Chapter 16
RETURNING HOMELAND (February - April 1938)
The consequences of the bloodless purge of the Wehrmacht were felt almost immediately by Vienna. Franz von Papen, former chancellor and now head of the German mission in the small country, was called to the telephone. Secretary of the Reich Chancellery Lammers called: “The Fuhrer asked to inform you that your mission in Vienna is over.” Papen was speechless. Hitler himself convinced him to take this post in order to mitigate the dangerous situation created by the murder of Dollfuss. “It seems that I have served my time and now I can leave,” he thought bitterly. To get an idea of what was happening, Papen immediately decided to go to Berchtesgaden, where he found the Fuhrer tired and worried. “It seemed that his eyes could not focus on one point, and his thoughts were somewhere far away. He tried to explain my dismissal with empty excuses,” Papen recalled. The distracted Fuhrer lost the thread of the conversation until Papen noted that only a personal meeting between Hitler and the Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg could resolve the numerous problems dividing both countries. “This is a great idea,” Hitler perked up and ordered Papen to return to Vienna to organize such a meeting as soon as possible.
Schuschnigg accepted Papen's invitation with some trepidation. He admitted to his foreign minister, Guido Schmidt, that he did this "to prevent a mutiny and to gain time until the international situation improved in Austria's favor."
Kurt von Schuschnigg
Hitler greeted the guests outwardly affably. Introducing three generals who “accidentally happened to be” there, he led the Austrian Chancellor into his office. Here the Fuhrer dropped his mask of friendliness, rudely accusing Austria of pursuing an unfriendly policy. Is it permissible to remain in the League of Nations after Germany leaves it? According to the Fuhrer, Austria did nothing to help Germany. The whole history of Austria was one of complete betrayal. “And now I can tell you to your face, Herr Schuschnigg, that I am determined to put an end to this,” Hitler said irritably. “The German Reich is a great power, and no one will raise their voice if it resolves its border problems.”
Not wanting to aggravate relations, Schuschnigg replied that the entire history of Austria was inextricably linked with the German one and “Austria’s contribution in this regard is significant.” "Nonsense! - Hitler exclaimed, as if he had never lived in Austria. “I tell you again that this cannot continue.” I will fulfill my historical mission, this is prescribed to me by providence. This is my life. Look at life in Germany, Herr Schuschnigg, and you will see that there is only one will that rules here. I am inspired by the love of the people. I can walk freely without security at any time . This is because people love me and believe in me.”
He accused Austria of building fortifications on the German border and ridiculed its efforts to mine bridges and roads leading into the Reich: “Do you seriously believe that you can stop or delay me for even half an hour? Perhaps you will wake up one morning in Vienna and see that we have arrived like a spring thunderstorm. I would like to spare Austria from such a fate, since such an action would mean bloodshed.”
When Schuschnigg replied that Austria was not alone in the world and that an invasion of the country would probably mean war, Hitler grinned contemptuously. He was sure that in order to protect the imaginary sovereignty of Austria, no one would lift a finger - neither Italy, nor England, nor France.
At 4 p.m., the Austrian Chancellor was brought to a meeting with Ribbentrop, who handed him a typewritten draft agreement, which actually meant an ultimatum: Germany will support Austrian sovereignty if, within three days, all arrested Austrian National Socialists, including Dollfuss's murderers, are released, and all dismissed officials and officers who are members of the National Socialist Party will be reinstated in their former posts. In addition, the leader of the pro-German faction, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, should be appointed Minister of the Interior with the right to unlimited control over the country's police forces. A "moderate" Austrian Nazi should take over as Defense Minister and current propaganda officials should be fired to ensure "press objectivity."
For Schuschnigg, these concessions meant the end of Austrian independence, and, barely containing his indignation, he began to dispute point by point. He managed to squeeze some minor concessions out of Ribbentrop, then it was announced that the Fuhrer was ready to accept him again.
Hitler walked excitedly around the office. “Herr Schuschnigg, this is not negotiable,” he said, handing the Austrian a second copy of the draft agreement. – I won’t change a single comma. Either you sign it as is, or our meeting will be useless. In this case, during the night I will decide what to do next.” Schuschnigg refused to accept the ultimatum. His signature, he said, has no legal force, since under the constitution only President Miklas can appoint ministers and grant amnesty to criminals. In addition, he cannot guarantee that the deadline specified in the document will be met. “You must guarantee this!” - Hitler shouted. “I can’t, Herr Reich Chancellor,” replied Schuschnigg.
Schuschnigg's calm but firm answers infuriated Hitler. He jumped to the door and shouted: “General Keitel!” Then he turned to Schuschnigg and said to him: “I’ll invite you later.” The scream was heard in the winter garden, and Keitel almost ran up the stairs. He entered the office and, breathing heavily, asked what the instructions would be. “None! Just sit down,” Hitler barked. The puzzled chief of the general staff obediently sat down in the corner, and from now on his fellow generals began to call him “Lakeitel” behind his back.
Not knowing that Hitler was bluffing, Schuschnigg was deeply shocked. He told everything to Foreign Minister Schmidt, who remarked that he would not be surprised if they were arrested now.
Meanwhile, another Austrian, a moderate Nazi and art critic, assured the Fuhrer that Schuschnigg was a scrupulous man who always kept his promises. Hitler decided to change tactics. When Schuschnigg re-entered the office, he generously announced: “I am changing my mind - for the first time in my life. But I warn you: this is your last chance. I give you three more days until the agreement comes into force.”
After the shock of the first two conversations, the small concessions wrested from Hitler seemed more important than they actually were, and Schuschnigg agreed to sign the agreement. As soon as the amended document was sent for printing, Hitler again became amiable, like a salesman who has sold a painting at a fabulous price and assures the buyer that he paid cheaply. “Believe me, Herr Chancellor, this is for the best. Now we can live peacefully in harmony for the next five years,” he said. By evening, two copies of the agreement were signed.
At the Berghof, Hitler took another bluff. He ordered false maneuvers along the Austrian border over the next few days in order to force President Miklas to ratify the agreement.
Schuschnigg had three days to obtain approval from his colleagues and President Miklas. On Sunday the Chancellor returned to Vienna, and the deadline expired on Tuesday, February 15. He immediately met with Miklas, who was ready to grant amnesty to the Austrian Nazis in prison, but strongly opposed the appointment of Seyss-Inquart. “I’m ready to give him any post,” said Miklas, “but not the police and the army.”
News of the secret meeting in Berchtesgaden soon spread through the coffeehouses, Austria's unofficial parliament, and a feeling of unease swept over the country. Sharp disputes began in the cabinet, one group of ministers criticized Schuschnigg, the other approved his cautious policy. A day before the expiration of Hitler's ultimatum, the differences between the parties were so deep that the president convened an emergency meeting. After describing the situation, Schuschnigg presented three options: appoint another chancellor who would not be obliged to implement the Berchtesgaden Agreement; fulfill the agreement with the new chancellor; do it with him, Schuschnigg.
When news of German maneuvers along the border was received, an atmosphere of despair reigned in the room and the discussion became heated. The most incredible proposals were put forward, for example, about transferring to Germany the city of Braunau, where Hitler was born. Schuschnigg was confident that if even one of Hitler's demands was rejected, he would invade Austria. Finally, Miklas gave in to the pressure and reluctantly agreed to the chancellor's third option: leaving Schuschnigg in his post and accepting the Berchtesgaden Pact.
Hitler's bluff at the Berghof, along with the false threat of invasion, intimidated Austria into capitulating. That evening a new cabinet was formed. In Vienna, voices grew stronger demanding that Schuschnigg frankly report what happened in Berchtesgaden. But, having promised to remain silent until Hitler spoke in the Reichstag on Sunday, February 20, he kept his word as a man of honor.
The German mission reported to Berlin that “due to the political and economic consequences of the agreements, Vienna is in turmoil”, that the city “looks like an anthill” and “not a few Jews are preparing to emigrate”. This was confirmed by messages from SD agents to Heydrich. In particular, one agent reported that the chancellor was under strong attacks from Jews and Catholics, that Jews were taking their capital out of the country to Switzerland and England.
On February 20, Hitler made a speech in the Reichstag, which was also transmitted to Austria. Reporting that he and Schuschnigg had “contributed to the cause of peace in Europe,” he accused Austria of discriminating against the “German minority,” who, he said, “are subject to constant suffering for their sympathies and desire for unity with the entire German race and its ideology " He continued to speak, citing facts and figures and bringing the audience gathered in the opera house to patriotic ecstasy.
And in Vienna the streets were deserted: people were glued to the radios, listening to Hitler. Local Nazis were inspired and, after their Fuhrer’s speech, began to gather in groups, shouting: “Sieg Heil! Heil Hitler!
Although this speech was received with sympathy and understanding in Rome, there was an underlying dissatisfaction with the fact that it avoided the question of Austrian independence. The German attorney in Rome reported that the Italians were unhappy that, in violation of the 1936 pact, Hitler had not consulted with them in advance, and that if this continued, the end of the Axis could come.
Schuschnigg's response to Hitler came four days later at a meeting of the federal parliament. The stage in the hall was decorated with many red and white tulips, as if covered with the national flag of Austria. Near the podium stood a bust of the martyr Dollfuss. When the chancellor came to the podium, he was greeted with shouts: “Schushnigg! Schuschnigg! Everyone expected his speech to be combative. “There is only one question on the agenda: Austria,” he said in a tired voice. This caused further cheers. Inspired, he spoke passionately about those who fought for Austrian independence, from Maria Theresa to Dollfuss. Never before had Schushning made such an emotional speech; his intellectual restraint disappeared. When the Chancellor spoke about the Berchtesgaden Agreement, his tone became harsher: “We have reached the limit of concessions. The time has come to stop and say: “You can’t go any further.” “The motto of Austria,” the chancellor continued, “is not nationalism, not socialism, but patriotism.” The country will remain free, and for this the Austrians will fight to the end. He ended with the words: “Red-white-red! Austria or death!
The deputies stood up and gave him a thunderous ovation. Crowds of people gathered on the street, singing patriotic songs. The enthusiasm of Vienna was transmitted to the whole country and reached Paris. In a debate in the French Parliament the next day, the Foreign Minister declared that Austrian independence was “an indispensable element of the balance of power in Europe,” and one of the deputies even predicted that “the fate of France will be decided on the banks of the Danube.”
