![]() ![]() Party members disagreed on their relationship to Hitler and their German counterparts. But, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Austrian Nazi Party was weak, divided, and ineffective. Hitler planned to achieve power in Austria through the Austrian Nazi Party. The Rise and Impact of the Austrian Nazi Movement ![]() Behind the scenes, however, the Nazi leadership began planning territorial expansion and a European war almost as soon as they took power. First, Hitler and other Nazi leaders focused on establishing a Nazi dictatorship. However, Germany was not immediately militarily and diplomatically ready to carry out Hitler’s foreign policy goals. As chancellor, he fully intended to bring about an Austro-German union. In January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. “.the reunification is a life task to be carried out by all means! German-Austria must be restored to the great German Motherland…People of the same blood should be in the same REICH.” Hitler opened his autobiography and political treatise Mein Kampf with his vision for the future relationship between Austria and Germany. “We demand the union of all Germans in a Greater Germany (Großdeutschland) on the basis of the right of national self-determination.” The first point of the Nazi Party Platform (1920) read: The annexation of Austria would help the Nazis achieve the first goal.Īdolf Hitler expressed his desire for an Austro-German union in his earliest writings and speeches. and acquire Lebensraum (“living space”) in eastern Europe.unite all Germans in a Nazi German empire.Redrawing Europe’s borders would allow the Nazis to achieve two main goals: They claimed that Germans had been denied the right of self-determination. Hitler and the Nazis considered the postwar international borders unfair and illegitimate. Adolf Hitler’s Plans for AustriaĪdolf Hitler and the Nazis wanted to redraw the map of post-World War I Europe. Subsequent international financial agreements also required that Austria remain independent from Germany. European leaders worried that a united Germany and Austria would be too large and powerful. The peace treaties that ended World War I expressly forbade Germany and Austria from uniting. Discussions and debates about Austria’s role in a German nation-state dated back to the 19th century. The hope of uniting Austria and Germany was not new. Others wanted Austria to unite with Germany. Some Austrians hoped to solve this problem by restoring a form of the empire. In the 1920s, many Austrians did not think that their country could survive economically without the lands previously held by Austria-Hungary. These countries were home to millions of people who considered themselves German and who spoke German as their primary language. ![]() Among them were Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. New states were established in its place. 1 Austria-Hungary had collapsed in 1918 at the end of World War I. Many of them lived in areas that had previously been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Most of these Austrians considered themselves ethnically German.Īt this time, millions of people who considered themselves German lived outside of Germany. Ethnic Germans in Austriaīetween World War I and World War II, Austria was a country of approximately 6.5 million people. However, certain historical factors and events facilitated these processes. Nor was the rapid Nazification of Austria. Austrians also participated in the mass murder of Europe’s Jews. In the wake of the Anschluss, Austrians persecuted the country’s Jewish population. Many Austrians participated enthusiastically in this endeavor. In the days, weeks, and months that followed, Austrian and German Nazis carried out the Nazification of all aspects of Austrian life. Almost overnight, the country of Austria ceased to exist. It allowed Adolf Hitler to continue his expansionary policies unchecked. Their acceptance of the Anschluss was a significant act of appeasement. The other European powers did not punish the Nazis for violating international treaties. It was the first act of territorial expansion committed by Nazi Germany. The Anschluss demonstrated Nazi disdain for the post-World War I European order. These treaties expressly forbade the unification of Austria and Germany. “Anschluss” is a German word that means “connection” or “joining.”Īustria: Maps By annexing Austria, the Nazis violated the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain. On March 11–13, 1938, Nazi Germany annexed the neighboring country of Austria ( Österreich). ![]()
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