Was Austria considered a occupied territory?

[DeutschesReich]

Was the Anschluss considered a welcoming expansion to the Third Reich or an invasion?

In fact, I'm sure Hitler was an Austrian to, so why did he rule Germany and not Austria?

[Jan-Hendrik]

Why should the 'Republik Deutsch-Österreich' have been invaded....have you asked how many times Austria itself demanded for an 'Anschluß' after 1918?

Jan-Hendrik

[DeutschesReich]

Why should the 'Republik Deutsch-Österreich' have been invaded....have you asked how many times Austria itself demanded for an 'Anschluß' after 1918?

Jan-Hendrik

I'm not sure, hence why I'm asking.

[Michael Miller]

In fact, I'm sure Hitler was an Austrian to, so why did he rule Germany and not Austria?

Hitler never considered himself an Austrian, and had only contempt for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which he saw as a hodgepodge of different races. He writes at length about this in "Mein Kampf"- in fact, on the very first page he expresses his believe that there should be no separation between Germany and Austria. He evaded service in the k.u.k. Heer in World War I, instead joining the Royal Bavarian Army. And in 1932, he adopted German citizenship.

As for Austria at the time of the March 1938 Anschluss- not a victim, in my opinion, and certainly not an occupied territory, although the men of its government, political, intellectual, and religious dissidents, and of course, members of the country's Jewish community certainly suffered once the country was under German authority. Austria (or Ostmark, as it was re-dubbed after the annexation) was absorbed into the Greater Reich, and ceased to exist as a sovereign nation. Hitler was initially welcomed with open arms by the majority of the populace, although disappointment set in rather quickly as the top men of the Nazi bureaucracy in Vienna- Josef Bürckel, in particular- were German and in many cases treated their Austrian "Parteigenossen" (Party Comrades) disrespectfully. A side note- as is well known, and many of the key players in the "Final Solution" (Kaltenbrunner, Globocnik, Seyss-Inquart, Franz Stangl to name four of the most notorious) hailed from Austria.

~ Mike

[DeutschesReich]

In fact, I'm sure Hitler was an Austrian to, so why did he rule Germany and not Austria?

Hitler never considered himself an Austrian, and had only contempt for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which he saw as a hodgepodge of different races. He writes at length about this in "Mein Kampf"- in fact, on the very first page he expresses his believe that there should be no separation between Germany and Austria. He evaded service in the k.u.k. Heer in World War I, instead joining the Royal Bavarian Army. And in 1932, he adopted German citizenship.

As for Austria at the time of the March 1938 Anschluss- not a victim, in my opinion, and certainly not an occupied territory, although the men of its government, political, intellectual, and religious dissidents, and of course, members of the country's Jewish community certainly suffered once the country was under German authority. Austria (or Ostmark, as it was re-dubbed after the annexation) was absorbed into the Greater Reich, and ceased to exist as a sovereign nation. Hitler was initially welcomed with open arms by the majority of the populace, although disappointment set in rather quickly as the top men of the Nazi bureaucracy in Vienna- Josef Bürckel, in particular- were German and in many cases treated their Austrian "Parteigenossen" (Party Comrades) disrespectfully. A side note- as is well known, and many of the key players in the "Final Solution" (Kaltenbrunner, Globocnik, Seyss-Inquart, Franz Stangl to name four of the most notorious) hailed from Austria.

~ Mike

I've been reading up and the Anschluss back then was welcomed but now considered themselves victims.

According to many websites as well Austrians are Germans and up until 1945 most Austrians considered themselves as Germans is there any truth in this? Austrians are Germans ethnically? Yes? No? I'm just getting all used to Germany history and really curious about it.

Not to sound cocky I think you mean ethnic groups in the Austria-Hungarian Empire not races.

[HaEn]

"AUSTRIA", the country that convinced the world that Hitler was a German, and Mozart was an Austrian
HN

[Michael Miller]

"Ethnic groups" would be more accurate, yes, but I was writing in Hitlerese, based on sentences like these in the opening paragraphs of Mein Kampf:

"What history taught us about the policy followed by the House of Habsburg was corroborated by our own everyday experiences. In the north and in the south the poison of foreign races was eating into the body of our people, and even Vienna was steadily becoming more and more a non-German city..."


~ Mike

[history1]

viewtopic.php?f=118&t=179453&hilit=austria

[DeutschesReich]

"AUSTRIA", the country that convinced the world that Hitler was a German, and Mozart was an Austrian
HN

The joke is Beethoven not Mozart, and Mozart was German http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/11/opinion/l-letter-on-mozart-a-german-not-austrian-composer-878092.html

[DeutschesReich]

I just want to know whether people consider Austria as an occupied country or an actual link up because the Anschluss back then was welcomed and cheered by most Austrians and according to several websites many Austrians still considered themselves Germans first, Austrian second which is probably why Hitler considered himself German first and considered Austrians as Germans.

