in Vienna. It also allows us to consider the local impacts of these new boundaries and networks on mobility, security, and public order.

CV: Simon Graham is a senior research fellow in the Discipline of History at the University of Sydney and principal investigator for the Stanton Foundation-funded project Deterring Nuclear Espionage to Strengthen IAEA Safeguards and Verification. His research interests include intelligence, security and nuclear threat perception, particularly in relation to the former Warsaw Pact and post-Soviet spaces. His teaching focuses on twentieth century European history, nuclear security, ethics of intelligence and the history of American foreign relations. Simon completed a PhD in Intelligence History at the University of Sydney before postdoctoral research collaborations with the University of Vienna and Humboldt University, Berlin. Simon has additional qualifications in German and Education from Macquarie University as well as receiving a Bachelor of Theology with distinction from Moore Theological College. He has previously worked as a Senior Education Advisor for the Humanities at the New South Wales Department of Education and as a Technical Advisor supporting curriculum development at the New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA).