Austria's Annexation: Nazi Germany's Expansion And Control

On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria, annexing the country into Nazi Germany. This event, known as the Anschluss, was the first act of territorial aggression and expansion by the Nazi regime. The idea of a union between Austria and Germany, resulting in a Greater Germany, had been proposed after the 1871 unification of Germany, which excluded Austria. The proposal gained support after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, and by the 1920s, it had strong support in both countries, particularly among Austrian citizens of the political left and center. The annexation was widely popular, and Austrian Nazis enthusiastically supported Hitler's regime. However, the true extent of Austrian support for the annexation is debated, with some historians arguing that it cannot be explained solely by opportunism or socioeconomic desires, but also by genuine German nationalist sentiment in Austria during the interwar period.

The Anschluss

Hitler and the Nazis wanted to redraw the map of Europe and unite all Germans in a Nazi empire. In February 1938, Hitler forced Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg to agree to give Austrian Nazis a free hand. Schuschnigg, however, attempted to assert Austrian independence by calling a referendum on the issue, to be held on 13 March 1938. Infuriated, Hitler threatened an invasion and demanded Schuschnigg's resignation, forcing him to cancel the referendum. On 11 March, the German army crossed the border into Austria, unopposed by the Austrian military. A plebiscite was held on 10 April, with 99.7% approval for the union, although the true opinions of the population are unknown.

Hitler's journey through Austria became a triumphal tour, with 250,000 Austrians gathering in Linz to meet him. The seizure of Austria demonstrated Hitler's aggressive territorial ambitions, and the failure of Britain and France to take action emboldened him towards further aggression. The Anschluss was the first major step in Hitler's desire to create a Greater German Reich, and it was followed by the remilitarisation of the Rhineland, the return of the Saar region to Germany, and the targeting of Czechoslovakia.

The Austrian Nazi Party

Austrian Nazis waged a propaganda and terror campaign beginning in May 1933, which was encouraged and funded by Germany. They staged disruptive protests and brawls with political opponents and the police. They also set off explosives and tear gas bombs in public places and Jewish-owned businesses. In response, the Dollfuss regime banned the Austrian Nazi Party and its affiliates in June 1933. However, the Austrian Nazis continued to operate illegally within the country, with many fleeing across the border into Germany, where they formed a paramilitary unit known as the Austrian Legion.

On 25 July 1934, Austrian Nazis attempted a coup, assassinating Chancellor Dollfuss. The coup failed, and many leading Austrian Nazis fled to Germany, where they continued to push for unification. The remaining Austrian Nazis continued terrorist attacks against Austrian governmental institutions, causing a death toll of more than 800 between 1934 and 1938.

In February 1938, under pressure from pro-unification activists, Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg announced a referendum on a possible union with Germany, to be held on 13 March. Hitler threatened an invasion and pressured Schuschnigg to resign, with Arthur Seyss-Inquart becoming chancellor. On 12 March 1938, German troops crossed the border and were greeted by cheering Austrians. On 13 March, Seyss-Inquart signed the "Reunification of Austria with Germany" law, formally incorporating Austria into Nazi Germany.

The Austrian Resistance

The most notable 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. The intelligence they provided enabled the Allies to conduct precise airstrikes, minimizing civilian casualties. The Maier group was also one of the earliest to report the mass murder of Jews, utilizing contacts at the Semperit factory near Auschwitz.

Other notable Austrian Resistance groups include New Free Austria, Helfenberg, Prinz Eugen, Carinthian Slovenes as partisans of Carinthia, and the partisan Austrian Freedom Front. Military resistance in the Wehrmacht included groups such as the group around Major Carl Szokoll, which planned "Operation Radetzky" to assist the Red Army in liberating Vienna and prevent major destruction.

Resistance was also provided by individuals who supported and hid Jewish families during the Holocaust. These efforts carried immense personal risk, as assisting Jews was punishable by imprisonment or death in Nazi concentration camps. Among these individuals were Rosa and Anton Stallbaumer, who were arrested by the Gestapo in 1942 and sent to concentration camps.

