The German Question, Part One Hundred Twenty-Two

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B
"Foreign Policy & The German Question" (Part Four/2)
"Hitler Goes Home; Austria Joins Germany" (Part 2)

Kurt (von)* Schuschnigg, the Austrian chancellor, cracked down on the Austrian Nazis, and he had a number of them imprisoned. Seemingly, the sentiment, however, in a good deal of Austria, and in much of Germany, was for "Anschluss;" Austria joining with Germany, and this was NOT just among Nazis. Schuschnigg met Hitler in 1936 and an agreement was the result. Schuschnigg agreed to release Nazis from prison and to permit Austrian Nazis and other political opponents into his government** and he agreed that Austria was a "German nation;" thus attempting to keep Italy at arms length. Hitler, for his part, agreed that Austria was an "independent nation." Hitler undoubtedly assumed that once Nazis and other proponents of "Anschluss" entered the Austrian government, Austria's joining Germany would soon follow, in spite of his stating that Austria was an "independent nation" in the agreement.

Over time, the Austrian Nazis grew in strength and stridency and Austrian public sentiment became overwhelming for "Anschluss." In February 1938, Schuschnigg met Hitler at Berchtesgaden,*** which was just over the Austro-German border. Hitler demanded that Austrian Nazis be given important positions in Schuschnigg's government, especially the "Minister of the Interior" position, which controlled the police, and the "Minister of Finance." His goal seems to have been to begin a process of coordinating Austrian policies with Germany, even though Austria would be left sovereign, at that point in time. Schuschnigg agreed, indeed, Schuschnigg signed another agreement, as did the Austrian president.**** Hitler's part of the agreement condemned the rowdy and belligerent tactics of the Austrian Nazis, and he agreed to accept unwanted Austrian Nazis in Germany, which he did.***** "Anschluss" drew closer.

* "Von" is used in German to denote nobility; for example, Rudolf "von" Habsburg; that is, "Rudolf of Habsburg." It means "of or from." If you have read (or seen the movie[s]) "Ivanhoe," then you should recall the equivalent in English, "Wilfred of Ivanhoe." Following World War One, the Austrians terminated the use of "von" in names (Germany did not), even for the Habsburgs; thus, Schuschnigg dropped the "von" from his name. It is also spelled "van" in some northern dialects.

** Austria was ruled, literally, by the chancellor. He issued decrees, and there was only one political party permitted, the "Christian Social Party" (German: "Christlichsoziale Partei"), initially a nationalist party that became ever more a right wing party that gradually assumed some of the characteristics of Mussolini's Fascist Party in Italy. (Note: Austria was overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, and there was much "mixing" of religion and politics.) The Christian Social Party formed a sort of alliance with the "Heimwehr" ("Home Defense"), a right wing paramilitary and political group, which provided "muscle" to the alliance. One of the Christian Social Party's weaknesses, however, was its ties to Italy, including Italian support and "protection" of Austria. Remember, Mussolini sent Italian troops to the border to prevent Hitler from sending German forces into Austria in 1934. The reason I say this was a "weakness" is, Italy and Italians were not popular in Austria. Italy had been the major enemy of Austria-Hungary in World War One (and a major enemy even before), and upon the end of the war, for her participation on the Allied side, Italy was given the South Tirol, which contained a substantial German population, with large German majorities in the northern areas and some Italian majority areas in the southern districts.

*** Berchtesgaden is a small Bavarian town in the Alps, literally right near the border with Austria. Hitler had his villa there, called the "Berghof." The city of Salzburg lies less than 20 miles away, and after the Anschluss, the Salzburg airport was used by many of Hitler's visitors to his villa, but Hitler also used Klessheim Palace to host many foreign dignitaries. The palace, still in existence, is just outside the Salzburg city limits.

**** Austria had a president who served as "head of state," and he therefore had to sign all international agreements. Wilhelm Miklas was the president at that time, and he too was a member of the Christian Social Party.

***** Hitler got the Austrian Nazi leaders and lambasted them for their behavior, but apparently even he had trouble controlling them.

WORD HISTORY:
Home-This noun is common in its various forms throughout the Germanic languages. It is related to "hamlet," a word borrowed by English from French, which had it from Germanic Frankish. The ultimate origin of "home" is not agreed upon by everyone, but it "appears" to go back to the Indo European root "tkei/tkey," which meant "to dwell, to settle, to live in a place," which produced the extended form "(t)koimo," which meant "settlement, village, home." This gave Old Germanic "haimaz," or perhaps "(k)haimaz," with the "k" not being prominent, at least in theory, and with the broad meaning of "dwelling, village, settled place." This gave Anglo-Saxon/Old English "ham," not pronounced like the pork product, but with a long "a" sound. Later the spelling/pronunciation had changed to "hom," before the modern spelling. Over time, too, the meaning narrowed to "residence, place were one or a family resides," although the earlier broader meaning of "village, settled place" lives on from those times in place names like "Birmingham" and "Buckingham," which denoted a village. An Old English verb form, "hamian," also developed from the noun, with the meaning "to set up or build a home," then later with the modern spelling, but meaning "to go home," and it still exists, as it was used in refence to pigeons, and with the form "homing pigeon." The verb is now more associated with "signals that guide a missile to its target; that is, "home." German has "Heim" (as do some, but not all, Low German dialects), Dutch has "heem," "West Frisian "hiem," Norwegian has "hjem" and "heim," Swedish "hem," Danish "hjem," and Icelandic "heimur."