Throughout Austria, local Nazis staged demonstrations. Their center was Graz, where the Nazi flag was raised at the city hall during Schuschnigg's speech. Ignoring the government ban on political rallies, the Nazis announced a rally at the end of the week with the participation of 65 thousand party members from across the country. Schuschnigg reacted decisively, sending an armored train to Graz. The Nazis backed down and canceled the rally, although this was little consolation for the chancellor. The Nazi actions were supposed to be suppressed by Seyss-Inquart and the police, not the army.
The French were indignant at Hitler's threats against Austria and invited London to issue a joint note of protest. But this proposal came at the wrong time. Anthony Eden had just resigned and the Foreign Office was left without a leader. The English public was not yet excited by events in Austria, and the Prime Minister was firmly committed to a policy of appeasement of Germany. In this he was supported by the London Times, which in every possible way downplayed the significance of the events in Austria.
Even US President Roosevelt's condemnation of the aggressive intentions of Nazi Germany in the fall of 1937 had no effect on Chamberlain. The president’s proposal to declare a “quarantine” on the Japanese, Nazis and fascists did not influence him either. Roosevelt sent his representative Captain Royal Ingersol to London with instructions to study the possibilities of implementing a naval blockade of Japan. This proposal was approved by the English Admiralty. But Chamberlain blocked this plan and rejected another proposal by Roosevelt in early 1938 to convene an international conference to discuss the principles of international law to curb the “bandit countries,” as the American president privately called them. At first, Roosevelt did not immediately understand the meaning of this English refusal, but it soon became clear to him that Chamberlain’s reluctance to participate in such an international conference meant that the British government would not take part in any “quarantine,” be it in the East or in Europe. Chamberlain's rebuff was such a blow to Roosevelt that it forced him to end an active foreign policy that could have stopped further aggression in the world and thus changed the course of history.
On March 3, the British ambassador to Germany, Sir Neville Henderson, visited Hitler and informed him that the British government was, in principle, ready to discuss all pressing issues. Despite Henderson’s obvious efforts to be friendly and correct, “the manners of this refined English gentleman,” recalled translator Schmidt, “always somehow irritated both Ribbentrop and Hitler, who could not stand “socialites.” For ten minutes, Henderson outlined the purpose of his visit: a sincere desire to improve relations between the two countries. England, he said, is ready to make certain concessions in resolving serious problems of arms limitation and in peacefully solving the Czech and Austrian problems. What contribution is Hitler ready to make to the cause of security and peace in Europe?
During this lengthy statement, Hitler sat gloomily in his chair, and when Henderson finished, he angrily replied that only a small proportion of Austrians supported Schuschnigg. Why, he said irritably, does England stubbornly oppose a fair settlement and interfere in “German family affairs”? Then the Fuhrer went on the offensive, arguing that the Soviet-French and Soviet-Czechoslovak pacts were a clear threat to Germany, which was therefore forced to arm itself. Therefore, any arms limitation depends on the Russians. And this problem is complicated by “the fact that trusting the good will of such a monster as the Soviet Union is the same as trusting the understanding of mathematical formulas to savages. Any agreement with the USSR is completely useless, and Russia should never be allowed into Europe.” The conversation was chaotic, and for two hours the Austrian question was not specifically discussed.
The next day, Hitler sent his chief economic adviser, Wilhelm Kepler, to Austria. Having introduced himself to Schuschnigg, he formulated new strict demands. But Kepler's main interest was in the economic sphere, since he considered the Anschluss a financial necessity for both countries and wanted to be seen as a benefactor rather than a predator. “The Fuehrer’s desire at that time,” Schuschnigg recalled, “was evolutionary development, in other words, he wanted to end Austria from the inside.” The time has come, Kepler said, to speed up this process.
Schuschnigg reacted sharply to Kepler's new demands, such as the appointment of a Nazi as Minister of Economics, the lifting of the ban on the Völkischer Beobachter, and the official legalization of National Socialism. How, asked the indignant chancellor, could Hitler make new demands after just three weeks? His government will cooperate with the Austrian Nazis only on the basis of recognition of Austrian independence. After the meeting, Kepler reported to Berlin that Schuschnigg, in his opinion, would under no circumstances succumb to force, but if he was treated wisely, he could make concessions.
Meanwhile, in Vienna, stormtroopers and ordinary Nazis, one after another, staged provocative demonstrations in the Jewish district of the city, and fights broke out between them and Schuschnigg’s supporters. As a rule, the patriots suffered more, since the police were directly subordinate to the Minister of the Interior Seyss-Inquart, and not Schuschnigg.
In desperation, on March 7, Schuschnigg sent an appeal to Mussolini, warning him that he could go to a plebiscite to save the situation. The Duce gave a reassuring answer in which, referring to Goering's assurance that Germany would not use force, he advised Schuschnigg not to hold a plebiscite. The answer was little consolation for the chancellor, who was threatened from the outside by foreign invasion, and inside the country by worker protests against his softness and attacks by the Nazis for various prohibitions. He decided to ignore Mussolini's advice.
On March 9, in the Tyrolean city of Innsbruck, he announced a plebiscite. Schuschnigg took the podium, dressed in the traditional Austrian gray jacket and green vest, and enthusiastically announced that in four days people will go to the polls to answer one question: “Are you for a free, independent and united Austria?” The second time he spoke as a speaker, and not as a scientist. “Tyroleans and Austrians, say “yes” to the Tyrol, “yes” to Austria!” he called and ended his speech in the Tyrolean dialect, quoting the words of Andreas Hofer, who called on the people to fight against Napoleon with the words: “People, the time has come!” The 20,000-strong audience gave him a standing ovation. Most radio listeners were also inspired. However, former Vice-Chancellor Prince Starhemberg told his wife: “This means the end of Schuschnigg, but hopefully not the end of Austria. Hitler will never forgive this."
A vote for a free and united Austria, which was the most likely outcome, meant that the Anschluss might not take place. And since the alliance with Austria was a necessary preliminary step to expansion in the East, the plebiscite jeopardized Hitler's program of expanding living space. The Fuhrer could not tolerate such a challenge, and on the morning of March 10 he told General Keitel that the Austrian problem had become significantly worse and that appropriate preparations should be made. Keitel recalled that at one time the General Staff developed “Operation Otto” in case Otto von Habsburg tried to restore the monarchy in Austria. “Prepare this plan,” the Fuhrer ordered.
Keitel rushed to the general headquarters, where he learned to his horror that “Operation Otto” was simply a theoretical study. Regretting his eagerness to please the Führer, he instructed General Beck to submit a report on a possible invasion of Austria. When Beck suggested that Hitler use two corps and the 2nd Panzer Division for the military occupation of Austria, Keitel was dumbfounded to hear that these troops should be ready to cross the border on Saturday 12 March. For a professional, the very idea of preparing such an operation in forty-eight hours seemed fantastic. Beck noted that in this case, the corresponding orders to the various formations should be given this evening, at 6 o'clock. “Then do it,” ordered the amateur strategist Hitler.
He was more concerned about the Italian reaction to the invasion, and the Fuhrer urgently dictated a letter to Mussolini. “Austria,” he wrote, “is approaching a state of anarchy, and I cannot stand by. Guided by my responsibility as Fuehrer and Chancellor of the German Reich and as a son of this soil, I am determined to restore law and order in my homeland, to enable the people to decide their own destiny clearly and openly." He reminded the Duce of German assistance to Italy at a critical hour for it - during the events in Abyssinia - and promised to repay the Duce’s support by recognizing the border between Italy and the Reich along the Brenner Pass. At noon he handed over the sealed letter to Prince Philip von Hesse and instructed him to deliver it to the Duce in person. When the prince boarded a special plane with a basket of seedlings for his garden in Rome, he had no idea how important his mission was.
Posters were posted throughout Austria announcing a plebiscite. Trucks with loudspeakers drove through towns and villages calling on Austrians to vote for an independent Austria on Sunday. In Vienna, the patriots finally made more noise than the Nazis. They walked through the streets shouting: “Heil Schuschnigg!”, “Heil freedom!”, “We say yes!” Inspired by the support of the people, Schuschnigg continued to act decisively. In response to the accusation by the Minister of the Interior, Seyss-Inquart that the plebiscite was contrary to the Berchtesgaden agreements, he wrote: “I will not play the role of a puppet and cannot sit idly by while the country goes towards economic and political ruin.” The Chancellor called on Seyss-Inquart to take urgent measures to stop terrorism.
Seyss-Inquart was considered Hitler's protege, but he also did not want the loss of the country's independence and, although he sympathized with the policies of the Austrian Nazis, the latter did not count him among their own. In ideology and character he was closer to Schuschnigg. Both considered themselves patriots, both were devout Catholics, intellectuals and music lovers. And Seyss-Inquart promised on the radio to appeal to his supporters to vote positively.
Schuschnigg went to bed, satisfied that the Nazi threat to the plebiscite had been thwarted, not knowing that Seyss-Inquart had by then lost influence in his own party. The Austrian Nazis were already on the streets, marching in columns to the building of the German tourist office, on the facade of which hung a huge portrait of Hitler. At first, their cries of “One people, one Reich, one Fuhrer!” The patriots, who were much more numerous, were more amused. But then the glass of broken windows began to ring, and the police formed cordons to prevent the unrest from spreading. Without doing anything to pacify the raging Nazis, it attacked the patriots, and as a result, the Nazis became masters of the streets.
At two o'clock in the morning on March 11, the hastily prepared plan, still codenamed Operation Otto, was approved. Hitler personally controlled him. “If other measures prove unsuccessful,” he warned, without hiding the threat, “I intend to send armed forces to Austria in order to prevent further criminal acts against the pro-German population. Troops for this purpose must be ready by noon on March 12th. I reserve the right to choose a specific time for the invasion. The behavior of the troops should create the impression that we do not want to wage war against our Austrian brothers."
At 5:30 a.m. the phone at Schuschnigg's bedside rang. The chief of police called to say that the Germans had closed the border near Salzburg and stopped railway traffic. The Chancellor hurried to his residence, where he learned that German troops in the Munich area were put on alert and were likely to move towards Austria, and provocative reports appeared in German newspapers that red flags were allegedly hung in Vienna and crowds were chanting: “ Heil Moscow! Heil Schuschnigg!
