Austria's Survival: World War Ii's Impact And Legacy

Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, and the country was enthusiastically welcomed into the Third Reich by the Austrian population. The country was renamed Ostmark, and Upper and Lower Austria became Upper and Lower Danube. The Nazis arrested many leaders of the anti-Nazi Austrian political parties, and a great number of political opponents, particularly communists and socialists. Many Austrians, especially those of Jewish origin, were forced into exile.

During World War II, 950,000 Austrians fought for the Nazi German armed forces, and many others participated in the Nazi administration, from death camp personnel to senior Nazi leadership. The majority of the bureaucrats who implemented the Final Solution were Austrian.

After World War II, Austria was divided into four occupation zones and jointly occupied by the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the United States, and France. Vienna was similarly subdivided, but the central district was collectively administered by the Allied Control Council. Austria was declared independent from Nazi Germany on April 27, 1945, and the occupation ended when the Austrian State Treaty came into force on July 27, 1955.

The Anschluss and its aftermath

The Anschluss, the annexation of Austria into the German Reich, was the culmination of years of political tension and economic stagnation in Austria. The idea of a union between Austria and Germany, known as "Greater Germany", had been proposed as early as 1871 when Austria was excluded from the unification of Germany. The concept gained support after World War I, as the new Republic of German-Austria struggled economically and faced territorial losses.

In the 1920s and early 1930s, the idea of Anschluss was supported by many Austrian citizens, particularly those on the political left and center, due to the belief that Austria was not economically viable without its former imperial lands. However, by the mid-1930s, the rise of Nazism in Germany changed the dynamics. Austrian Nazis attempted a coup in July 1934, which failed, leading to the establishment of an authoritarian right-wing government in Austria. This government, led by Engelbert Dollfuss and later Kurt Schuschnigg, kept dissent at bay and prevented concerted resistance to the German annexation.

In early 1938, under pressure from pro-unification activists, Chancellor Schuschnigg announced a referendum on the issue of Austrian independence, to be held on March 13. This prompted Hitler to threaten an invasion and pressure Schuschnigg to resign. On March 12, German troops crossed the border into Austria, unopposed by the Austrian military. A plebiscite held on April 10, with coercion and manipulation, resulted in a 99.7% approval for the Anschluss.

The annexation of Austria was the first act of territorial aggression by Nazi Germany and a significant breach of the post-World War I international order. It transformed Austria overnight, as Austrian and German Nazis quickly worked to nazify all aspects of Austrian life. The country's Jewish population faced immediate persecution, with synagogues and Jewish businesses vandalized and Jews subjected to public humiliation and forced labor. The Nazis also established concentration camps, such as Mauthausen, where thousands of prisoners perished.

The international community's response to the annexation was moderate and verbal, with no military confrontation. This appeasement allowed Hitler to continue his expansionary policies unchecked, leading to the Sudetenland crisis and the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Austria remained part of Germany until the end of World War II, when a provisional government declared the Anschluss "null and void."

Austrian resistance to the Nazis

The Austrian resistance was launched in response to the rise of fascism across Europe and, more specifically, to the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938. An estimated 100,000 people participated in this resistance, with thousands subsequently imprisoned or executed for their anti-Nazi activities. The main cipher of the Austrian resistance was O5, which can still be seen at the Stephansdom in Vienna.

The Austrian resistance groups were often exposed by the Gestapo and their members executed. The most spectacular individual group of the Austrian resistance was the one led by the priest Heinrich Maier. This very successful Catholic resistance group wanted to revive a Habsburg monarchy after the war and passed on plans and production facilities for V-2 rockets, Tiger tanks, and aircraft to the Allies. With the location sketches of the production facilities, the Allied bombers were able to carry out precise airstrikes and thus protect residential areas. In contrast to many other German resistance groups, the Maier group informed very early on about the mass murder of Jews through its contacts with the Semperit factory near Auschwitz.

In addition to the armed resistance groups, there were also individuals who provided support to Jewish families during the Holocaust. These efforts included hiding individuals, managing or exchanging their property to generate funds, and aiding their escape from Nazi persecution. These actions carried immense personal risk, as assisting Jews was punishable by imprisonment or death in Nazi concentration camps.

The Austrian resistance movement was hampered by the political antagonism that had weakened the First Republic of Austria between the two World Wars. This political divide was so deep and bitter that it blocked cooperation between Austrian émigrés and between the various resistance groups that had formed inside the country. Nevertheless, the possibility of reestablishing an independent Austria after the war was far from dead.

Soviet occupation of Austria

Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, with the support of the Austrian population. The country then became an integral part of the Third Reich, with 700,000 Austrians, or 10% of the population, joining the Nazi Party. Over 1.3 million Austrians were drafted into the Wehrmacht between 1938 and 1945, and 242,000 of them never returned.

In June 1941, Hitler's regime launched Operation Barbarossa, a genocidal war against the Soviet Union. The aim was not only to eliminate the Soviet Union as a military threat but also to enslave and colonize its population. The Soviet Union suffered immense losses during the war, with estimates of military deaths 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 brutal, with around 1 million Soviet troops suffering 484,300 losses, including 140,000 killed or captured. The Soviets launched a counterattack that resulted in the elimination of most German forces in the south and the capture of Vienna. After taking Vienna, Soviet troops advanced towards Linz and Graz in early May.

The Soviet occupation policies in Austria were shaped by the Moscow Declaration of 1943, in which the British, Americans, and Soviets acknowledged that Austria was the first victim of Nazi aggression but also had to pay the price for its participation in Nazi crimes. The declaration ultimately meant that Austria would regain its independence. The Soviet Union occupied only parts of Austria, including Vienna, while Anglo-American troops entered from Germany and Italy. Austria was then divided into four occupation zones, similar to Germany.