Overall, the Austrian Resistance was small but not negligible, and it played a crucial role in providing intelligence to the Allies and resisting Nazi rule.

The Austrian Civil War

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Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, and it became a part of the German Reich until the end of World War II in 1945. This event is often referred to as the "Anschluss," which means "union" or "joining" in German.

Now, here is a narrative on the Austrian Civil War, a key event leading to the annexation:

The tensions leading up to the civil war had been building for years. The Interwar period in Austria was marked by political and economic instability, with the country suffering from the global Great Depression and a series of weak coalition governments. The socialist and communist parties, particularly the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SDAP), had strong support, especially in urban areas like Vienna, while conservative and nationalist forces were also gaining traction.

As the political climate grew more polarized, the SDAP and its affiliated trade unions established the "Republic Protection League" in 1923 as a paramilitary force to defend themselves and their political interests. In response, the conservative forces, including the nationalist veterans' association, formed the "Home Guard" or "Heimwehr." Clashes between these paramilitary groups became frequent, with the Social Democrats and Communists on one side and the nationalist and fascist forces on the other.

The tipping point came in 1933 when Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, a conservative authoritarian, suspended the Austrian Parliament and established an autocratic regime, effectively ending democracy in the country. The SDAP and its allies were outraged, and tensions escalated further when the government began cracking down on socialist and communist organizations, arresting their leaders and banning their activities.

On February 12th, 1934, the civil war erupted in Vienna. It began with a police raid on a socialist stronghold, the Hotel Schiff, in the working-class district of Linz. The socialists and communists fought back, and soon heavy street fighting broke out across the city. The government forces, including the police, the Fatherland Front, and the Home Guard, were better equipped and more coordinated. They quickly gained the upper hand, and the fighting spread to other cities, including Graz, Salzburg, and Wiener Neustadt.

The socialists and communists put up fierce resistance, but they were ultimately outnumbered and outgunned. By February 16th, the government forces had suppressed the uprising, and the leaders of the socialist and communist parties were either arrested, exiled, or killed. The civil war resulted in significant casualties, with hundreds killed and thousands injured.

The Holocaust in Austria

On 13 March 1938, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in what was known as the Anschluss. This event transformed Austria almost overnight. In the days, weeks, and months that followed, Austrian and German Nazis carried out the Nazification of all aspects of Austrian life.

The annexation of Austria was the Nazi German regime's first act of territorial aggression and expansion. It was widely popular in both Germany and Austria. However, it resulted in an outburst of public violence against Austria's Jewish population.

In the first week following the annexation, Jews were subjected to brutality, outright violence, and plundering of their assets. Jewish women were forced to scrub political slogans from the sidewalks with their bare hands or toothbrushes. Jewish children were made to write the word "Jud" on the windows of their fathers' shops. Orthodox Jews were pulled around by their beards, and Jews at the Prater Stern were forced to lie down and eat grass.

By mid-June, Jews had already been removed from public life, more thoroughly than in the five years of Nazi government in Germany. Tens of thousands of Jewish employees lost their jobs, and hundreds of Jews committed suicide.

The Kristallnacht pogroms of November 1938 were especially brutal in Austria. Most of Vienna's synagogues were burned in view of the public, and fire departments looked on.

By 1942, almost all Austrian Jews (220,000 according to the Nazi definition, 181,778 of whom were members of the IKG-Jewish community) had either been forced to emigrate or had been deported to concentration camps. 65,000 Austrian Jews did not survive the Holocaust.

Austrians played a major part in the planning and administration of the deportation and extermination of European Jews. Not only were Adolf Eichmann, Odilo Globocnik, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Alois Brunner, and Hitler himself Austrians, but Austrians constituted 40% of the staff in the death camps and 13-14% of the SS. The Austrian concentration camp at Mauthausen (near Linz) was one of the largest and harshest camps within the Third Reich, where prisoners were worked to death in quarries within a few months.

In addition to the approximately 50,912 Jews deported from Austria to ghettos and extermination camps, another 17,050 were arrested in other European countries after the Germans occupied them. Only 1,747 Jews returned to Austria after the end of the war.

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