At about 10 o'clock, the minister without portfolio in Schuschnigg's cabinet, the Nazi Glaise-Horstenau, arrived at the chancellor with written instructions from Hitler and Goering. He was accompanied by a pale and anxious Seyss-Inquart, who reported Berlin's demands: Schuschnigg must resign, and the plebiscite must be postponed for two weeks in order to organize a “legal vote” like the Saarland one. If Goering did not receive a response by telephone before noon, he would consider that Seyss-Inquart had failed in his task and Germany would "act accordingly." It was already 11.30, and Seyss-Inquart, on behalf of the Fuhrer, extended the deadline until 14.00.
Schuschnigg convened the “inner cabinet” - his closest advisers - to discuss the situation. He presented three options for action: refusal to comply with the ultimatum and appeal to world public opinion; acceptance of the ultimatum and resignation of the chancellor; finally, a compromise according to which Hitler's demand for a plebiscite is accepted and all others are rejected. We agreed on a compromise.
By 14.00 Seyss-Inquart and Gleise-Horstenau returned. They did not agree to compromise, and Schuschnigg found himself faced with an unpleasant choice: comply or resist. He hastily consulted with President Miklas, and it was decided to cancel the plebiscite. Returning to his office, Schuschnigg informed the “inner cabinet” about this decision. Everyone was shocked, there was deathly silence. Seyss-Inquart and Gleise-Horstenau were then notified of this. They went out to call Goering.
Goering demanded that Schuschnigg and his cabinet resign, and a telegram was sent to Berlin asking for help. Both ministers returned to the hall, where all the cabinet members were, and reported Goering’s ultimatum. Questions started pouring in. “Don’t ask me,” answered the pale and agitated Seyss-Inquart. “I’m just a telephone operator.” After a pause, he added that German troops would invade Austria in the next two hours if he was not appointed chancellor.
Life in Vienna continued as if nothing had happened. Planes flew in, dropping leaflets calling for people to vote for independence. Trucks from the “Front for the Defense of the Fatherland” drove through the streets and were greeted with patriotic songs. It seemed that the nation was united. Suddenly, the cheerful waltzes and patriotic songs playing on the radio were interrupted and an announcement was made that all unmarried reservists born in 1915 must report for service. Then military trucks with soldiers in helmets moved towards the German border.
In desperation, Schuschnigg turned to London for help. He said that, in an effort to avoid bloodshed, he had given in to Hitler's demands and asked for "an urgent response from His Majesty's Government." Ironically, Prime Minister Chamberlain was given the telegram during a luncheon in honor of the Ribbentrops. Chamberlain invited Ribbentrop to talk with him and the Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax. “The conversation,” Ribbentrop reported to Hitler, “took place in a tense atmosphere, and the usually calm Lord Halifax was more agitated than Chamberlain.” After the Prime Minister read out the telegram from Vienna, Ribbentrop stated that he knew nothing about the situation and expressed doubts about the veracity of the message. If it is true, it is best to seek a “peaceful solution.” These words were enough to calm a man who was determined to maintain good relations with Hitler. Chamberlain agreed with Ribbentrop that there was no evidence of German violence, and instructed Lord Halifax to send a reply to the Austrian government that may have made Schuschnigg shudder: "His Majesty's Government cannot take responsibility for advising the Chancellor as to his course of action, which may expose the country to dangers and against which His Majesty's Government cannot give guarantees of protection."
Schuschnigg had no illusions about receiving help from England or Italy, and at about 4 p.m. he submitted his resignation. President Miklas reluctantly agreed, but firmly refused to carry out Goering's order to appoint Seyss-Inquart as chancellor. He chose the chief of police, but he refused, and both the inspector general of the armed forces and the leader of the previous government refused. Then Miklas asked Schuschnigg to reconsider his decision. He flatly refused to take part in “preparing Cain for the murder of Abel.” But when a frustrated Miklas said that everyone was abandoning him, Schuschnigg reluctantly agreed to continue in his duties until a new head of government was appointed. Then he returned to his room and began to clear the papers from the table.
Meanwhile, the nervous tension in the seat of government became almost unbearable. Pressure from Berlin, especially from Goering, was growing. At 17.00, the field marshal shouted on the phone to the leader of the underground organization of the Austrian Nazis, Otto Globocnik, that a new government should be formed by 19.30, and dictated to Seyss-Inquart a list of ministers, in which he included his brother-in-law. A few minutes later, Seyss-Inquart called Goering and said that Miklas accepted Schuschnigg's resignation, but instructed him to act as chancellor. Goering shouted that if German demands were not accepted, “the troops will cross the border and Austria will cease to exist.” “We're not kidding,” he added. “But if by 19.30 a message arrives that you, Seyss-Inquart, are the new chancellor, there will be no invasion.” “If four hours is not enough for Miklas to understand the situation, he will understand it in four minutes,” he ominously promised.
An hour later, Seyss-Inquart informed Goering that Miklas refused to appoint him chancellor. The enraged Reichsführer ordered his Austrian henchman to take power by force. And in Vienna, on orders from Berlin, the Nazis took to the streets. In his office, Schuschnigg heard shouts of “Heil Hitler!”, “Schuschnigg - hang!” and the stamping of feet. Deciding that this was a prelude to an invasion, the chancellor hurried to the president, begging him to reconsider his decision, but he was adamant. Then Schuschnigg decided to speak on the radio.
At 19.50 the Chancellor went to the microphone and announced the German ultimatum. With bated breath, the Austrians listened to his excited speech. “President Miklas asks me to tell the Austrian people that we have given in to force. Since under no circumstances do we want German blood to be shed, we have instructed the army to retreat without offering any resistance in the event of an invasion, and to await further decisions.” “God save Austria!” he said at the end. There was a deathly silence, then the national anthem sounded.
It was almost 20.00 when Seyss-Inquart telephoned Goering, informing him of the resignation of the government and the withdrawal of Austrian troops from the border. But when Goering learned that Seyss-Inquart had not yet been appointed chancellor, he shouted: “That’s it! Then I give the order to perform. And everyone who resists our troops will be shot on the spot!”
A crowd of one hundred thousand gathered at the building of the Austrian parliament, the Nazis chanted the name of the Fuhrer and waved torches. And in the center of the city, groups of them walked through the streets, singing Nazi songs and shouting: “Heil Hitler!”, “Death to the Jews!”, “Schuschniga to the gallows!”, “Heil Seyss-Inquart!”
Such a “telegram” was soon handed to Hitler. She gave the Fuhrer the opportunity to act as a liberator and peacemaker. He ordered the troops to enter Austrian territory with bands and regimental colors. And at 22.25 Prince Philip von Hesse called from Rome. “I have just returned from Mussolini,” he told Hitler. “The Duce took the news very calmly. He sends his regards to you. The Austrian question no longer interests him.”
Inspired, Hitler exclaimed: “Tell Mussolini that I will never forget this!” Never! Sign any agreements he proposes. Tell him: I thank him with all my heart, I will never forget him! When he is in need or in danger, he can be sure: I will be with him, no matter what, even if the whole world is against him!”
In Vienna, the new Chancellor Seyss-Inquart asked Kepler to advise Hitler to cancel the order to send troops. He also thanked Schuschnigg for his services to Austria and, since the streets were full of Nazis, offered to take him home. He agreed. As Schuschnigg descended the stairs, he noticed lines of civilians with swastikas on their sleeves. Ignoring their outstretched hands in a Nazi salute, the former chancellor got into Seyss-Inquart's car and drove away.
In Berlin, Seyss-Inquart's request not to send troops caused a stir. At 2.30 am they woke up Hitler, informing him about this, but the Fuhrer categorically refused to change his decision and went to bed. Meanwhile, the military expressed doubts about the correctness of this step. Brauchitsch was very upset, and the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, General von Fiebahn, locked himself in the room, threw the inkstand off the table and threatened to shoot anyone who tried to enter.
Early on Saturday morning, Hitler, accompanied by Keitel, flew to Munich to take part in a triumphal march to his homeland. Before leaving, he signed a leaflet outlining his version of events leading up to the crisis. “Early this morning, soldiers of the German armed forces crossed the border into Austria,” it said. “Mechanized troops and infantry, German planes in the blue sky, invited by the new National Socialist government in Vienna, are the guarantors that the Austrian nation will soon have the opportunity to decide its destiny through a genuine plebiscite.” Hitler added a personal note to the leaflet: “I myself, the Fuhrer and Chancellor, will be happy to set foot on the soil of the country that is my home as a free German citizen.”
At 8 o'clock in the morning his troops rushed to Austria. In some places, border barriers were dismantled by the residents themselves. It looked more like maneuvers than an invasion. For example, the 2nd Panzer Division moved using a tourist guide and refueling at local gas stations. The soldiers were showered with flowers, the tanks moved with the flags of the two countries and were decorated with green branches. “The population saw that we came as friends,” recalled General Heinz Guderian, “and we were received with joy everywhere.” In almost all cities and villages, houses were decorated with swastika flags. “They shook our hands, they kissed us, there were tears of joy in the eyes of many.”
Residents of Austria meet German troops on March 13, 1938. Photo from the German Federal Archives
Hitler arrived in Munich around noon and headed a convoy of cars to Mühldorf, where the commander of the invasion forces, General von Beck, reported that they had encountered no resistance. The road to the Inn River was so clogged with cars and onlookers that Hitler’s column only crossed to the opposite bank after a few hours. His car struggled toward Braunau through cheering crowds, many reaching out to touch the car as if it were a religious shrine. Hitler drove slowly through the ancient city gates to the Gümmer boarding house, where he was born almost forty-nine years ago. In Lambach, the Fuhrer ordered a stop at the old monastery (its coat of arms was a swastika), where he once studied singing.
In London, the cabinet met for an emergency meeting. Chamberlain made a grim conclusion: the Anschluss is inevitable, no power can say: “If you go to war because of Austria, you will have to deal with us.” There has never been such a possibility. “In any case, this is not the question now,” he said and noted that the fait accompli does not matter much.
