Hitler's Chancellorship: Austria's Dark Past

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934.

Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz. He lived in Vienna in the first decade of the 1900s before moving to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in World War I, receiving the Iron Cross. In 1919, he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party, and in 1921 was appointed leader of the Nazi Party. In 1923, he attempted to seize governmental power in a failed coup in Munich and was sentenced to five years in prison, serving just over a year of his sentence.

Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting pan-Germanism, antisemitism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. By November 1932, the Nazi Party held the most seats in the Reichstag, but not a majority. No political parties were able to form a majority coalition in support of a candidate for chancellor. Former chancellor Franz von Papen and other conservative leaders convinced President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor on 30 January 1933. Shortly thereafter, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933, which began the process of transforming the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism.

Hitler was not chancellor of Austria.

Hitler's citizenship

Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary, in 1889. He moved to Munich, Germany, in 1913, and revoked his Austrian citizenship in 1925 to avoid extradition back to his home country.

Hitler was a stateless immigrant living in Germany and needed citizenship to advance his political career. He had a criminal record due to his involvement in the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, which made the normal path to German citizenship cumbersome and uncertain.

In 1932, Hitler was appointed administrator for the state delegation to the Reichsrat in Berlin by the interior minister of Brunswick, Dietrich Klagges, who was a member of the Nazi Party. This appointment made Hitler a citizen of Brunswick and, thus, a citizen of Germany.

Hitler's rise to power

Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP). He quickly rose to a place of prominence within the party, becoming one of its most popular speakers, and was made party leader after threatening to leave. In 1920, the DAP renamed itself the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party). Despite being a right-wing party, it had many anti-capitalist and anti-bourgeois elements, which Hitler later purged to reaffirm the party's pro-business stance.

Hitler's control over the party went unchallenged, and in 1923, he attempted a coup, known as the Beer Hall Putsch, in Bavaria. After the coup's failure, Hitler was arrested, put on trial, and sentenced to five years in prison, though he would only serve nine months. During this time, he wrote Mein Kampf, which became the bible of National Socialism. Once released, Hitler switched tactics, opting to seize power through legal and democratic means.

Hitler's newfound celebrity status, combined with his powerful oratorical skills and use of propaganda, helped him to gain popularity nationwide. During the 1920s, Hitler and the Nazis ran on a platform of anti-communism, antisemitism, and ultranationalism. They vociferously criticised the ruling democratic government and the Treaty of Versailles, while proselytising their desire to turn Germany into a world power. At this time, most Germans were indifferent to Hitler's rhetoric, as the German economy was beginning to recover, largely due to loans from the US under the Dawes Plan.

However, the German political landscape was dramatically affected by the 1929 Wall Street Crash, which hampered economic aid to Germany. The Great Depression brought the German economy to a halt and further polarised German politics. Hitler and the Nazis began to exploit the crisis, loudly criticising the ruling government, while the German Communist Party also began campaigning and calling for a revolution. Business leaders, fearful of a communist takeover, began supporting the Nazi Party.

Hitler ran for the presidency in 1932 but was defeated by the incumbent, Paul von Hindenburg, though he achieved a strong second-place showing in both rounds of voting. Following this, in July 1932, the Nazis became the largest party in the Reichstag, albeit short of an absolute majority. Traditionally, the leader of the party who held the most seats in the Reichstag was appointed Chancellor. However, Hindenburg was hesitant to appoint Hitler as chancellor. Following several backroom negotiations, Hindenburg acquiesced and, on January 30, 1933, he formally appointed Hitler as Germany's new chancellor.

Hitler's invasion of Austria

Hitler, an Austrian German by birth, had picked up his German nationalist ideas at a young age. He joined the German Workers' Party (DAP) in 1919 and soon became its leader. He addressed a crowd in 1920, and, in an effort to appeal to wider parts of the German population, the DAP was renamed the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). As its first point, the 1920 National Socialist Program stated, "We demand the unification of all Germans in the Greater Germany on the basis of the people's right to self-determination."

Hitler's rise to power in Germany in 1933 put him in a position to act on his desire to unite Austria and Germany. In 1934, he ordered the Austrian Nazis to create havoc in Austria, turning into an attempt to overthrow the government. Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss was assassinated, but the attempted coup failed because the Austrian military intervened. Hitler's plan was thwarted again in 1936 when Italy, which had an agreement with Austria to protect it from outside aggression, moved troops to the Austrian border.

In 1938, Hitler pressured Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg to appoint the Nazi Arthur Seyss-Inquart as Minister of the Interior. Hitler then ordered Austrian Nazis to create as much trouble and destruction as possible to put pressure on Schuschnigg. If Hitler could claim that Austrian law and order had broken down, he could justify marching German troops into Vienna to restore peace. In a desperate act, Schuschnigg announced a referendum on 9 March 1938, whereby the Austrian people would decide for themselves if they wanted to be a part of Hitler's Germany. Hitler was furious and ordered Schuschnigg to call off the referendum and resign, which he did.

On 12 March 1938, German troops marched into Austria unopposed. Hitler now had control of Austria and, a month later, held a rigged referendum, which showed that the Austrian people approved of German control of their country. Hitler's invasion of Austria demonstrated once again his aggressive territorial ambitions, and the failure of Britain and France to take action against him emboldened him toward further aggression.

Hitler's popularity

Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz. He lived in Vienna in the first decade of the 1900s before moving to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in World War I, receiving the Iron Cross. In 1919, he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party, and in 1921 was appointed leader of the Nazi Party. In 1923, he attempted to seize governmental power in a failed coup in Munich and was sentenced to five years in prison, serving just over a year of his sentence.

However, it is important to note that Hitler's popularity in Austria was not universal. The Austrian resistance groups were often ideologically separated and reflected the spectrum of political parties before the war. In addition, a small minority of the Austrian population actively participated in the resistance against Nazism. According to the Austrian historian Helmut Konrad, out of an Austrian population of 6.8 million in 1938, there were around 100,000 Austrian opponents to the regime who were convicted and imprisoned, and an Austrian membership of the Nazi Party of 700,000.

Hitler's legacy

Hitler's rise to power began in 1919 when he joined the German Workers' Party, which would become the Nazi Party. He quickly became its leader, exploiting his oratorical skills and use of propaganda to gain popularity. In 1932, he placed second in the presidential race, and his various political manoeuvres resulted in the winner, Paul von Hindenburg, appointing him chancellor in January 1933. Hitler's government then began to suppress opposition parties, and the Enabling Act of 1933 transformed the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship. Hitler's aggressive, expansionist foreign policy is considered the primary cause of World War II in Europe, and his invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 marked the start of the conflict.

Hitler's regime was responsible for the Holocaust, the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims, including Romani people, Slavs, homosexuals, the disabled, and political opponents. Hitler's policies inflicted human suffering on an unprecedented scale, and historians, philosophers, and politicians often use the word "evil" to describe the Nazi regime. Hitler's legacy also includes the deliberate killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war, and 28.7 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in the European theatre of World War II.

Hitler's actions had a profound impact on the course of history, leading to the extension of the Soviet Union's power in Eastern Europe and enabling a communist movement to take control in China. The war also marked the decisive shift of power away from western Europe and towards the United States and the Soviet Union.

Hitler's death in 1945 did not end his legacy, and his influence continues to be felt today. The rise of ideologies compatible with Hitler's murderous creed means that his legacy must be confronted, and his life and actions continue to be the subject of historical analysis and reflection.

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