Austria's Fall: German Annexation In Wwii

On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria to annex the German-speaking nation for the Third Reich. This event is known as the Anschluss, a German word that means connection or joining. The annexation was widely popular in both Germany and Austria, with most Austrians welcoming Hitler warmly as he travelled to Vienna. Austria was incorporated into Germany the next day, and in April, a manipulated plebiscite indicated that about 99% of Austrians wanted the union with Germany. The Anschluss was the Nazi regime's first act of territorial aggression and expansion and was a significant breach of the post-World War I international order.

The Anschluss

Historical Background

The idea of a unified Austria and Germany had been proposed after the 1871 unification of Germany, which excluded Austria. This proposal gained support, particularly among Austrian citizens of the political left and center, after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. The new Republic of German-Austria attempted to unite with Germany, but the Treaty of Saint Germain and the Treaty of Versailles prohibited this union and stripped Austria of some of its territories.

Rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany

In 1933, with the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in Germany, the desire for unification intensified. For the Nazis, the unification of all Germans into one state was an integral part of their ideology. Hitler himself, being Austrian-born, had expressed his desire for an Austro-German union in his writings and speeches.

Austrian Political Situation

During the 1930s, Austrian politics was marked by infighting and instability. Engelbert Dollfuss, the Austrian chancellor, established an authoritarian regime known as the Corporate State or Austrofascist state. This regime was opposed by the Austrian Nazis, who attempted a coup in July 1934, resulting in Dollfuss' assassination. The coup failed, but the Austrian Nazis continued their terrorist attacks, causing a significant death toll.

The Berchtesgaden Agreement

By 1938, Austria found itself diplomatically isolated and facing increasing pressure from Nazi Germany. On February 12, 1938, Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg met with Hitler and was forced to agree to demands that undermined Austrian sovereignty, including the appointment of Arthur Seyss-Inquart, a Nazi sympathizer, to a key government position.

The Plebiscite and Annexation

In an attempt to assert Austrian independence, Schuschnigg called for a plebiscite (referendum) on March 9, 1938, to be held on March 13. However, Hitler responded with a series of ultimatums, demanding that Schuschnigg cancel the plebiscite, resign, and appoint Seyss-Inquart as the new chancellor. Faced with the threat of invasion, Schuschnigg conceded and resigned on March 11.

On March 12, German troops crossed the Austrian border and were greeted by cheering Austrians. The next day, Seyss-Inquart, who had been appointed chancellor, signed the "Reunification of Austria with Germany" law, formally annexing Austria into Nazi Germany. A plebiscite held on April 10, 1938, resulted in an overwhelming majority approving the unification.

Aftermath

The unification of Austria and Germany had significant consequences for the Jewish population in Austria, who faced violence, discrimination, and persecution. Many Jews decided to leave the country, and those who remained eventually became victims of the Holocaust.

Nazi propaganda

On March 11, 1938, Nazi Germany annexed Austria, an event known as the Anschluss. This was the first act of territorial aggression and expansion by the Nazi regime, and it was widely popular in both Germany and Austria. The annexation was the culmination of years of Nazi propaganda and terror campaigns in Austria, which were encouraged and funded by Germany.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Austrian Nazi Party was weak, divided, and ineffective. However, by 1931, the bulk of Austrian Nazis recognised Hitler as their leader, and the party began to gain supporters as Hitler's popularity in Germany increased. In 1933, Austrian Nazis waged a propaganda and terror campaign, staging disruptive protests, brawls, and bombings. They also received financial, logistic, and material support from Germany. This campaign culminated in a failed coup attempt in July 1934, during which Austrian Nazis attempted to overthrow the Austrian government and assassinated Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss.

Following the failed coup, Kurt von Schuschnigg became the new Austrian chancellor. In 1938, he called for a plebiscite to resolve the question of Anschluss once and for all. However, under pressure from Hitler, he resigned on March 11, pleading with Austrian forces not to resist a German "advance" into the country. On March 12, German troops marched into Austria, accompanied by Hitler, and were met with enthusiastic crowds. A new Nazi government was appointed, and on March 13, the Anschluss was officially proclaimed.

The Nazis celebrated the annexation as the fulfillment of the German people's destiny and glorified it through speeches and propaganda events. A referendum was held on April 10 to ratify the annexation, preceded by a major propaganda campaign involving leading figures of the Nazi regime. The referendum resulted in a vote of more than 99% in favour of the annexation.

The annexation of Austria was an important step in Hitler's plan to redraw the map of post-World War I Europe and unite all Germans in a Nazi German empire. It also demonstrated Nazi disdain for the post-World War I European order and the appeasement policies of other European powers.

The Austrian resistance

One notable resistance group was led by the priest Heinrich Maier. This group sought to re-establish a Habsburg monarchy after the war and played a crucial role in providing the Allies with information on Nazi production sites for weapons such as V-1 and V-2 rockets, Tiger tanks, and aircraft. Maier's group was also one of the first to report the mass murder of Jews, utilizing contacts at the Semperit factory near Auschwitz.

Other resistance groups included the Carinthian Slovenes, who formed a nucleus of the resistance after targeted deportations and forced Germanisation by the Nazi regime; the Austrian Freedom Front, a partisan group led by Communist leader Franz Honner and supported by the USSR; and various religious groups, such as Catholic, Baptist, and Baptist groups, which resisted Nazi anti-religious measures.

Despite the risks, many individuals provided support to Jewish families during the Holocaust, hiding them, managing their property, and aiding their escape from persecution.

The Soviet occupation of Austria

The Soviet Union's occupation of Austria was shaped by the Moscow Declaration of 1943, in which the British, Americans, and Soviets proclaimed that Austria was Germany's first victim. However, the declaration also stated that Austria would have to pay the price for its participation in Nazi aggression. In the long run, the declaration meant that Austria would emerge as an independent state.