It was already dark when the first stage of Hitler's "sentimental journey" ended in Linz, where he had once wandered the streets alone. The crowd of 100,000 in the square surrounded the cavalcade in hysterical delight, which amazed Hitler's aides and adjutants. When the Fuhrer appeared on the balcony of the town hall with the new Chancellor of Austria, people were overwhelmed with joy. Tears flowed down Hitler's cheeks, and Guderian, standing nearby, was sure that this was “not a game.”
In the evening, Seyss-Inquart returned to the capital, where Nazis with torches gathered to meet the Fuhrer. Even in the afternoon, Guderian's tanks left Linz, but snow fell, and many cars accumulated on the road where repair work was being carried out, so the advance detachment arrived in Vienna only after midnight. Nevertheless, crowds of people lined the streets and were filled with jubilation at the sight of the first German soldiers. The Fuhrer's troops were greeted with flowers. Local Nazis tore off buttons from Guderian's greatcoat as souvenirs, then picked him up and carried him to the residence. What surprised the Austrians was that German officers rushed to grocery stores, purchasing large quantities of butter, sausage and other products.
On Sunday morning Goering called Ribbentrop in London and told him about the enthusiastic reception given to Hitler. It is a lie, he said, that Germany allegedly presented an ultimatum to Austria. Ribbentrop listened to this and replied that the average Englishman, in general, does not care what is happening in Austria. Still, he was uneasy, and he asked whether the Fuhrer would stand firm if diplomatic complications arose in connection with the occupation of Austria.
Goering sent a courier by plane to Hitler, insisting on going further than the original plan. This time, Hitler threw caution to the wind and ordered an Interior Ministry official to prepare a law for the reunification of Austria and Germany. By noon it was ready, approved and handed over to Seyss-Inquart with instructions to ensure its acceptance during the day.
The new chancellor was initially taken aback, but the more he thought about the new law, the more inclined he was to accept it. Among other things, Hitler promised to hold a referendum within a month that would give the new law a democratic character. Having convinced himself that this step was not only inevitable but “valuable and useful,” Seyss-Inquart urged his cabinet to approve the law on the grounds that the Anschluss was “the will of the people.” The cabinet unanimously agreed to hand over the country to Hitler, but President Miklas again showed firmness by refusing to sign the document. He made a statement that he was “obstructed in the exercise of his functions,” and thus transferred his constitutional right to the chancellor.
Although Hitler was confident that the Anschluss law would be passed, one problem remained. After a telephone conversation with Prince von Hesse, he eagerly awaited Mussolini's formal approval. Almost two days passed without news from Rome. Mussolini was truly shocked by the news of the Anschluss, exclaiming: “That damn German!” Finally he pulled himself together and on Sunday sent a short telegram: “Congratulations on solving the Austrian problem.” Hitler was overjoyed and responded with the same short telegram: “Mussolini, I will never forget this.”
The Fuhrer wanted to share his triumph with Eva Braun, and he called her, asking her to come to Vienna.
Before this he went to Leonding. Together with Linge, the Fuhrer came to the grave of his parents in the cemetery located not far from their former home. Hitler took the wreath from the orderly and asked him to leave together With the rest of the retinue. Having laid a wreath on the grave, he stood silently near it for several minutes.
That evening, Seyss-Inquart, looking more like a lackey than a head of state, came to see Hitler. The Fuhrer was so moved to learn that the law according to which Austria became a province of Germany had been adopted that he shed tears. “Yes,” he finally said, “good politics saves blood.” Thus collapsed the independence of Austria, and thus ended Sunday March 13, the day on which Schuschnigg hoped his people would reaffirm their independence in a plebiscite.
Under the personal leadership of Rudolf Hess, the subjugation of the state to the Nazi Party began in Austria. Even more sinister was Himmler's neutralization and purge of the political opposition. The head of the SD, Heydrich, settled in Vienna, and his agents delved into the documents of the Austrian secret police.
Local storm troopers began harassing Jews, dragging them from their homes and forcing them to clean Schuschnigg propaganda slogans from walls and sidewalks. Others were forced to clean toilets in SS barracks and sweep the streets. Many Wehrmacht officers were offended by such persecution, sometimes they simply sent old Jews home.
But these scenes did not dampen the ardor of the majority of Viennese, intoxicated by the events of the last two days. “It is impossible to deny the enthusiasm with which the announcement of the country’s inclusion in the Reich was received here,” the British ambassador reported to Lord Halifax on March 14. “Herr Hitler has every reason to claim that the people of Austria welcome his actions.” And the reasons were good. Anschluss will probably end unemployment. In Austria at that time 600 thousand people were unemployed. Some doctors, for example, went door to door looking for patients.
On the morning of March 14, Hitler went to Vienna. He drove slowly: crowds, stuck cars and tanks got in the way. Only around five o'clock in the evening did his column reach the capital. All buildings, including churches, were decorated with Austrian and German flags. Masses of people lined the streets and screamed themselves hoarse at the sight of Hitler in an open car. The rejoicing was stormy and spontaneous. The Fuhrer's car stopped at the Imperial Hotel, and when he entered there, another of his dreams came true. In his youth, he dreamed of going to this hotel. Long red banners with swastikas now hung from its walls.
People kept shouting: “We want a Fuhrer!” Hitler went out onto the balcony of the royal “suite”, greeted the people and left. But the crowd did not calm down, demanding that the Fuhrer make a speech. He had to obey.
Residents of Vienna greet Adolf Hitler. Photo from the German Federal Archives
He began timidly, as if embarrassed by the endless applause, then moved on to memories of walking past the Imperial Hotel in the evenings. “I saw the flickering lights and chandeliers in the lobby,” he said, “but I knew I couldn’t even set foot there. One evening after a snowstorm, when there was a lot of snow, I had a chance to earn money for food by shoveling snow. Ironically, five or six of our group were sent to clear snow at the Imperial. That evening the Habsburgs gave a reception there. I saw Karl and Zita emerge from the imperial carriage and enter the hotel majestically along the red carpet. And we, poor devils, cleared away the snow and took off our hats to every visiting aristocrat. They didn't even look at us, although I still remember the smell of their perfume. We were nothing to them, like falling snow, and the head waiter didn’t even bother to bring us even a cup of coffee. And that evening I decided that someday I would return to the Imperial and walk along the red carpet to this luxurious hotel where the Habsburgs danced. I didn't know how or when it would be, but I was waiting for this day. And here I am.”
On the morning of March 15, Hitler spoke in the square in front of a crowd of 200 thousand of his admirers. Now, he said, the people of Austria have a new mission, and the country has a new name: Ostmark. Having finished his speech, Hitler turned to the radio announcer and said in a low voice: “Announce that Reich Governor Seyss-Inquart will now speak.” He was simply stunned to learn that he had turned from chancellor to governor, but took it for granted, especially since the crowd greeted this announcement approvingly. Adolf Hitler could do no wrong on this day.
Then the parade took place. Austrian generals rode behind von Beck on horseback. The Austrian army was already included in the Wehrmacht. Choosing his moment, the Catholic Papen turned to Hitler and warned him that the spirit of the Anschluss might dissipate if he subjected the Catholic Church in Austria to the same discrimination as in Germany. “Don’t be afraid,” said Hitler, “I know this better than others.”
On the same day, Cardinal Innitzer blessed him and assured him that as long as the Church retained its privileges, Austrian Catholics would be “the most faithful sons of the great Reich, into whose arms they returned on this auspicious day.” According to Papen, Hitler was delighted with the cardinal's patriotic words, shook his hand warmly and "promised everything."
Eva Braun was also infected by the general jubilation and wrote in a postcard to her sister Ilse: “I’m going crazy.” She came to the city accompanied by her mother. She was placed in a separate room, opposite the chambers of her high-ranking lover, but their personal meetings were so “secret” that none of Hitler’s assistants and adjutants knew about her presence. At the end of the day, the Fuhrer flew to Munich without Eva.
On March 16, Berlin greeted him as a victorious hero. “Germany has now become Greater Germany and will remain so,” said the Fuhrer. Providence itself, according to Hitler, chose him to implement this great union with Austria - “a country that was the most unfortunate, and has now become the happiest.”
But all was not well at home. The military trial of General von Fritsch, postponed due to events in Austria, finally took place and Fritsch was found not guilty. This incident turned out to be an unpleasant surprise for Hitler, but the Fuhrer used his usual political trick: he distracted attention from the trial with boastful reports about the victory achieved. He hastily assembled the Reichstag to report on the great events in Austria. For the first time in history, the entire German nation will go to the polls on April 10 and prove its loyalty to the Reich, and internal consolidation will take only four years.
Almost all Germans fully approved of everything the Führer did or planned to do, and on March 25 he began his election campaign with confidence. “The National Socialist idea,” he declared, “goes much beyond the borders of little Germany.”
Hitler spent the last ten days of the campaign in his homeland, where Himmler and Heydrich almost completely rebuilt the entire security service. The wave of his popularity in Austria has not diminished. The leaders of the Catholic Church sent a message to parishioners in which they recommended that they vote “for the German Reich.”
Everywhere Hitler was accepted as a savior and Fuhrer. His return to Linz on April 8 was greeted with a new storm of delight. The hotel lobby where he stayed was always full of people eager to see him. One of them was childhood friend Gustl Kubizek. Hitler received him very warmly and admitted that now he no longer had a personal life, such as in earlier times. Looking out the window at the Danube and the metal bridge that had so irritated him as a child, the Fuhrer said: “Is this outrage still here? Well, it’s okay, we will change it, you can be sure of it, Kubizek.” He then began to outline his ambitious plans for the development of Linz. The city, he said, would have a new big bridge, a new opera house with a modern hall, and a new symphony orchestra. The latter reminded Hitler of Kubizek's dreams. What has he become? He answered embarrassedly: a clerk. The war, Gustl explained, forced him to give up music, otherwise he would have starved. But he leads an amateur orchestra, and his three sons are musically gifted. And Hitler expressed a desire to take care of the fate of the boys: “I don’t want gifted young people to disappear like we did. You know very well what we experienced in Vienna.” When Hitler stood up, Kubizek decided that the conversation was over, but the Fuhrer called the adjutant and gave him instructions about placing the three Kubizek boys at the Bruckner Conservatory. And that was not all. After looking at the drawings, letters and postcards brought by Kubizek, Hitler invited his old friend to write a book about their life in Vienna. Finally, he firmly shook Gustl’s hand and said that they would see each other again.
