The German Question, Part One Hundred Twenty-Five

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B"
"Foreign Policy & The German Question" (Part Five/2)
"Germans In Czechoslovakia" (Part 2)

Hitler seems to have wanted to deal with Czechoslovakia first, and let Austria become part of Germany by natural course; that is, Austrians wanted to become part of Germany so much, that the Austrian government would eventually let it happen, and by that time, with many Nazis in top positions, the "coordination" between Germany and Austria would have been so great, that Austria would not really have been an independent country anyway. Schuschnigg's plebiscite announcement took Hitler by surprise and by sending in troops, Hitler looked aggressive, even though there was huge support in Austria for its becoming part of Germany, and there was no fighting whatsoever.*

Czechoslovakia, but especially the Sudetenland, provided Hitler with three potential benefits: 1) uniting more Germans with Germany (there were more than three million Germans in the Sudetenland); 2) removing a well trained and equipped army from a nation with close ties to Britain and France that jutted into Germany; and 3) depriving Czechoslovakia of defensive positions along its border areas, leaving the nation vulnerable to attack afterward.**

Czechoslovakia needed the support of Britain and France, but these countries were in western Europe, and neither had moved to do anything to help Schuschnigg. The French government had been in a state of confusion when the Austrian events took place, as the previous government had fallen just days before the Austrian situation fully developed, but the new French government was willing to call up some troops to put pressure on Hitler, "IF" Britain consented. Britain did not respond, so nothing happened.***

* This is not to "whitewash" Hitler. It just seems that, at that point in time, he believed Austria would become part of Germany without the use of force, until Schuschnigg's action, after which he sent in troops. Now, some say this exposed him to the world for what he was, a megalomaniac willing to use force to achieve his goals, and I would agree with that, but I'm just saying that, in this particular case, Schuschnigg's announcement of a vaguely worded plebiscite forced Hitler's hand. Remember, Germany was not a democratic nation subject to debating such issues. If Hitler was "offended" by some action, like Schuschnigg's, that was it, he could act without consent from anyone. Forget the "morality" arguments. I understand those arguments, but Hitler wasn't interested in morality, except when it worked in his favor, as we'll see in the very near term regarding Germans in Czechoslovakia, and later, elsewhere.

** Because the vast bulk of the German population of Czechoslovakia lived in the border regions called the Sudetenland, if Hitler could get these areas ceded to Germany, Czechoslovakia's defensive positions would also be removed, because, naturally, that's where the border defenses were. By the way, the Czech army was highly respected, as were some of their weapons of that time, including tanks.

*** In fairness, the British and French have taken a lot of criticism for their "inaction" at various times regarding Hitler's aggressiveness, but there was not a hell of a lot they could really do. Would they go to war for Austria, a German country that openly and cheerfully welcomed Hitler and German troops over the border? Would you go into such a war, or would you want to send your kids to fight such a war? After World War One, France wanted provisions in the treaties and in the new borders drawn throughout much of Europe to make them feel safer from any future German attack (they were always fearful the Germans would come back after Alsace-Lorraine). The problem was, the new boundaries were not based upon Woodrow Wilson's principle of self determination for the various ethnic groups, but rather (surprise!), by politics and self interest (I'm shocked!). These moves left "German" Austria out of Germany, even though sentiment in both countries was for unification; it left more than three million Germans in Czechoslovakia, and cranky as hell over it; left lots of Germans in Poland and equally cranky, and put the overwhelmingly German city of Danzig under a League of Nations Commissioner, but economically dependent upon Poland. Once an aggressive leader like Hitler took power, who seemed much more concerned with actually seeking remedies for German grievances (real or perceived) than just complaining, the fuse on the powder keg was just waiting for the match.

WORD HISTORY:
Health-This word, closely related to "whole," goes back to Indo European "koilos/kailo," which meant "healthy, unharmed, in a sound condition/state, complete/entire." This then gave Old Germanic "(k)hailitho," with the sense of "wholeness, state of being unharmed or damaged." This then gave Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "haelth," meaning "the state of being whole, being sound." Later it was spelled "helthe," before acquiring the modern spelling. See this article for forms of the word in the other Germanic languages: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/07/german-question-part-one-hundred-twenty_31.html

Understand, the other Germanic languages do not always use their forms with the exact same meaning as English "health," but they all revolve around "being whole, wholeness."