Who Supported Austria In World War Ii?

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 Anschluss was the first act of territorial aggression and expansion by Nazi Germany and was widely popular in both Germany and Austria. While the Austrian chancellor at the time, Kurt von Schuschnigg, attempted to resist, he ultimately gave in to pressure from Hitler and resigned on March 11, 1938. Hitler then accompanied German troops into Austria, where they were met with enthusiastic crowds. The Anschluss transformed Austria almost overnight, as Austrian Nazis carried out the Nazification of all aspects of Austrian life with the support of the majority of the population.

The Anschluss: Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938

The Anschluss, which took place on the 12th of March 1938, was the annexation and formal union of Austria with Germany. The idea of a unified Germany and Austria, termed "Greater Germany", was not new and had been discussed since the 19th century. The unification was a part of the Nazi regime's plan to dominate Europe.

The unification was driven by several factors. Firstly, the Nazi leader of Germany, Adolf Hitler, had harboured ambitions to build a German empire that included all German speakers. Secondly, the annexation of Austria would grant Hitler access to new resources such as manpower for the military, raw materials, and large quantities of cash and gold. Lastly, the unification was facilitated by the Austrian government's diplomatic isolation and the lack of response from the international community.

The annexation of Austria was the first act of territorial aggression and expansion by the Nazi regime. It was widely popular in both Germany and Austria, with many Austrians sympathetic to the idea of joining Germany. However, there were also Austrians who knew their sovereignty would be lost as long as Hitler was in power.

The unification of Germany and Austria was swiftly followed by the imposition of Nazi ideology on Austrians and the imprisonment of those identified as enemies. The Austrian government was dissolved, and the country was reorganised along German lines with Nazi regional governors. The unification also resulted in an outburst of public violence against Austria's Jewish population.

The Allies recognised the annexation of Austria as part of Nazi Germany until November 1943, when they agreed in the Declaration of Moscow that Austria would be regarded as the first victim of Nazi aggression.

Austria's role in the Third Reich: Austrians served in the Nazi administration and armed forces

Austria was a part of Nazi Germany from 13 March 1938 (an event known as the Anschluss) until 27 April 1945, when Allied-occupied Austria declared independence from Nazi Germany. During this time, Austrians served in the Nazi administration and armed forces.

Nazi Germany's troops entering Austria in 1938 received the enthusiastic support of most of the population. Throughout World War II, 950,000 Austrians fought for the Nazi German armed forces. Other Austrians participated in the Nazi administration, from Nazi death camp personnel to senior Nazi leadership. The majority of the bureaucrats who implemented the Final Solution were Austrian.

Prior to the Anschluss, the Austrian Nazi party's military wing, the Austrian SS, was an active terrorist organization. After the Anschluss, Hitler's Austrian and German armies were fully integrated. During the war, 800,000 Austrians volunteered for Nazi Germany in the Wehrmacht and a further 150,000 Austrians joined the Nazi party's military wing, known as the Waffen-SS.

The largest concentration camp in Austria was the Mauthausen-Gusen complex, with more than 50 subcamps. Mass murder was practised in Hartheim Castle near Linz, where the killing programme Action T4 (involuntary euthanasia) took place, and in Am Spiegelgrund clinic in Vienna, where more than 700 handicapped children were murdered.

The following prominent Austrians were among those playing an active part in the Nazi regime:

• Adolf Hitler: German Chancellor from 1933 to 1945 and Führer from 2 August 1934 to 30 April 1945.
• Ernst Kaltenbrunner: replaced Heydrich in January 1943 as leader of Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA).
• Arthur Seyß-Inquart: organized or covered several Nazi crimes in the Netherlands.
• Odilo Globocnik: SS and police leader from 1939 in Poland, responsible for murdering about 2 million Polish Jews.
• Franz Josef Huber: appointed chief of the Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police; SiPo) and Gestapo for Vienna, the "Lower Danube" and "Upper Danube" regions.
• August Eigruber: Gauleiter of Upper Austria.
• Alexander Löhr: commander of Luftflotte 4, carried out the bombing of Belgrade in April 1941.
• Hermann Neubacher: Austrian Nazi politician who held diplomatic posts during World War II.
• Lothar Rendulic: army group commander in the Wehrmacht during World War II.
• Wolfgang Abel: professor of racial biology at the University of Berlin, involved in compulsory sterilization of so-called Rhineland Bastards.
• Heinrich Gross: wrote expertises about "unworthy lives" and carried out deadly experiments at Am Spiegelgrund with handicapped children.
• Alois Brunner: Schutzstaffel (SS) officer who worked as Adolf Eichmann's assistant.
• Karl Silberbauer: arrested Anne Frank in 1944.
• Otto Skorzeny: Obersturmbannführer in Waffen-SS.
• Edmund Glaise-Horstenau: Austrian officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army, last Vice-Chancellor of Austria before the 1938 Anschluss.
• Hugo Jury, Franz Hofer and Friedrich Rainer: Austrian gauleiters who participated in Nazi crimes.
• Friedrich Franek: general in Wehrmacht during World War II.
• Amon Göth: commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp.