At the end of the day, Hitler left for Vienna.
The election results exceeded all expectations. In Austria, 99.73 percent of voters approved of the Anschluss. In Germany, 99.02 percent voted for this, and 99.8 percent approved the list of candidates for the new Reichstag. “For me,” said Hitler, “this is the happiest hour of my life.” This also confirmed his conviction that the path he had chosen was correct. The Fuhrer was sure that we had to move on - to Czechoslovakia.
After a short, heartfelt speech, Hitler returned to the hotel. At that time, he was not yet planning to implement Anschluss in the full sense of the word and was thinking rather about an alliance like the one that Austria had with Hungary at one time. But the enthusiasm of the population suggested a different solution, and the Fuhrer said to his orderly: “Linge, this is fate. I am destined to be the Führer who will unite all Germans into a great German Reich."
Since during the Second World War Austria was a country annexed by Hitler to Germany (March 11-12, 1938), the governments of the USSR, USA and Great Britain in the Moscow Declaration of November 1, 1943 declared the invalidity of the annexation and their intention to restore the independence of Austria . After the liberation of Austria from the Nazis, an occupation regime of four states was established there, led by the Allied Council. The CMFA began work on developing a state agreement with Austria, which should be presented to the Austrian government (created on April 27, 1945).
The most difficult questions were territorial questions and the fate of German property. They were agreed upon only at the 6th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Paris (May 23 - June 20, 1949) after the USSR stopped supporting Yugoslavia’s claims to certain Austrian territories. The borders of Austria remained unchanged, i.e. as they were on January 1, 1938, and the USSR must receive appropriate compensation from German property.
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However, further resolution of the Austrian issue was slowed down due to serious disagreements between the West and the USSR in resolving the German issue. The Soviet Union set the condition for the final solution of the Austrian issue to be a preliminary solution to the German issue, that is, the conclusion of a peace treaty with Germany. Further persistent actions of the United States towards the remilitarization of Germany and its involvement in the NATO bloc aroused serious fears on the Soviet side that Austria, after the withdrawal of occupation troops from it and receiving state status, could also be drawn into NATO. So, the USSR showed extreme caution in resolving this issue.
Considering these circumstances and striving to gain state sovereignty, the Austrian federal government in the summer of 1952, demanding an end to the occupation of Austria and the restoration of its state sovereignty, proclaimed neutrality as the prospect of Austria's international legal position. Not limited to this, the Austrian government tried to use Indian Prime Minister J. Nehru, who was on good terms with the Soviet government, in this matter. In July 1953, the Austrian Foreign Minister, in a secret meeting with Nehru in Switzerland, asked the Indian Prime Minister to “ suggest to the Soviet Union the idea of military neutrality of Austria" The Indian ambassador in Moscow conveyed this opinion to Nehru to Molotov. This was received positively, but the Soviet side believed that this was not enough. The Soviet Union considered it fair to receive compensation from Austria in the amount of the German property that remained in Austria. But in reality, the USSR made the solution to the Austrian issue dependent on the solution to the German issue.
The final decision on the issue of Germany's entry into NATO and the remilitarization of West Germany deprived the Soviet Union of hope of somehow influencing the resolution of the German issue in its favor. Delaying the Austrian issue could no longer change anything. The Soviet Union had no choice but to declare that the remilitarization of Germany created the danger of a new Anschluss in Austria and demand international guarantees to prevent it. The Austrian government agreed to all Soviet demands. The “3-Point Statement” handed over to Molotov on March 14, 1955 by the Austrian Federal Government confirmed Austria’s military neutrality and its agreement with all guarantees of its independence. In response, the Soviet side invited Austrian Federal Chancellor Julius Raab to come to Moscow for negotiations. As a result of Soviet-Austrian negotiations on April 12-15, 1955, the Moscow Memorandum was published, according to which Austria pledged to supply the USSR with 10 million tons of oil over 10 years, pay $2 million for the assets of the Danube Shipping Company and in compensation for the German property on its territory to provide the Soviet Union with goods worth $150 million. For its part, the USSR agreed to sign the State Agreement and withdraw occupation forces from Austria by December 31, 1955.
May 15, 1955 The State Treaty with Austria was signed in Vienna. Austria was restored as a sovereign, independent, democratic state within the borders of January 1, 1938. It was provided with guarantees of independence by the four great powers - the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France. The treaty entered into force on July 27, 1955. And on October 26, 1955, the National Council of Austria adopted a constitutional law on the permanent neutrality of Austria.
After the collapse of Austria-Hungary as a result of the First World War, two German states appeared on the political map: Germany and Austria. The latter was considered an unviable and artificial formation due to its small size and the loss of basic industrial capacities and agricultural land. The movement for their reunification was very strong on both sides, especially immediately after the war; however, it was artificially restrained by the victorious countries, which included articles prohibiting the Anschluss in the texts of the Treaties of Versailles and Saint-Germain (1919) and the Geneva Protocols (October 1922).
In March 1931, the German and Austrian governments proposed a customs union. However, the victorious countries opposed this.
With Hitler coming to power in Germany, the Anschluss became the official foreign policy of the Nazi government, which persistently introduced government agencies Austria has its own agents. On the contrary, in Austria the idea of an Anschluss with the Nazi dictatorship is beginning to cause active rejection. In October 1933, the Anschluss clause was removed from the program of the Austrian Social Democrats. Even earlier, on June 19, Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss prohibited the activities of the NSDAP in Austria.
Anschluss in Tyrol 
A more favorable situation for Hitler arose in 1937, when the Western powers began to view the seizure of Austria not as an act of aggression and a revision of the Versailles Treaty of 1919, but as a step towards “pacifying” Germany.
In November 1937, the British Minister Halifax, during negotiations with Hitler, agreed on behalf of his government to the “acquisition” of Austria by Germany. A little later, on February 22, 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain said in Parliament that Austria could not count on the protection of the League of Nations: “We should not deceive, and especially should not reassure small weak states, promising them protection from the League of Nations and appropriate steps on our part, since we know that nothing of the kind can be done.” Such connivance made it easier for Hitler to carry out the Anschluss.
On February 12, 1938, Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg was summoned to Hitler’s Berchtesgaden residence, where, under the threat of an immediate military invasion, he was forced to sign a three-point ultimatum presented to him, which actually put the country under German control and turned it practically into a province of the Third Reich:
the leader of the Austrian Nazis, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, was appointed Minister of the Interior and Chief of the Detective Police, which provided the Nazis with complete control over the Austrian police;
a new political amnesty was announced for Nazis convicted of various crimes;
The Austrian Nazi Party joined the Patriotic Front.
An Austrian officer at Kufstein Castle during the Anschluss.
It became clear that the final disappearance of Austria from the political map of the world was only a matter of time. In a desperate attempt to avoid the inevitable, on March 9, Schuschnigg announced a plebiscite on the question of Austrian independence for the following Sunday, March 13, 1938. Hitler demanded the cancellation of the plebiscite, Schuschnigg's resignation in favor of Seyss-Inquart, and ordered preparations for the invasion.
On March 11, Schuschnigg was forced to resign. Austrian President Miklas refused to entrust the formation of a new government to Seyss-Inquart, but at 23:15 he capitulated. On the night of March 11-12, 1938, German troops, previously concentrated on the border in accordance with the Otto plan, invaded Austria.
German troops at Kufstein Castle during the Anschluss.
The Austrian army, having received orders not to resist, capitulated. At 4 o'clock in the morning, Himmler arrived in Vienna as the first representative of the Nazi government, guarded by a company of SS men, accompanied by Walter Schellenberg and Rudolf Hess. The Gestapo set up its main headquarters at Morzinplatz, where Schuschnigg was detained. He was treated very roughly for several weeks and then sent to a concentration camp, where he remained until May 1945.
The government formed by Seyss-Inquart included Dr. Ernst Kaltenbrunner as Minister of Security and Göring's son-in-law Huber as Minister of Justice.
On March 13 at 19:00, Hitler solemnly entered Vienna, accompanied by the chief of the Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces (OKW), Wilhelm Keitel. On the same day, the law “On the reunification of Austria with the German Empire” was published, according to which Austria was declared “one of the lands of the German Empire” and henceforth began to be called “Ostmark”. Speaking on March 15 at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Hitler said: “I announce to the German people the accomplishment of the most important mission of my life.
By annexing Austria, Hitler received a strategic springboard for the capture of Czechoslovakia and a further offensive in South-Eastern Europe and the Balkans, sources of raw materials, human resources and military production. As a result of the Anschluss, the territory of Germany increased by 17%, the population by 10% (by 6.7 million people). The Wehrmacht included 6 divisions formed in Austria.
Residents of Austria meet German troops.
German leadership in Vienna.
Goering lays a wreath in honor of those killed in the First World War.
Happy Austrian family.
A worker hangs a sign in a square renamed after Hitler.
Line of Austrian soldiers included in the Wehrmacht after the Anschluss of Austria.
Nazi troops enter Upper Austria. March 13, 1938.
German police march down the street in the Tyrolean town of Imst during the Anschluss of Austria.
Hitler and Reich Governor of Austria Seyss-Inquart.
Pogrom in the Jewish quarter. Vienna, March 1938.
Austrians meeting German soldiers.
Queues in Vienna at the polling station, at the referendum for Anschluss with Germany. April 10, 1938.
Crowds of Germans greet Hitler on the balcony of the Reich Chancellery, who announces the Anschluss with Austria.
Hitler receives a standing ovation from Reichstag deputies after announcing the “peaceful” annexation of Austria.
Indeed, while the Western powers were making concessions to the fascist countries, the latter were gaining power and were preparing to seize the initiative in international politics. In 1938, Germany took more active action in the Austrian issue. In January 1938, Goering informed the Austrian Secretary of State Schmidt that the Anschluss was inevitable. When the latter proposed regulating Austro-German relations on a reasonable basis, Goering said that if the Austrians did not like the word “annexation,” they could call it “partnership.”