[history1]

"AUSTRIA", the country that convinced the world that Hitler was a German, and Mozart was an Austrian
HN

USA, the country that convinced the world that they are fighting terrorism and slaughtered millions of native americans during the American Indian Wars. What a great country
Go and educate yourself, HN!

[history1]

Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) war Staatsbürger Österreich-Ungarns, seit 1918 der Republik Österreich; seit 1925 war er staatenlos. Als Führer der supranationalistischen NSDAP in Deutschland war dies für seine Anhänger, dann aber auch für ihn zunehmend ein Ärgernis. Außerdem war es ein Hindernis für die Bewerbung um ein hohes deutsches Staatsamt. Schließlich gelang Hitler 1932 über das Land Braunschweig die Einbürgerung als Deutscher.

Source: http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns ... ikel_44611

Adolf Hitler wurde am 20.4.1889 in Braunau am Inn als österreichischer Staatsbürger geboren. Mit Schreiben vom 7. April 1925 bat er um Entlassung aus der österreichischen Staatsbürgerschaft.

Über das Gesuch wurde in Hitlers Sinne entschieden, danach war er zunächst staatenlos. Auf dem Meldezettel eines Hotels trug er am 6. Oktober 1927 in der Spalte "Staatsangehörigkeit" wahrheitsgemäß "staatlos" ein.

Am 26. Februar 1932 legte Hitler in Braunschweig den Eid auf die Reichs- und Landesverfassung ab und wurde zum Regierungsrat ernannt. Dadurch erhielt er gleichzeitig die deutsche Staatsbürgerschaft.

Source: http://www.ns-archiv.de/personen/hitler ... schaft.php

Fast 62 Jahre nach seinem Tod droht Adolf Hitler der Verlust der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit: Eine SPD-Politikerin aus Braunschweig will seine Einbürgerung von 1932 annullieren - als "symbolischen Schritt".

Source: http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/zeitgesc ... 44,00.html

Don´t tell b...t that Hitler was Austrian when he started the war!

[DeutschesReich]

No offence but this is drifting more to Hitler who was born in Austria to my actual question, do you consider Austria as occupied territory or just a welcoming back into the Reich link up?

I clicked them links but it's kind of old news, everybody with a bit of common knowledge knows Hitler was an Austrian by birth and obviously an Austrian citzenship and only got German citzenship in 1932, but the whole Austrian not German identity was not like what it is today (or should I say post WWII) back then an Austrian would have considered themselves a German and Austrians are (ethnic) Germans.

[Langemann]

"AUSTRIA", the country that convinced the world that Hitler was a German, and Mozart was an Austrian
HN

USA, the country that convinced the world that they are fighting terrorism and slaughtered millions of native americans during the American Indian Wars. What a great country
Go and educate yourself, HN!

History,

It's my understanding that HaEn is a German WWII veteran.

Dane

[Bernaschek]

now first to the joke, which actually is a good one :

it's "Beethoven was an Austrian", because Beethoven definitely was German, having been born somewhere near Bonn and grown up there. The end of his career he was in Austria, writing some of his best pieces there.
Mozart was definitely Austrian, having been born in Salzburg and living in Vienna later on

there are a few threads here on that theme and I wonder about the repetitions.

Generally in Austria today we tend to believe that about a 3rd of the population was proNazi/Anschluß. Hitler had to go in and occupy, because everybody would bet, that Schuschniggs referendum would come out for Austrian Independence, especially as the Austro fascist governement had called on and received the help of the remnants of the socialist party and Unions; even the communists were allowed back on the scene.

How many people are there on the photos jubilating ? at least a hundred thousand ? why not - there had been easily that number of supporters. And it is widely known that people were brought in in Busses and special trains for those "welcomes".

not many photos of the arrested, though. Read the "Times" correspondent William Shirrer (spelling? ) book "When the bastions fell ". He was there that day in Vienna and wrote about how "nobody saw those silently weeping in theyr walls"

Austria at the time was extremly poor, part because of the die hard conservative economic policy, part because of the german economic boycott, which starved the country.
So a lot of people hoped for better times.

It is not widely known, that Germany at the time was flat broke, and the comparatively huge Gold Reserves of the Austrian National bank were a prime target for the Germans.

the German referendum was rigged in many ways - not only did the Nazis look literaly over voters shoulders or would prevent known critics from voting, but the people going there knew that it was not a "vote" but a "rubber stamp" - the thing had already happened and nothing would throw the Germans out (according to my godfather who was just 18 then and voted "Yes" because he saw no alternative; he was a conservatice catholic)

I do belive that the positive feeling about the "Anschluß" actually grew shortly after, when the german industry and war preparation production poured in and brought jobs, but it went downhill from there, to put an other joke : it went from "Heim ins Reich" (home into the Reich) to "Heim, mir reichts" Let's go home, I've enough) or like one socialist wrote (appr.) "f.....g Germans and theyr "Eintopf-Sontag"(stew-sunday)- even Schuschnigg had managed to put meat on our table on a sunday"