The Soviet Union's occupation of Austria began in June 1941, when Hitler's regime launched a genocidal war against the Soviet Union. The aim of Operation Barbarossa was to eliminate the Soviet Union as a potential military threat, but also to starve and enslave the European population of the country and turn it into a German colony. The Soviet Union lost 26.6 million people during the war, with most credible estimates for military losses ranging between 11.4 and 14.6 million.

In the winter of 1945, troops from the 3rd and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts approached Austria's border from Hungary. The fighting in Hungary was some of the most brutal of the war, with around 1 million Soviet troops suffering 484,300 losses, including 140,000 killed or captured. After absorbing a final German offensive at Lake Balaton, the 3rd Ukrainian Front launched a counterattack that resulted in the elimination of German forces in the south and the capture of Vienna. After taking Vienna, Soviet troops advanced towards Linz and Graz in early May.

The Red Army suffered 94,185 casualties in Austria, with 26,006 killed and 68,179 wounded. Soviet occupation policies in Austria were shaped by the understanding that Austria was a victim of Germany, and therefore, Austria avoided some of the worst aspects of Germany's fate. The country did not lose any territory, and Austrians avoided the fate of ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe, who were expelled to Germany or deported to the Soviet Union for slave labor. Additionally, Austrians did not become victims of ethnic cleansing, as Germans from the Third Reich's territories incorporated into Poland and the Soviet Union had been.

However, the Western Allies consented to Moscow's demand that the Soviets should be entitled to German assets in Austria within their zone of occupation. This resulted in Austria paying more than five times what Stalin originally demanded. Local governments were also obliged to feed and clothe the Red Army, which was an enormous burden on the war-ravaged country. The Soviet Union deployed NKVD (Soviet secret police) teams to extract reparations through requisitions, seizing industrial plants and production installations.

In total, Austria paid the Soviet Union 36.8 billion Schillings, or two percent of its accumulated GDP, from 1946 to 1955. The Soviet Union did not try to impose a communist dictatorship in Austria, and the scale of political violence experienced by Austrians was more limited than in other countries occupied by the Red Army. By 1955, when the Red Army pulled out of the country, the Soviets had arrested 2,400 Austrians, with 1,250 prosecuted for various crimes, including war crimes and everyday criminal activity. Around 150 were executed, while others received lengthy prison terms.

During the occupation, the Soviet leadership sustained army morale through vicious anti-German hate propaganda, which fueled atrocities against civilians. As they closed in on the Third Reich, Soviet soldiers committed hundreds of thousands of sexual assaults, robberies, and murders. However, as the fall of the Third Reich became imminent, the tone of Soviet propaganda abruptly changed. The most vehement anti-German propagandists were criticized, and propaganda began to emphasize that ordinary Germans and Austrians were not responsible for Nazi crimes. Soviet commanders issued orders discouraging criminal conduct as soon as troops entered Austria, and the instruction proclaimed that Austria was Hitler's first victim and that the Red Army had entered the country to liberate it and destroy German forces.

The number of Soviet troops in Austria greatly diminished over time, from around 700,000 during the Vienna Strategic Offensive to 150,000 in 1946, and 50,000 when the occupation ended in 1955. As the war turned into occupation, sexual relations between Soviet men and Austrian women became less physically violent and more transactional, and in many instances, consensual. There were around 8,000 so-called "soldier's children" born in Austria between 1946 and 1953, but the real number may have been around 30,000.

The Soviets pulled out of Austria in 1955, along with the Western Allies, after Austria promised to remain neutral in the Cold War. The last Austrian prisoners were released by the Soviet Union in 1955.

The Mauthausen concentration camp

On 12 March 1938, two weeks after the 'Anschluss' ('Annexation') of Austria to the German Reich, the Mauthausen concentration camp was established. Located on the bank of the Danube River, near the "Wiener Graben" stone quarry, the camp was about three miles from the town of Mauthausen in Upper Austria, 12.5 miles southeast of Linz.

The camp was founded by the SS, who transferred the first prisoners from the Dachau concentration camp. These prisoners, who were all German and Austrian men, were forced to build their own camp and work in the quarries. Their daily lives were marked by hunger, arbitrary treatment, and violence.

Mauthausen was one of the first massive concentration camp complexes in Nazi Germany, and it became the main camp of a group with nearly 100 subcamps located throughout Austria and southern Germany. The camp was controlled by the German state and founded by a private company, Deutsche Erd- und Steinwerke GmbH-DESt (German Earth and Stone Works Inc.), as an economic enterprise. The company was led by Oswald Pohl, a high-ranking SS official.

The camp was initially used to incarcerate "traitors to the people from all over Austria," including political opponents and groups labelled as "criminal" or "antisocial." Later, during World War II, the number of prisoners at Mauthausen increased dramatically and diversified. People from across Europe were deported to Mauthausen, which became a system of several interconnected camps. The camp was also used to incarcerate Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Spanish Republicans fleeing Franco's regime in Spain.

The conditions at Mauthausen were exceptionally harsh and brutal, with inmates suffering from malnutrition, overcrowded huts, constant abuse, and forced labour in the quarries. The SS authorities also carried out pseudoscientific medical experiments on the prisoners and used methods such as gassing, shooting, hanging, and harsh living conditions to kill thousands of prisoners.

By the end of the war, the Mauthausen camp system had 73,351 prisoners, 959 of whom were women. It is estimated that out of the 190,000 people imprisoned in Mauthausen and its subcamps, at least 90,000 died.

On 5 May 1945, the US Army reached and liberated Mauthausen and its subcamps. However, many prisoners were in such a weakened state that they died in the days and weeks following liberation.

Frequently asked questions