Meanwhile, Nazi conspirators were arrested by the police in Vienna. Law enforcement officers seized documents that were called “Tafs papers.” They contained instructions from Hitler’s deputy in the party, R. Hess, to the leaders of the Austrian Nazis Leopold and Tafs: “The general situation in Germany shows that the time has come for action in Austria. England is busy with the conflict in the Middle East, moreover, it is still embroiled in the Abyssinian crisis and the Spanish conflict, which poses a threat to Gibraltar. France is unable to take decisive action due to internal social problems, the difficult economic situation and the uncertainty of the Spanish situation. Czechoslovakia is in a difficult situation due to the sharp increase in the activity of the party, the Slovak and Hungarian minorities, and the weakening of the situation France in Europe. Yugoslavia fears the restoration of the monarchy, which will revive the old conflict between the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, it welcomes any action that will once and for all remove the question of the Habsburg restoration in Austria. Finally, the position of Italy was weakened as a result of the war in Ethiopia and the Spanish conflict to such an extent that it now depends on German friendship and will not actively oppose any actions that do not affect its immediate vital interests. The new Brenner border guarantees are expected to ensure Mussolini's neutrality."
At the end of January, in the hope of regulating Austro-German relations, the Austrian Chancellor K. von Schuschnigg, who replaced Dollfuss, who was killed by the Nazis in 1934, informed Papen of his intention to meet with Hitler. Schuschnigg agreed to the meeting subject to a number of conditions:
- 1. He must be invited by Hitler;
- 2. He must be informed in advance of the issues brought up for discussion and must receive confirmation that the agreement of July 11, 1936 will remain in force;
- 3. Hitler must coordinate with me (A.N. Schuschnigg) a communiqué following the meeting, which will confirm the agreement of July 11.”
Papen approved of Schuschnigg's initiative, but, arriving in Berlin at the height of changes in the Nazi leadership, he did not find support for his initiative from Hitler.
Papen was soon relieved of his post as ambassador in Vienna, but Hitler suddenly changed his mind and instructed him to organize a meeting with Schuschnigg.
Papen conveyed Hitler's words to Schuschnigg: “Hitler invites you to a meeting in Berchtesgaden to discuss all the differences resulting from the agreement of July 11, 1936 between the two nations. This agreement between Austria and Germany will be preserved and confirmed. Hitler agrees to accept your proposals and speak with a joint communique which will include the agreement of July 11, 1936." Schuschnigg informed the Austrian cabinet of his decision to go to Germany. In addition, Mussolini, the British and French ambassadors, and the papal nuncio were informed of his plans.
On February 12, 1938, Papen, Schuschnigg and State Secretary of the Austrian Foreign Ministry Schmidt arrived at Hitler's Villa Berghof, near Berchtesgaden. Already the first conversation between Hitler and Schuschnigg had the character of an ultimatum. For two hours, Hitler spoke to the Austrian Chancellor about his incorrect - un-German - policy and in conclusion said that he had decided to resolve the Austrian question one way or another, even if this would require the use of military force. He assured Schuschnigg that Austria could not count on the support of any power. “Don’t believe that anyone in the world can prevent this! Italy? I’m not worried about Mussolini, I have close friendship with Italy. England? She won’t lift a finger for Austria... France? Two years ago we entered the Rhineland zone with a handful of soldiers, then I risked everything. But now the time of France has passed. Until now, I achieved everything I wanted!"
A few hours later, the Austrian delegation led by Schuschnigg was received by the Reich Foreign Minister J. von Ribbentrop. In the presence of Papen, she was given a draft agreement - “the limit of the concessions made by the Fuhrer,” as Ribbentrop said. The project contained the following requirements:
- 1. Appoint the leader of the Austrian Nazis A. Seyss-Inquart as Minister of Public Security with the rights of complete and unlimited control over the police forces of Austria;
- 2. Another National Socialist G. Fischbeck - member of the government on issues of Austro-German economic relations and related areas;
- 3. Release all imprisoned Nazis, stop legal cases against them, including those involved in the murder of Dollfuss;
- 4. Restore them to positions and rights;
- 5. Accept 100 German officers for service in the Austrian army and send the same number of Austrian officers to the German army;
- 6. Grant the Nazis freedom of propaganda, accept them into the Fatherland Front on an equal basis with its other components;
- 7. For all this, the German government is ready to confirm the agreement of July 11, 1936 - “to again declare recognition of the independence of Austria and non-interference in its internal affairs.”
During the negotiations, Schuschnigg only achieved agreement that Fischbeck should be appointed not a member of the government, but a federal commissioner; the number of officers to be exchanged for service in the armies of both states should be at least 100.
Go in two queues, 50 people each. After this, Schuschnigg was again brought to Hitler, and the latter stated that there was nothing more to discuss the document, it must be accepted without changes, otherwise he, Hitler, would decide what to do during the night. When Schuschnigg replied that only President V. Miklas could grant an amnesty and that the three-day period could not be met, Hitler lost his temper and left the room. Half an hour later, Hitler again received the Austrians and told them that for the first time in his life he had changed his mind. Schuschnigg was asked to sign the document and report it to the president. Hitler gave three more days for all demands to be fulfilled, saying: “Otherwise things will take their natural course.” On the same day, February 12, 1938, Schuschnigg signed the agreement without further discussion.
Returning from the meeting, the Austrian chancellor said: “I fought with a madman for ten hours.” Schuschnigg calls the remaining four weeks after the Berchtesgaden meeting Austria's time of agony. The agreement of February 12, 1938, imposed by Hitler on Austria and marking the beginning of the end of its independence, did not meet with protest from Western democracies, although European diplomats were well aware of the nature and results of the “conversation” between Hitler and Schuschnigg. Thus, the French ambassador in Berlin, after a conversation with Ribbentrop, reported to the head of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I. Delbos, that the meeting of the two chancellors in Berchtesgaden was “only a stage on the path to Germany’s absorption of Austria.”
Hitler continued to convince Paris that the solution to the Austrian issue would serve as an impetus for improving Franco-German relations. The French Ambassador to Germany, A. Francois-Poncet, responded by emphasizing France's great interest in this issue. He told Hitler that “the French government will be happy with everything that will strengthen the existing peace, everything that will help ensure the independence and integrity of Austria.” The Austrian government itself informed the friendly powers that the agreement of February 12, 1938 did not change the essence of the agreement of July 11, 1936.
Based on all this, Delbos said that there was no reason for France to protest the Berchtesgaden Agreement.
The Reich Ambassador to France, J. von Welczek, wrote to Berlin that it seemed that Paris did not have a clear plan of action regarding the Austrian events. “In France,” the ambassador wrote, “they do not see a moral basis for active opposition to German plans. Austrian independence was guaranteed by the Stresa Front and the League of Nations - both institutions are now practically dead. Paris is unlikely to decide on any actions that do not have a legal basis basis Many people in France already say "Fini Austriae".
- On February 18, a new telegram arrived in Paris from the embassy in Berlin. François-Poncet reported that Ribbentrop again told him that the Austrian problem concerned only Germany and Austria, and that Berlin would regard “as unacceptable interference any initiative by a third party.”
- On February 18, a message from the United States arrived in Paris, in which the charge d'affaires noted that the US government would not intervene in the German-Austrian conflict on Austria's side. There was growing concern in France about the threat to Austrian independence. Under pressure from these sentiments, on February 18, the French government invited Chamberlain to make a joint demarche in Berlin. It was to emphasize the importance of Austrian sovereignty for peace and the balance of power in Europe and stated that any attempt on the part of Germany to change the status quo in Central Europe by force would be met with decisive resistance from the Western powers. Delbos proposed that the British government, together with the French cabinet, make a special statement in Berlin before February 20.
Meanwhile, on February 20, 1938, Hitler made a speech in the Reichstag in which, expressing satisfaction with the signing of the agreement on February 12 with Austria and thanking Schuschnigg for solidarity in matters of policy of both countries, he again threateningly recalled: “Only two states adjacent to our borders cover "A mass of ten million Germans. A world power, full of its own dignity, cannot long tolerate the fact that the Germans who stand on its side are subjected to severe suffering because of their sympathies or because of their close attachment to their people."
The French "Tan" reacted to Hitler's speech in the following way: “The Fuhrer spoke of the “spirit of mutual understanding.” Schuschnigg said that everything in Berchtesgaden was done “for the sake of peace.” But what kind of world can be based on a ruthlessly imposed dictate?”
The British Times criticized its own government for abandoning its interests in Central and Eastern Europe.
On February 23, in a conversation with German Foreign Minister K. von Neurath, Fracois-Ponce warned the German minister that France could not agree with the annexation of Austria by the Reich, whose independence was guaranteed by international treaties. In response, Neurath stated that he did not see any possibility of French intervention in what he considered Germany's internal affairs. In response to the French ambassador's remark that an 80 million Reich in the center of Europe would threaten the security of France and the entire balance of power in Europe, Neurath noted that the same could be said about the mobilization of blacks from French colonies to create military superiority in Europe. When François-Poncet said that in order to restore the balance of power, France would have to once again get closer to the Soviet Union, Neurath only wished him good luck in this endeavor.
Meanwhile, Schuschnigg decided to give a response to Hitler's speech. On February 24, he made a radio address to the Austrian people. Analyzing the agreements of July 11, 1936, and February 12, 1938, he stated that there could be no more concessions.
The ruling circles of European states understood Schuschnigg's speech as a will to resist, and Hitler's speech as a threat to stop at nothing, even before a war with Austria. The Italian dictator B. Mussolini, who received a copy of the text of the speech of the Austrian Chancellor even before the speech itself, assessed it positively. French politician E. Herriot admitted that Schuschnigg's speech made him cry.
On February 25, at the Foreign Office, French Ambassador Charles Corbin was presented with a memorandum containing the British government's response to the French request. In it, the French government was reproached for the fact that its proposals on the Austrian question were exposed only as verbal formulas, “not supported by indications of specific actions.” The British cabinet, for its part, indicated that after the “agreement” reached on February 12 between Hitler and Schuschnigg, events in Austria could take on the character of a “normal evolution.” The German ambassador in Paris, Welczek, wrote to Neurath that the British Foreign Secretary Eden had advocated taking decisive action regarding the situation in Central Europe, but had met with stiff opposition from Chamberlain, for whom the region and Austria were only part of the Anglo-Italian relationship.
