Austria's Wwii Status: A Country In Question

Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, with the overwhelming support of the Austrian population. It was an integral part of the Third Reich, with 700,000 people, or 10% of the population, joining the Nazi Party. The Wehrmacht drafted more than 1.3 million Austrians between 1938 and 1945, 242,000 of whom never came back home. Austrians also served loyally as soldiers from Germany proper and were just as responsible for Nazi atrocities on the Eastern Front.

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 treated as a defeated Axis power, but it avoided some of the worst aspects of Germany’s fate. It did not lose any territory, despite Yugoslavia’s claims to Carinthia, a province in the south of the country. Austrians also avoided the fate of the Volksdeutsche, ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe who were expelled to Germany or rounded up and deported to the Soviet Union for slave labour. Likewise, Austrians did not become victims of ethnic cleansing, like Germans from the Third Reich’s territories incorporated into Poland and the Soviet Union. The Western Allies also successfully opposed the Kremlin’s plans to impose burdensome war reparations on Austria that Germany, Romania, and Hungary had to pay.

However, the Western Allies consented to Moscow’s demand that the Soviets should be entitled to German assets in Austria in their zone of occupation. Moscow considered German property to be all property that at the end of the war had German owners or investors. As a result, according to historian Günter Bischof, Austria ended up paying more than five times what Stalin originally demanded. In Austria, as in other “enemy” countries, local governments were obliged to feed and clothe the Red Army, which, given the number of troops, was an enormous burden on the war-ravaged countries.

Austria was occupied by the Allies and declared independent from Nazi Germany on 27 April 1945 (confirmed by the Berlin Declaration for Germany on 5 June 1945). The occupation ended when the Austrian State Treaty came into force on 27 July 1955.

The Anschluss

By the 1920s, the idea of unification had strong support in both Austria and Germany, particularly among Austrian citizens of the political left and center. However, support for unification faded over time, although it remained a concept in Austrian political discourse.

When Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany in 1933, the desire for unification was closely associated with the Nazis, for whom it was an integral part of their ideology. In early 1938, Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg announced there would be a referendum on a possible union with Germany, to be held on March 13. Hitler threatened an invasion and pressured Schuschnigg to resign. On March 11, Hitler sent an ultimatum to Schuschnigg, demanding he hand over power to the Austrian Nazis or face invasion. The next day, German troops crossed the border into Austria, unopposed by the Austrian military.

Hitler's journey through Austria became a triumphal tour, with 250,000 Austrians gathering in Linz to greet him. Hitler originally intended to leave Austria as a satellite state, but the overwhelming reception caused him to change course and absorb Austria directly into the Reich. On March 13, Austrian Nazi Chancellor Arthur Seyss-Inquart announced the abrogation of Article 88 of the Treaty of Saint-Germain, which prohibited the unification of Austria and Germany.

Austria's role in the Holocaust

Austria was a willing participant in the Holocaust, enthusiastically supporting the Nazis' persecution of Jews. In 1938, Austria had a Jewish population of about 192,000, who played an important role in the country's economic and cultural life. However, Austria also had a powerful legacy of anti-Semitism, which was fully expressed by Adolf Hitler, who was Austrian.

After the Anschluss, when Austria was incorporated into Nazi Germany, the persecution of Jews was immediate and violent. German racial laws were enacted in Austria, and the country's Jewish population was disenfranchised. All Jewish organisations and newspapers were closed, and their leaders imprisoned. Jews were banned from public transport and forced to wash sidewalks and public toilets, sometimes with their bare hands.

The November 1938 Kristallnacht pogroms were particularly brutal in Austria. Most synagogues in Vienna were destroyed, and Jewish businesses were vandalised and ransacked. Thousands of Jews were arrested and deported to concentration camps. Many Austrians joined the Nazis in terrorising Jews, and the Viennese model of Jewish degradation became a blueprint for the Nazis' expulsion of Jews from Germany and German-occupied countries.

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

The Holocaust in Austria resulted in the murder of about 70,000 Jews (nearly 40% of the Jewish population) and forced 125,000 to flee as refugees. Between 1938 and 1940, 117,000 Jews left Austria, and by the outbreak of war in September 1939, only about 126,445 remained. By the end of the war, more than 65,000 Austrian Jews had perished, many in extermination camps.

While many Austrians supported the Nazis, there was also an Austrian resistance movement. However, this movement was hampered by political antagonism, and it was small compared to the widespread support for the Nazis.

After the war, Austria tried to portray itself as a victim of Nazi Germany, denying its role in the Holocaust. This "First Victim" narrative was eventually questioned and replaced by a more honest reckoning with the country's past.

Austrian resistance to Nazism

Austria was part of Nazi Germany from 13 March 1938 until 27 April 1945, when Allied-occupied Austria declared independence from Nazi Germany. During this time, the Austrian resistance was small but by no means negligible. It is estimated that around 100,000 people participated in the resistance, with thousands subsequently imprisoned or executed for their anti-Nazi activities. The Austrian resistance groups were often separated by ideology and reflected the spectrum of political parties before the war.

