Austria accept German Annexation

 sovereignty and true independence

from 1867 through 1918

the nation was locked in the dual

monarchy of austria-hungary

until their defeat in world war 1

brought about a split

by this point the republic of german

austria was born

and lasted only a short time before

being replaced in september of 1919

by the first austrian republic the new

state survived

just under two decades with austrian

autonomy being challenged once

more as the germans marched onto

austrian soil on march 12

1938 to understand why the austrians

allowed

if not welcomed the german invasion it's

important that we look

back in time a little bit further

spanning back into the 19th century

around the collapse of the holy roman

empire in 1806

talks of creating a greater germany to

form one united nation

made up of each of the smaller german

states had already begun

the austrians particularly wanted this

union to take place

under the austrian habsburgs and

discussions of such a federation

continued roughly until the dissolution

of the german confederation

in 1866 which strictly excluded austria

from any german union

the austro-hungarian dual monarchy was

formed the following year

with the austro-hungarian compromise of

1867

while this new formation allowed austria

to have a union in some form

there were still many austrians who were

loyal only to germany

and wanted to see the new empire crumble

in favor of a union with the germans

instead

when austria-hungary did finally break

apart after its defeat in the first

world war

german austria was formed in hopes of

creating a new partnership

between austria and germany

unfortunately

for those in favor of a true union

though both the treaty of versailles

and the treaty of saint germain in 1919

obstructed the possibility of unity

between austria and germany

regardless of all signs pointing toward

a free austrian state

especially with the new formation of the

first austrian republic

there was still an overwhelming majority

within the austrian borders

that was determined to support any type

of unification with germany

when the rising national socialist

german workers party

came to power in the vaymer republic or

germany

at the start of the 1930s the push for

unity became

even more complex now an increasing

number of austrians began to not only

support the idea of a german austrian

state

but some also began to back the ideology

of the newly powerful german party as

well

this went so far and in such a quick

manner that a group in favor of

germany's workers party staged a coup

which was organized on german soil and

supposedly

assisted by the german chancellor and

his officials in 1934.

the group successfully assassinated the

austrian chancellor

anglebot dolphus and they were expecting

the austrian military to take their side

but the military leaders instead opposed

them

and the government was not overthrown as

they had hoped

on may 21st of the following year the

german chancellor gave a speech to the

reichstag

addressing his potential involvement in

the coup stating that

germany neither intends nor wishes to

interfere

in the eternal affairs of austria to

annex austria or to conclude

a union with austria from the point of

view of germany's chancellor though

it appears that he did in fact wish to

conclude a union

back in 1920 the chancellor's workers

party had created their program which

explicitly addressed their demand for

the unification of all germans in the

greater germany

on the basis of the people's right to

self-determination

adolf hitler himself went even a step

further

and in 1921 he wrote an essay in which

he said that one of the top priorities

of the germans was to incorporate

the 10 million german austrians in the

empire

and called for the dethroning of the

habsburgs which he referred to

as the most miserable dynasty ever

ruling

this scathing essay directly criticizing

the austrian habsburgs

was not completely a surprise especially

considering the fact that the german

chancellor was actually from austria

himself

and had high hopes for uniting his birth

country

with the one he now ruled due to

ethnicity and language

the solution to this predicament was no

longer simple

though as the first austrian republic

found itself heavily controlled by an

anti-annexation

christian socialist party and moving

rapidly in the direction of a more

centralized and austro-fascist

government

that seemed to take more inspiration

from italy than germany

after the february uprising in 1934.

italy also seemed to encourage the

maintenance of austrian sovereignty

away from germany possibly out of

concern for maintaining some of their

own territories

that were once controlled by austria

still the support of germany's party

by an austrian faction was growing use

of propaganda and slogans such as a

common one which

in english simply said one people one

empire

one leader helped the expanding movement

and an american journalist

john gunther even believed that the

austrian population was around 80

percent

in favor of a union with germany in

1932.

over the next few years however support

did fluctuate

in response to the attempted coup and

violence from the pro-annexation group

that hoped to take down the contemporary

government

john gunther supposed that by 1933

the tide had turned and it was more

likely around 60 percent of the

population

now against a union but that would not

remain the case entirely

after the assassination of angle bit

dolphus kurt sushnig

became the new chancellor of austria the

austrian government now attempted to

round up those who were in favor of a

unification with germany

and placed them into internment camps

and shusnig

hoped to grow austrian nationalism by

referring to austria as the

better german state the new leader's

almost desperate

attempts to quell the call for a union

is what prompted the german chancellor's

speech

to the reichstag despite his long-stated

goal of uniting the nations at all costs

a meeting between the germans and

austrians then occurred

in 1936 resulting in an agreement

between the countries

that the internment camp prisoners would

be released

and germany would respect austrian

sovereignty although

austria was required to style itself a

german

state and follow their parent nation's

lead

in all foreign affairs the

pro-annexation faction in austria

also promised to refrain from continued

violence

against the government in return for the

right to join the cabinet

while this deal may have put shushnig's

mind at ease

it was never very reliable adolf hitler

had no real intention of giving up his

one empire dream and the push for

unification continued

by the end of 1937 summer the germans

decided that austria would most likely

need to be taken by force

in order to utilize its economy to fix

germany's own crumbling economy

so they could get back on top in the

arms race against france

and britain by this point chancellor

shushnig

knew that the pressure for the union was

becoming too strong to ignore

and he agreed to meet with his german

counterpart

the two leaders convened at berktisgaden

on february 12

1938 to discuss the future of their

nations

the german chancellor offered an

unexpected proposal to reaffirm

austrian autonomy but only if shushnig

would put some of the pro-union

activists into positions of power and

particularly

appoint arthur zeisengvart to the

position of minister of public security

which gave him full authority over all

police matters

austrian chancellor felt concerned

knowing that he was running out of

options to maintain

austrian independence so he agreed to

the germans terms

only eight days later germany began to

reveal

its hand on february 20th the german

chancellor made a speech

although this time it was also broadcast

live

and aired to the austrian radio network

in his speech

he stated clearly that the german reich

is no longer willing to tolerate the

suppression of

10 million germans across its borders

referring directly to the germans

currently residing in both austria

and czechoslovakia the following month

on march

9th austrian chancellor feeling as

pressured as ever

called for a national vote on the matter

of annexation

but before the vote could even occur he

resigned only two days later

on march 11th shushnig had hit his

breaking point and could no longer

handle the threat of the germans and

in his resignation address he begged the

austrian people not to fight the coming

annexation

the next day the german chancellor

accompanied his troops and tanks

onto austrian soil where they faced zero

resistance

and overwhelming enthusiasm from the

austrian people

on march 13th the union was officially

proclaimed

and austria ceased to exist as a nation

after a long plea and sometimes

violent fight for a union austria was

now a federal state of germany

and unification was complete the reason

why austria allowed german annexation

appears to be abundantly clear although

maybe strange

it seems odd that any nation would be so

desperate to maintain a lack of

independence

as austria generally did and as was the