There were serious differences between Eden and Chamberlain on foreign policy issues. As a result, on February 21, 1938, the head of the Foreign Office was forced to leave his post. Eden's departure instilled even more confidence in Hitler. Berlin felt that since Chamberlain was ready to sacrifice his own Foreign Secretary to appease dictators, they should not fear decisive action from Great Britain. After a conversation with the British ambassador in Vienna, Papen reported to Hitler that “Eden’s resignation took place not so much because of his position regarding Italy, but because of his readiness to identify with France on the Austrian issue.”
Eden's resignation removed the last obstacle to British appeasement. The new Foreign Minister, Lord Halifax, saw no point in a joint Anglo-French demarche in support of Austrian independence. The British government refused to give any warning to Hitler even verbally and stubbornly sought to “solve” the Austrian problem on the basis of the provisions that Halifax expressed to Hitler on November 19, 1937. The level of stability of the Versailles system was rapidly decreasing.
On March 2, Delbos sent a note to Corbin in response to the British memorandum of February 25, which expressed regret over the refusal of the British government to issue a joint warning to Berlin on the Austrian question. It stated that “the Western powers’ avoidance of joint action inspired the Reich government to take new measures towards the implementation of the German plan for Austria.”
On the same day that Corbin handed the note to Halifax, on March 3, the British Ambassador Henderson tried to find out Hitler's intentions. Hitler stated that “in the settlement of her relations with kindred countries or with countries with a large German population, Germany will not allow third powers to interfere... If England continues to oppose German attempts to bring about a fair and reasonable settlement here, then the moment will come when will have to fight... If they ever shoot at the Germans in Austria or Czechoslovakia, the German Empire will immediately intervene... If there are explosions from within in Austria or Czechoslovakia, Germany will not remain neutral, but will act with lightning speed.”
On March 6, the British press directly raised the question of the advisability of British support for Austria. The author of the article asked whether Austria is a harmonious state. “This raises great doubts. A significant part of the population is actively demanding a closer union with the Reich. Conflict will mean war. This is a family affair of the German race. We have nothing to do there,” noted one of the most influential British periodicals.
At the same time, in order to strengthen his position against Hitler's claims, Schuschnigg decided to hold a popular plebiscite on the issue of the country's independence.
On March 9, 1938, Schuschnigg, in a speech delivered over the radio in Innsbruck, announced a vote on March 13 “for a free and German, independent and social, Christian and united Austria.” Declaring his intention to hold a plebiscite, Schuschnigg did not consult with representatives of Western democracies. At the same time, the chancellor turned to Mussolini for advice. The Duce's answer was: "The plebiscite is a mistake." But this time Schuschnigg did not listen to advice from Italy; he never heard from Mussolini again. And Henderson commented on the announcement of the plebiscite: “I am afraid that Dr. Schuschnigg is risking the independence of Austria in an attempt to save his own position.”
Ribbentrop arrived in England for a farewell visit (in connection with his transfer to another job - Foreign Minister of the Reich). Immediately upon arrival, he began sounding out the British position regarding the Austrian question. From conversations with Halifax and the British Minister of Defense Coordination T. Inskeep, Ribbentrop concluded that England would not come out in defense of Austria. After this conversation, Ribbentrop, answering questions from Berlin, wrote: “What will England do if the Austrian question is not resolved peacefully? I am deeply convinced that England will not do anything on its own initiative at the present time; on the contrary, it will have a calming influence on other powers. It will be completely different if there is a big international conflict over Austria, that is, with the intervention of France. Therefore, it is important to pose the question: how will France and its allies behave? I think that neither France and its allies, nor Italy will enter into war because of the German solution to the Austrian question. But this is provided that the Austrian question is resolved in the shortest possible time. If a violent solution drags on for a long time, serious complications will arise."
The news of the plebiscite caused extreme irritation in Berlin. Hitler rightly believed that as a result of the vote, the Austrian people would vote to preserve the independence of their country, which would make the Anschluss very problematic.
- On March 9, Hitler authorized Seyss-Inquart, who was appointed Austrian Minister of Internal Administration and Security on February 16, to seek the abolition of the plebiscite. After a conversation with the head of the Wehrmacht High Command, W. Keitel, and other generals, the Fuhrer approved the plan for an operation to capture Austria called “Otto”. The international situation favored the Reich's dynamic actions to resolve the "Austrian question."
- On March 10, 1938, the French cabinet of ministers C. Chautan resigned. Until March 13, France was left without a government. Mussolini retired to his country residence Roca del Caminate; in response to attempts to contact him, the Italian Foreign Minister G. Ciano stated that this was impossible. By this time, few people had doubts about England's position on the Austrian issue.
- On March 11, 1938, Nazi demonstrations began in all major cities Austria. At one o'clock on March 11, Hitler signed an order for the invasion of German troops into Austria on March 12 at 12 o'clock. On the morning of March 11, information began to flow into European capitals about the closure of the Austro-German border and the movement of German troops towards Austria. However, official Berlin and its embassies denied everything.
The Austrian Chancellor did not dare to repel German aggression. At 2 p.m. on March 11, Seyss-Inquart informed Goering of Schuschnigg's decision to cancel the plebiscite. But Goering replied that this was not enough. After a meeting with Hitler, he informed Seyss-Iquart of a new ultimatum: the resignation of Schuschnigg and the appointment of Seyss-Inquart as chancellor, about which Goering was to be informed within two hours.
In the current critical situation, Schuschnigg first of all turned to Mussolini for help. However, no response was received from Mussolini. On March 10, Mussolini I and Ciano informed Berlin that they opposed the holding of a plebiscite and, moreover, intended to completely abstain from participating in Austrian events. When the French government approached with a proposal for a joint demarche of England, France and Italy against Berlin's actions, Ciano responded negatively. “After the sanctions, non-recognition of the empire and other unfriendly actions of 1935, do they really expect the restoration of the Stresa front now that Hannibal is at the gates?” Ciano explained, “thanks to their policy, England and France lost Austria, and at the same time we acquired Abyssinia.” .
According to the American Ambassador in Berlin, H. Wilson, an Italian high-ranking official told the diplomat literally the following: “We have already sent troops to Brenner once, a second time under the existing circumstances will mean war.” By order of the Italian leadership, from March 12, Italian news agencies were to emphasize that the development of the Austrian crisis would not in any way affect Italian-German relations.
When news of the new ultimatum reached France, a meeting was urgently convened there with the participation of Chautan, Delbos and various officials of Quai d'Orsay, who were formally still in office. Paris urgently contacted London and Rome. The French charge d'affaires tried to get in touch with Ciano, but the Italian Foreign Minister rejected the idea of a joint demarche of England, France and Italy in Berlin.
At three o'clock in the afternoon on March 11, Schuschnigg asked for advice from the British government. The answer came to Vienna within an hour and a half. During this time, a meeting took place between Ribbentrop and Halifax. After this conversation, the British embassy in Vienna was instructed to convey to Schuschnigg that “we very sharply drew Ribbentrop’s attention to the impression such direct interference in Austrian affairs as a demand for the resignation of the Chancellor, backed by an ultimatum, would make in England, and, especially after "as it was promised to cancel the plebiscite. Ribbentrop's answer was not encouraging, but he promised to contact Berlin by telephone." Halifax also added that "the British Government cannot assume the responsibility of advising the Chancellor of any action which may bring danger to his country against which the British Government is unable to guarantee protection."
Meanwhile, realizing that London would not support France in decisive action aimed at protecting Austria, Paris decided to once again turn to Rome. The French charge d'affaires was instructed to find out from Ciano whether Italy would agree to consultations on the Austrian question. The British ambassador in Rome, Lord Perth, received the same order from his government. However, Ciano replied to the French representative in Rome through his private secretary that if the purpose of the consultation was the question of Austria, then “the Italian government does not consider it possible to discuss it with France or Great Britain.”
Under these conditions, Schuschnigg was forced to concede. At 19:50, Schuschnigg made a speech on the radio about his resignation and stated: “President Miklas asked me to inform the Austrian people that we are yielding to force, since we are not ready in this terrible situation for the shedding of blood, and we have decided to order the troops not to to offer serious—not to show any—resistance.” Seyss-Inquart telephoned to Berlin that the ultimatum had been accepted. Under the terms of the ultimatum, the invasion of troops was to be canceled. However, Hitler said that it was now too late. At the same time, Goering dictated to Hitler’s special representative in Austria W. Kepler the text of the new chancellor’s telegram: “The provisional Austrian government, seeing its task after the resignation of the Schuschnigg government as restoring calm and order in Austria, appeals to the German government with an urgent request to support it in fulfilling this task and to help prevent bloodshed. To this end, it asks the German government to send German troops as soon as possible."
On the evening of March 11, Halifax invited the British ambassador in Berlin, Henderson, to protest to the German government against interference in the internal affairs of Austria. Protest was also expressed by the French side. Both protests noted that Germany's violation of Austrian independence could have unpredictable consequences in Europe. Henderson obtained Goering's reception, and at the same time he sent a letter to Neurath.
Goering assured the ambassador that the Austrian National Socialists had presented an ultimatum to the Chancellor of Austria, and that the German troops that had entered Austria would withdraw as soon as order was established, and that they had been invited by the Austrian government. Neurath, in a reply note, stated that the British government has no right to pretend to be the defender of Austrian independence, since relations between Austria and Germany are an internal matter of the German people.
At the same time, German propagandists spread rumors about the alleged entry of Czechoslovak troops into Austria, the arrival of French communists in Austria with the aim of organizing a revolution, the seizure of power by the “Reds” and the murder of National Socialists, and Seyss-Inquart’s request in this regard for German troops to enter Austria to maintain order. At ten o'clock in the evening, Seyss-Inquart entered the room where the President of Austria and her chancellor were discussing the latest events, and declared: “Göring just called me and said: “You, Seyss-Inquart, must send me a telegram asking for German military assistance.” in view of the fact that the communists and others have caused severe disturbances in Austrian cities, and the Austrian government is no longer able to independently control the situation." (Of course, this was all a lie; in fact, the Nazis, intoxicated with victory, spent the night robbing Jewish stores and beating passers-by). Soon Kepler, on the orders of Seyss-Inquart, sent a telegram with one single word: “I agree.”
