October 1973, Saudi Arabia

When did Austrian schools start having their holidays in February? When the 1973 oil crisis led to a major energy and economic crisis in the industrialised countries of the North. In order to put Israel under pressure during the Yom Kippur War, OPEC – which included Saudi Arabia as the biggest exporter of petroleum – raised oil prices, followed by shock waves across the world as well as in Austria. The Kreisky government introduced ‘energy holidays’ to save heating costs in schools. And once a week, Austrians were not allowed to drive their cars. Even the reintroduction of daylight saving time also has its roots in this episode of world history.