Anschluss

The Anschluss{{ref|spelling}} (German word meaning "connection", or "political union") also known as the Anschluss Österreichs was the 1938 inclusion of Austria into "Greater Germany" by the Nazi regime.

Situation before the Anschluss

:Main articles: German Empire and Austrofascism

Related Topics:
German Empire - Austrofascism

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The idea of grouping all German people into one state had been the subject of inconclusive debate since the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Prior to 1866, it was generally thought that the unification of the German peoples could only succeed under Austrian leadership, but the loss of the Austro-Prussian War by Austria allowed Otto von Bismarck to establish the Prussian-dominated German Empire in 1871 without the German-speaking parts of Austria-Hungary. When the latter broke up in 1918, many German-speaking Austrians hoped to join with Germany in the realignment of Europe, but the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain of 1919 explicitly vetoed the inclusion of Austria within a German state, because France and Britain feared the power of a larger Germany.

Related Topics:
Holy Roman Empire - 1806 - 1866 - Austro-Prussian War - Otto von Bismarck - Prussia - German Empire - 1871 - Austria-Hungary - 1918 - Treaty of Versailles - Treaty of Saint-Germain - 1919 - France - Britain

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In the early 1930s, popular support for union with Germany remained overwhelming, and the Austrian government looked to a possible customs union with Germany in 1931. However Hitler and the Nazi's rise to power in Germany left the Austrian government with little enthusiasm for such formal ties. Hitler, born in Austria, had promoted an "all-German Reich" from the early beginnings of his leadership in the NSDAP and had publicly stated as early as 1924 in Mein Kampf that he would attempt a union, by force if necessary.

Related Topics:
1930s - Customs union - 1931 - Nazi - NSDAP - 1924 - Mein Kampf

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Austria shared the economic turbulence of post-1929 Europe with a high unemployment rate and unstable commerce and industry. Similar to its northern and southern neighbours these uncertain conditions made the young democracy very vulnerable. The First Republic, dominated from the late 1920s by the Catholic nationalist Christian Social Party (CS), gradually disintegrated from 1933 (dissolution of parliament and ban of the Austrian National Socialists) to 1934 (Austrian Civil War in February and ban of all remaining parties except the CS) and evolved into a pseudo-fascist, corporatist model of one-party government which combined the CS and the paramilitary Heimwehr with absolute state domination of labour relations and no freedom of the press (see Austrofascism and Patriotic Front). Power was centralized in the office of the Chancellor who was empowered to rule by decree. The predominance of the Christian Social Party (whose economic policies were based on the papal encyclical Rerum novarum) was an Austrian phenomenon in that Austria's national identity had strong Catholic elements which were incorporated into the movement by way of clerical authoritarian tendencies which are certainly not to be found in Nazism. Both Engelbert Dollfuss and his successor Kurt Schuschnigg turned to Austria's other fascist neighbour, Italy, for inspiration and support. Indeed, the statist corporatism often referred to as Austrofascism bore more resemblance to Italian Fascism than German National Socialism. Benito Mussolini was able to support the independent aspirations of the Austrian dictatorship until his need for German support in Ethiopia forced him into a client relationship with Berlin that began with the 1937 Berlin-Rome Axis.

Related Topics:
Austria - 1929 - First Republic - Christian Social Party - 1933 - 1934 - Austrian Civil War - Fascist - Corporatist - Heimwehr - Labour relations - Freedom of the press - Austrofascism - Patriotic Front - Chancellor - Rule by decree - Papal - Encyclical - Rerum novarum - Engelbert Dollfuss - Kurt Schuschnigg - Italy - Italian Fascism - Benito Mussolini - Ethiopia - 1937 - Berlin-Rome Axis

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When Chancellor Dollfuss was assassinated by the illegal Austrian Nazi party on 25 July 1934 in a failed coup, the second civil war within only one year followed, lasting until August 1934. After the failed Nazi coup, many leading Austrian Nazis fled to Germany and continued to coordinate their steps from there while the remaining Austrian Nazis started to make use of terrorist attacks against the Austrian governmental institutions (causing a death toll of more than 800 between 1934 and 1938). Dollfuss' successor Schuschnigg, who followed the political course of Dollfuss, took drastic actions against the Nazis, for instance the rounding up of Nazis (but also Social Democrats) in internment camps.

Related Topics:
Austrian Nazi party - 25 July - 1934 - Germany - 1938 - Internment camps

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