There was no resistance to the Wehrmacht invasion. True, not everything went according to plan, which W. Churchill later sneered at: “The German war machine thundered heavily across the border and got stuck at Linz.”
About half of the tanks broke down on the road to Vienna. It can be assumed that if Austria had decided to resist, its army of fifty thousand would have been able to hold off the Wehrmacht in the mountains. But that did not happen.
On March 12 at 8 o'clock Hitler flew from Berlin to Munich, at 15:50 he was already in Braunau on Austrian territory, and at 20 o'clock Seyss-Inquart welcomed Hitler to his hometown Linz. In his response speech, Hitler said that Austria would be annexed to Germany and this would be approved by a plebiscite. Hitler also gave a new name to his homeland as part of the Third Reich - Ostmark.
On the same day, Seyss-Inquart forced the President of the Austrian Republic, Miklas, to resign, after which he signed and published the Anschluss law, which stated that Austria was now one of the states of the German Empire and that on Sunday, April 10, 1938, "free and secret vote on reunification with the German Empire." historical politics international
Anschluss between Austria and Germany- the incorporation of Austria into Germany, which took place on March 12-13, 1938.
After the collapse of Austria-Hungary as a result of the First World War, two large German states appeared on the political map: Germany and Austria. The latter was considered an unviable and artificial formation due to its small size and the loss of basic industrial capacities and agricultural land. The reunification movement was very strong on both sides, especially in the immediate aftermath of the war, but it was artificially restrained by the victorious countries. The texts of the Treaties of Versailles and Saint-Germain (1919) and the Geneva Protocols (October 1922) contained articles prohibiting the Anschluss. In March 1931, the governments of Germany and Austria proposed a customs union. However, the victorious countries opposed this.
With Hitler coming to power in Germany, the Anschluss became part of the official course of German foreign policy. Agents of the Nazi regime were infiltrated into all government structures of Austria. At the same time, in Austria itself, the idea of an Anschluss with the Nazi dictatorship began to cause active rejection.
On February 12, 1938, Chancellor Schuschnigg was summoned to Hitler’s Berchtesgaden residence, where, under the threat of an immediate military invasion, he was forced to sign a three-point ultimatum presented to him, which actually put the country under German control and turned it practically into a province of the Third Reich:
the leader of the Austrian Nazis, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, was appointed Minister of the Interior and Chief of the Detective Police, which provided the Nazis with complete control over the Austrian police;
a new political amnesty was announced for Nazis convicted of various crimes;
The Austrian Nazi Party joined the Fatherland Front.
Trying to seize the initiative, on March 9, Schuschnigg announced a plebiscite on the issue of Austrian independence for the coming Sunday, March 13, 1938. The only question on it should have been: do the people want to have a “free and German, independent and social, Christian and own Austria,” and the forms should contain only a “yes” circle. When announcing the plebiscite, Schuschnigg neglected the consultation with his own government prescribed by the constitution, and therefore Seyss-Inquart and Vice-Chancellor Gleise-Horstenau announced to the Chancellor that they considered the plebiscite to be contrary to the constitution.
Fearing that the idea of unification would be rejected by the plebiscite, Hitler responded to the announcement of the plebiscite by ordering the mobilization of the 8th Army intended to invade Austria.
On the night of March 11-12, 1938, German troops, previously concentrated on the border in accordance with the Otto plan, entered Austrian territory.
The Austrian army, having received orders not to resist, capitulated. On March 13 at 7 p.m., Hitler triumphantly entered Vienna. On the same day, the law “On the reunification of Austria with the German Empire” was published, according to which Austria was declared “one of the lands of the German Empire” and henceforth began to be called “Ostmark”. Speaking on March 15 at Vienna's Hofburg Palace to people gathered at Heldenplatz, Seyss-Inquart proclaimed Hitler "Protector of the Crown," and Hitler himself declared: "I announce to the German people the most important mission of my life."
On April 10, a plebiscite on the Anschluss took place in Germany and Austria. According to official data, in Germany 99.08% of residents voted for Anschluss, in Austria - 99.75%.
By annexing Austria, Hitler received a strategic springboard for the capture of Czechoslovakia and a further offensive in South-Eastern Europe and the Balkans, sources of raw materials, human resources and military production. As a result of the Anschluss, the territory of Germany increased by 17%, the population by 10% (by 6.7 million people). The Wehrmacht included 6 divisions formed in Austria.
The policy of "appeasement". Munich Agreement 1938 After the Anschluss of Austria, Nazi Germany began to prepare for the seizure of Czechoslovakia. The so-called Sudeten crisis was artificially created. In the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia, the majority of the population were Germans. Hitler demanded the separation of this region from Czechoslovakia and its annexation to Germany. Czechoslovakia's resistance to these demands was seriously weakened by the position of England and France, who advised the Czechoslovak government to make concessions. Hitler's agents operated in the Sudetenland under the guise of the Sudeten-German party. Chamberlain's British government hoped to overcome the political crisis that had arisen by making concessions to Germany at the expense of Czechoslovakia. This was the essence of the policy of “appeasement.” Its far-reaching goal is to direct German expansion to the east. The Western powers refused to help Czechoslovakia. In September 1938, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR M. M. Litvinov stated that the USSR was ready to fulfill its obligations to assist Czechoslovakia under the 1935 treaty, even if France refused to fulfill its obligation to assist Czechoslovakia. However, under pressure from England and France, the Czechoslovak government was forced to accept German demands. The surrender of Czechoslovakia was formalized at a meeting of the head of the British government, Chamberlain, the head of the French government, Daladier, and the fascist dictators Mussolini and Hitler in Munich on September 29, 1938. There was no Czechoslovak representative at the meeting. The fate of this country was decided by four powers. According to the adopted agreement, Czechoslovakia was obliged to transfer the Sudetenland with all the structures there to Germany within ten days. This meant the separation from Czechoslovakia of one fifth of its territory, a quarter of the population, the bulk of heavy and military industry, etc. The Czechoslovak government announced the acceptance of the Munich Agreement. In historical literature, this event was called the “Munich Agreement.” True, Germany promised England and France that from now on all controversial issues would be resolved through negotiations. However, these promises, recorded in the relevant declarations by Germany, were grossly violated.
On March 15, 1939, German troops occupied the Czech Republic and Moravia, and created a pro-fascist regime in Slovakia. Following the absorption of Czechoslovakia, Germany demanded the city of Danzig from Poland. In April 1939, Germany's ally Italy invaded Albania. These were the immediate results of the “appeasement” policy. In the spring of 1939, the danger of this policy for its initiators themselves finally began to be realized. A real danger looms over humanity of the establishment of world hegemony by Germany and Japan, who have agreed to divide spheres of influence in the West and East of the Eurasian continent.
44. non-aggression pact
After the Munich agreement, Germany foresaw the possibility of a turn in the USSR's foreign policy towards it. Germany, in connection with the current foreign policy situation in the spring of 1939, was interested in disrupting the Anglo-French-Soviet negotiations (Moscow, June-August 1939), ensuring the neutrality of the USSR before attacking Poland. And Stalin’s distrust of Western democracies and delays on the part of England and France during negotiations led to a change in the foreign policy course of the USSR.
Secret Soviet-German negotiations intensified. The first mention of the possibility of consolidating Soviet-German relations took place in a conversation between Ribbentrop and the head of the legal department of the German Foreign Ministry in May 1939, immediately after Chamberlain’s statement about the Anglo-French-Soviet negotiations.
During the secret Soviet-German contacts, conversations were conducted in a general form, the terms of the Soviet-German rapprochement, the contours of the non-aggression pact and the delimitation of the spheres of influence of the two countries in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe were agreed upon, against the backdrop of the Anglo-Franco-Soviet negotiations going on at the same time, the breakdown which are the main task of Berlin. In connection with the positive developments in these negotiations, the German side stated to the Soviet attorney in Germany Astakhov that Germany was ready to agree on any issues and give any guarantees. The Soviet side showed special caution.
The final agreement was reached on August 23-24 during Ribbentrop's visit to Moscow. The most heated debate was on the issue of delimiting spheres of interest. The Soviet-German non-aggression pact was signed on the night of August 23-24: it was concluded for a period of 10 years, the neutrality of Germany and the USSR was provided for in the event of military conflicts of one of the parties with third countries, the parties pledged to refrain from any attack on each other. At the same time, a secret additional protocol was signed on the delimitation of spheres of interest: Germany renounced claims to Ukraine, dominance in the Baltic states, and plans for expansion into those areas of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe where this could pose a danger to the USSR; In the event of a war between Germany and Poland, Germany undertook that German troops would not invade Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Bessarabia, and, having entered Poland, would not advance further than the Narev, Vistula, and San rivers.
There was a turn in Soviet foreign policy towards appeasement of Germany, which had previously been carried out by England and France with the neutrality of the United States.
The agreement and the secret protocol became the legal and political basis for further development Soviet-German relations.
45. civil war in Spain
Spanish Civil War July 1936 - March 1939 - the right rebelled against the Popular Front Republic. Germany and Italy intervened, the purpose of the intervention was to defeat the anti-fascist Popular Front in Spain. England and France proclaimed a policy of non-interference in Spanish affairs and signed 27 states. The Popular Front was supported by over 35 thousand people from 54 countries, and 7 international brigades were organized.
During the civil war, the Popular Front government continued to implement its program. From the state employees who were disloyal to the republic were fired; to replace the disbanded civil guard, a people's militia was organized; reform took place in the diplomatic service; The previous judicial bodies were liquidated and new ones were created.
A decree was issued on the confiscation of rebel property. Mines, mines, military industry, railways, road and sea transport were nationalized.
Trade unions controlled enterprises. State control was established over banks and foreign companies.
The lands of the rebels were nationalized and transferred free of charge to the peasants, the lands of the tenants were transferred to their use.
The decrees of the Popular Front did not apply to the territories occupied by the Francoists.
The Popular Front actively fought against illiteracy - schools, libraries, and cultural centers were opened. Universities were created in large cities, and scholarships were paid to needy students.
Deep radical measures strengthened the desire of the right to put an end to the Popular Front as soon as possible.