Despite treating Austria as a defeated Axis power, Moscow maintained that Austria was a victim of Germany. As a result, Austria avoided some of the harsh consequences faced by Germany. It retained its territory and its citizens were not subjected to ethnic cleansing or mass deportations for slave labor. Additionally, the Western Allies prevented the Soviet Union from imposing heavy war reparations on Austria.

However, the Soviets demanded entitlement to German assets in their occupation zone, resulting in Austria paying more than what Stalin initially demanded. Local governments were burdened with the task of providing food and clothing for the Red Army. NKVD (Soviet secret police) teams were deployed to extract reparations, seizing industrial plants and production installations. From 1946 to 1955, Austria paid the Soviet Union an estimated 36.8 billion Schillings, approximately two percent of its accumulated GDP.

The Soviet Union did not attempt to impose a communist dictatorship in Austria, and the scale of political violence was more limited compared to other occupied countries. During the initial eight months of occupation, Soviet military tribunals arrested around 800 Austrian civilians, with known charges ranging from belonging to the Nazi Werewolf resistance group to espionage and war crimes. By 1955, the Soviets had arrested 2,400 Austrians, with 1,250 prosecuted for various crimes, resulting in executions and lengthy prison terms.

As the war drew to a close, Soviet propaganda shifted its tone, emphasizing that ordinary Germans and Austrians were not responsible for Nazi crimes. Soviet commanders issued orders discouraging criminal conduct towards Austrian civilians, urging their troops to respect Austrian traditions, families, and private property. However, the reality on the ground was different, with Soviet soldiers committing widespread looting and sexual assaults. According to estimates, between 70,000 and 100,000 women in Vienna alone were raped by Soviet troops.

The number of Soviet troops in Austria gradually decreased, and by 1955, there were only 50,000 remaining. The occupation ended in 1955, with the Soviet Union and Western Allies withdrawing their troops in exchange for Austria's promise of neutrality in the Cold War.

Allied occupation of Austria

Austria was liberated by Soviet troops on April 13, 1945, and was jointly occupied by the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the United States, and France. The country was divided into four occupation zones, much like Germany, with Vienna similarly subdivided.

The Allied occupation of Austria was governed by the Moscow Declaration of 1943, which stated that Austria was the first victim of Nazi aggression, but it would also have to pay the price for its participation in Nazi crimes. This declaration meant that Austria would eventually emerge as an independent state.

On April 27, 1945, Austria was declared independent from Nazi Germany, which was later confirmed by the Berlin Declaration for Germany on June 5, 1945. The Western Allies and the Soviet Union continued their joint occupation of Austria until 1955, and its status became a controversial subject during the Cold War.

The Soviet Union treated Austria as a defeated Axis power, but it also acknowledged that Austria was a victim of Germany. As a result, Austria avoided some of the harsh consequences faced by Germany, such as territorial loss and mass expulsions of its citizens. However, the Western Allies consented to Moscow's demand that the Soviets were entitled to German assets in Austria within their zone of occupation. This resulted in significant reparations being paid by Austria to the Soviet Union.

The Soviet occupation of Austria was marked by political violence, mass arrests, and systematic sexual violence against women. The Soviet leadership attempted to curb these atrocities through propaganda, but the crimes continued, causing significant damage to the Red Army's reputation.

The Western Allies, particularly the United States, played a crucial role in resisting Soviet expansionist intentions and advocating for Austrian independence. The Potsdam Agreement and the Marshall Plan also influenced the economic and political landscape of occupied Austria.

The first general elections after the war, held on November 25, 1945, resulted in a defeat for the Communist Party of Austria, which received less than 6% of the vote. The country was governed by a coalition of traditional center-left and center-right Austrian parties.

The Allied occupation of Austria ended on July 27, 1955, with the Austrian State Treaty, which granted full independence to the country in exchange for promises of perpetual neutrality. The last occupation troops departed on October 25, 1955, marking the beginning of Austria's neutrality in the Cold War.

Austrian collaboration with the Nazis

Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, in an event known as the Anschluss. The annexation was met with the overwhelming support of the Austrian population, with German troops welcomed into the country on March 12, 1938. The country was then incorporated into Germany on March 13, 1938.

The Anschluss was the first act of territorial aggression and expansion by Nazi Germany, violating the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain, which expressly forbade the unification of Austria and Germany. The annexation was widely popular in both Germany and Austria, with Austrian civil servants, soldiers, and police officers taking a new oath to Adolf Hitler.

The Austrian population played an active role in the persecution of the country's Jewish population, with Austrians participating enthusiastically in the Nazification of Austrian life. Austrians were responsible for enacting Nazi policies and persecuting the country's Jewish population, forcing them to scrub the streets and clean public toilets. Many Austrians also joined the Nazi Party, with 10% of the population, or 700,000 people, signing up.

The majority of the bureaucrats who implemented the Final Solution were Austrian. Austrians were overrepresented in the system of terror against Jews and on the battlefields, with hundreds of thousands of Austrians fighting as German soldiers and serving in the SS. Austrians also served as concentration camp personnel and in senior Nazi leadership positions.

The Mauthausen concentration camp, established in the summer of 1938, became the main Nazi camp in Austria. During the war, forced labour using concentration camp prisoners became increasingly important to German armaments production, with thousands of prisoners worked to death.

The Austrian resistance was small but not negligible, with left-wing resistance groups (mostly communists) and conservative resisters (monarchists and Christian Socialists) active. However, the political antagonism that had weakened the First Republic of Austria between the two world wars blocked cooperation between Austrian émigrés and the various resistance groups that had formed inside the country.

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