Left-Wing Resistance Groups

The left-wing resistance groups were dominated by communists, with a smaller number of socialists. The Carinthian Slovenes formed a nucleus of the resistance after targeted deportations and forced Germanisation by the Nazi regime in 1942 led to the establishment of forest bands. Carinthian Slovenes formed partisan groups such as the Austrian Freedom Front, which was led by the communist leader Franz Honner and supported by the USSR. By the end of the war, the Austrian Freedom Front had become the only armed movement in Austria.

Conservative Resistance Groups

Conservative resistance groups were mainly Christian Socialists and monarchists. One such group was the Austrian Freedom Movement, founded by Roman Scholz and Karl Lederer in 1938. This group sent regular reports on the situation in Austria and the activities of the resistance to England. The leaders of the Austrian legitimist movement, i.e. supporters of the Habsburgs, were arrested by the Nazis and largely executed.

Religious Resistance Groups

The Nazis implemented anti-religious and anti-Austrian-patriotic measures, which brought about resistance from many established religious groups, whose core members came mainly from the establishment of Austrian high society. Three large regional Catholic-based resistance groups were formed, with members including the Burgtheater actor Otto Hartmann, who was a spy in paid service of the Gestapo.

Military Resistance Groups

There were also resistance groups within the German Wehrmacht, such as the group around Major Carl Szokoll, which planned "Operation Radetzky" to assist the Red Army in the liberation of Vienna and to prevent major destruction. However, the operation was betrayed and the members were sentenced to death by the German "People's Court" and executed.

Intelligence Agency Resistance

Erwin von Lahousen joined the resistance circle against Hitler within the 'defense'. It is believed that he kept his contact network with British, Czechoslovak, and Russian agents during the war.

Exile Resistance

The main organised exile group during the war was based around the Austrian Office in London, which was home to the Austrian Society or "Austrian Office", and was the centre of the 30,000-strong exile community.

The Allied occupation of Austria

On 27 April 1945, Austria was declared independent from Nazi Germany by the Allies, a decision confirmed by the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945. This marked the beginning of the Allied occupation of Austria, which lasted until 27 July 1955 when the Austrian State Treaty came into force.

In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Austria was divided into four occupation zones, jointly occupied by the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the United States, and France. Vienna, too, was subdivided, with the central district being collectively administered by the Allied Control Council.

The Western Allies consented to Moscow's demand that the Soviets should be entitled to German assets in Austria in their zone of occupation. This, along with occupation costs, proved to be a significant burden on the war-ravaged country.

Despite these tensions, the Allies worked together to hold general elections in Austria in November 1945. The election resulted in a blow for the Communist Party of Austria, which received only around 5% of the vote. The coalition of Christian Democrats (ÖVP) and Social Democrats (SPÖ) assumed control and offered the position of Federal Chancellor to Christian Democrat Julius Raab.

The first allied talks on Austrian independence were held in January 1947, but they deadlocked over the issue of "German assets" in Soviet possession. It wasn't until 1955 that Austria was granted full independence, after promising perpetual neutrality. The last occupation troops left on 25 October 1955, and Austria enacted a Declaration of Neutrality, committing to never join a military alliance or allow foreign troops to be based in the country.

Austria's independence after World War II

Austria was part of Nazi Germany from 1938 until 1945, when it was declared independent from Nazi Germany by the Allies. However, it was not until 1955 that Austria was fully independent again, with the Austrian State Treaty coming into force on 27 July 1955.

Austria's Annexation by Nazi Germany

On 12 March 1938, German troops entered Austria, and the country was annexed by Nazi Germany. This event is known as the Anschluss. The Anschluss was the Nazi German regime’s first act of territorial aggression and expansion, and it was widely popular in both Germany and Austria.

The Anschluss was not inevitable, but certain historical factors and events facilitated the process. One of these was the presence of ethnic Germans in Austria, who considered themselves ethnically German. Another was the Austrian Nazi Party, which, although initially weak, gained supporters as Hitler's popularity in Germany increased.

Hitler, himself an Austrian, had expressed his desire for an Austro-German union in his earliest writings and speeches. In February 1938, he met with Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg and forced him to implement measures favourable to Austrian Nazism. On 9 March 1938, Schuschnigg announced a referendum on Austrian independence, but Hitler responded by mobilising the 8th Army for the planned invasion. Schuschnigg conceded and resigned on the evening of 11 March.

On the morning of 12 March, German troops crossed the Austrian frontier. The formation of the Greater German Reich was announced from the balcony of the Council House in Linz. On 13 March, Austrian Chancellor Arthur Seyss-Inquart signed the “Reunification with Germany Law”. Before the evening was over, Hitler signed a law which made Austria a German province.

After the German defeat in World War II, the German identity in Austria was weakened. However, the process of restoring Austrian independence was not straightforward.

In the immediate aftermath of 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.

In 1943, the Allies had agreed in the Declaration of Moscow that Austria would be regarded as the first victim of Nazi aggression and treated as a liberated and independent country after the war. However, Austria remained under joint occupation of the Western Allies and the Soviet Union until 1955. Its status became a controversial subject in the Cold War.

In 1955, after Austrian promises of perpetual neutrality, Austria was accorded full independence. The Austrian State Treaty came into force on 27 July 1955, and the last occupation troops left on 25 October that year.

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