GreenLeader | 15 Jan 2015 11:24 p.m. PST |
I was reading a new biography of Churchill yesterday, and noted that the writer, while running through all Hitler's early conquests, says Austria was 'absorbed'. In one way or another, this is a fairly common theme: that Germany 'invaded' / 'grabbed' / 'seized' Austria, and it is generally considered as one of Hitler's conquests, rather than one of his allies. While one can certainly question the '99.7561%' result in the 1938 Anschluss that followed the Nazi party's coup, would it not be fair to say that – by and large – Austrians willingly united with Germany? One way or another, there must have been a sizable percentage which backed the union, if not an outright majority. Certainly no fighting took place against the Wermacht in 1938, while Austrian troops fought bravely for the Germans throughout WW2. Of course, there were Austrians who opposed the union (just as there were Germans who opposed Hitler), but how significant were their numbers, and how popular was the Anschluss really? Has Austria managed to do the best re-branding job in modern history, and re-invented itself as a 'victim' of German aggression, rather than one of his willing allies? |
LeonAdler | 16 Jan 2015 1:03 a.m. PST |
Lots of excellent books written by well qualified conscientious historians that discuss this in great deal. L |
deephorse | 16 Jan 2015 5:05 a.m. PST |
Indeed. Just a brief bit of 'Googling' got me answers to all the questions you raise. Try it. |
FatherOfAllLogic | 16 Jan 2015 7:37 a.m. PST |
First off I would comment that the loud (few?) zealots get all the press while the 'silent majority' just go with the flow….. I would also say that the Austrians were luke-warm 'comrades in arms' with the Germans. |
Mserafin | 16 Jan 2015 12:40 p.m. PST |
Somebody somewhere once noted that Austria's greatest trick has been convincing the world that Beethoven was an Austrian and Hitler a German. |
tuscaloosa | 16 Jan 2015 8:33 p.m. PST |
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GreenLeader | 16 Jan 2015 8:56 p.m. PST |
I remember working in Austria many years ago, and – in a small village near where I was based – coming across head stones in the local churchyard which were decorated with swastikas. These were the graves of Austrians who had been KIA in the early part of WW2. Just surprising that no one had thought it prudent to change the design of the headstones. I recall reading in a Bill Bryson book that SS reunions remained popular in Austria for decades after the war – no idea if that's true or not, but that's what he claimed. Isolated examples, sure, but they don't quite gel with the idea they were a victim. |
mashrewba | 17 Jan 2015 3:12 p.m. PST |
I think the 'Sound of Music' helped with the re-branding. Must have been a huge sigh of relief all round not to have ended up with the Russians and we won't mention kicking off the whole business with the Great War and providing us with Adolf. The hills are alive… |
Deadone | 18 Jan 2015 3:17 p.m. PST |
For the non-historical minded, WWII as a whole is a great PR job. I mean how many people are aware of French anti-semitism or that large numbers of Europeans volunteered for SS or even that other countries allied with Germany or that we sided with an equally murderous regime to get rid of Hitler? Funniest one I heard was in Italy. As we drove past Monte Cassino the tour guide was talking about how the Americans "liberated Italy". Last time I checked Mussolini's Italy was Hitler's number 1 buddy and large numbers of Italians remained loyal even after the country formally pulled out of the war in 1943. |
Mserafin | 18 Jan 2015 4:11 p.m. PST |
Last time I checked Mussolini's Italy was Hitler's number 1 buddy and large numbers of Italians remained loyal even after the country formally pulled out of the war in 1943. I visited Italy in the early 2000s, and you could buy Mussolini calendars in certain parts of the north. |
GreenLeader | 18 Jan 2015 9:28 p.m. PST |
Yes – there has been a great deal of re-invention since the war… probably it was needed to help Europe move forwards, and the 'lone-mad-man' theory helped explain everything away neatly enough… but it still sticks in the craw of the historically minded. Very few European countries come out of the period looking whiter than white – from those who actively allied with Germany, to those who (sometimes fairly enthusiastically) joined in after they were conquered, to those who stood idly by and watched the whole thing happen. I had a similar experience to Deadone while on a coach tour around Budapest in 1989 – the Hungarian (State-approved) tour guide announced over the tannoy that Budapest was 'liberated' by the Red Army in 1945… she was not impressed when we all roared with laughter at this nonsense, and one old gentleman (ex RN Fleet Air Arm) shouted: 'you were conquered, for s sake!'. |