Soviet occupation: The Soviet Union occupied Austria after WWII, along with the UK, US, and France

Following World War II, Austria was jointly occupied by the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, and France. This occupation lasted from 1945 until 1955, with the four powers dividing Austria and Vienna into four zones each. The central district of Vienna was collectively administered by the four powers, who formed the Allied Control Council.

The Soviet Union's occupation of Austria began in 1945 when Soviet commander Fyodor Tolbukhin's troops crossed the former Austrian border. On April 20, 1945, the Soviets instructed Austrian politician Karl Renner to form a provisional government, which took office a week later and declared Austria's independence from Nazi Germany. The Western Allies were suspicious of Renner's government, believing it to be a puppet state, and refused to recognize it.

During the occupation, the Soviet Union, like the other occupying powers, engaged in various political and economic activities to exert control over Austria. The Soviet Union imposed burdensome reparations on the country, confiscated industrial equipment, and exerted influence over the Austrian government and economy. The Soviet occupation also saw systematic sexual violence against women and widespread looting by Soviet troops.

The Western Allies, including the United States, Britain, and France, played a role in counterbalancing the Soviet Union's influence during the occupation. They opposed the Kremlin's plans for heavy war reparations and supported the creation of a free and independent Austria. The Western Allies also provided food aid and played a role in the Marshall Plan, which provided financial assistance to Austria.

The occupation of Austria by the four powers ended in 1955 with the Austrian State Treaty, which granted Austria full independence. The last occupation troops left the country on October 25, 1955, and Austria declared its neutrality in the Cold War.

Austrian resistance: A small minority of Austrians resisted Nazism, with groups reflecting the spectrum of pre-war political parties

During World War II, a small minority of Austrians resisted Nazism, with groups reflecting the spectrum of pre-war political parties. The Austrian resistance was launched in response to the rise of fascism across Europe and, more specifically, 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, in which "O" indicates the first letter of the abbreviation of Österreich (OE), with the "5" indicating the fifth letter of the German alphabet (E). This sign may be seen at the Stephansdom in Vienna.

The Austrian resistance groups were often ideologically separated and reflected the spectrum of political parties before the war. In addition to armed resistance groups, there was a strong communist resistance group, groups close to the Catholic Church, Habsburg groups and individual resistance groups in the German Wehrmacht. Most resistance groups were exposed by the Gestapo and the members were executed.

The most spectacular individual group of the Austrian resistance was the one around the priest Heinrich Maier. This resistance group sought to re-establish a Habsburg monarchy after the war. It played a large role in providing the Allies with information on the production sites of the V-1, V-2 rockets, Tiger tanks, and aircraft such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet. The intelligence they provided, later uncovered by the Gestapo, was necessary in enabling the Allies to conduct precise airstrikes, minimizing civilian casualties. The group maintained contact with Allen Dulles, head of the U.S. OSS in Switzerland, and their information contributed to key operations such as Operation Crossbow and Operation Hydra, both of which were precursors to Operation Overlord. The Maier group was also one of the earliest to report the mass murder of Jews, utilizing contacts at the Semperit factory near Auschwitz.

In addition to armed resistance, numerous individuals 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. Among these individuals were Rosa Stallbaumer and her husband, Anton. Arrested by the Gestapo in 1942, they were sent to Dachau concentration camp. Although Anton survived, Rosa Stallbaumer did not; transferred to Auschwitz, she died there at age 44.

Other notable resistance groups include the Carinthian Slovenes as partisans of Carinthia, the Austrian Freedom Front, the Koralmpartisanen, the Salzkammergut partisans, the Tyrolean resistance movement, and the Austrian Democratic Union, based in London.

Austrian independence: The Allies declared the Anschluss void in 1945 and reestablished an independent Austria

The Allies declared the Anschluss void in 1945, paving the way for Austrian independence. In 1943, the Allies 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. This was a significant shift from the general recognition of Austria as part of Nazi Germany following the Anschluss in 1938.

On April 27, 1945, Austria was declared independent from Nazi Germany by the Allies as a result of the Vienna Offensive. This declaration was confirmed by the Berlin Declaration for Germany on June 5, 1945. However, Austria remained under the joint occupation of the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, with the country being divided into four occupation zones. Vienna, the capital, was also subdivided, with the central district being collectively administered by the Allied Control Council.

The process of reestablishing Austrian independence was not without challenges. The Western Allies suspected the establishment of a puppet state under Soviet influence, particularly with the inclusion of Austrian Communists in key government positions. The Western Allies refused to recognize the provisional government led by Karl Renner, an Austrian politician who had established contact with the Soviets during the Vienna Offensive.

The negotiations for Austrian independence were further complicated by the emerging Cold War tensions between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. The status of Austria became a controversial subject, and the negotiations stalled for several years. It was only with the warming of relations during the Khrushchev Thaw that progress was made.

Finally, on May 15, 1945, the Austrian State Treaty was signed in Vienna, officially reestablishing Austria as a sovereign and democratic state. The treaty was signed by the Allied occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union) and the Austrian government. This treaty came into force on July 27, 1955, and the last occupation troops left Austria on October 25, 1955. Austria's parliament also declared the country's neutrality, ensuring that it would not join a military alliance or allow foreign troops to be based within its territory.

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