DBWI: What if Austria became independent after WW2

What would have happened if Austria was separated from Germany following ww2 instead of becoming the Canadian occupation zone of Germany?
It seems weird now because Austrians are so clearly German but their was a serious push for it to become independent following ww2 and it was only made an occupation Zone at the behest of William Lyon Mackenzie King, he caught quite a bit of heat for it both at home and a broad as the occupation was considered needlessly draining on Canada domestically and the occupation was criticized because it was relatively reliant on allies early on but I digress, what would happen if Austria instead was made independent and how might that change the situation in Europe?
 
Doesn't seem likely, the German nations had been drawing together since the 30 years war, even the Austro-Prussian wars had been more about who becomes top dog rather than keeping the two main German branches separate.
 
Well, the first thing I can think of is that the Austrians will have "absolved" themselves of Holocaust guilt, because they would no longer be German nationals. There would probably be an attempt afterwards by many Austrians to claim that they were somehow the first "victims" of Hitler's expansionist ambitions, despite the fact that the majority of Austrians in 1938 and throughout the interwar period had supported unification with Germany. I guess Austrian national identity would probably look something similar to what the Fatherland Front espoused of Austria, only not fascist (hopefully).
 
Well, the first thing I can think of is that the Austrians will have "absolved" themselves of Holocaust guilt, because they would no longer be German nationals. There would probably be an attempt afterwards by many Austrians to claim that they were somehow the first "victims" of Hitler's expansionist ambitions, despite the fact that the majority of Austrians in 1938 and throughout the interwar period had supported unification with Germany. I guess Austrian national identity would probably look something similar to what the Fatherland Front espoused of Austria, only not fascist (hopefully).
Is that really possible though? There was no shortage of Austrian Nazis how would they distance themselves from that?
 
Is that really possible though? There was no shortage of Austrian Nazis how would they distance themselves from that?
Not to mention that Hitler was an Austrian....

Anyways, I think that if Austria goes indie, it either takes Bavaria and Swabia with it or they become independent as well.
 
How they even would enforce Austria as indpendent? If Austria becomes with some miraclous way independent nation it hardly would be politically very stable. Not such shithole as interwar Austria but hard to see how keep that very viable nation. Austrians would want to be Germans. So if there would be independent Austria, after Cold War there would be strong neo-anshcluss movement and probably re-unification.
 
If Austria had become independent following World War II, South Tyrol's Südtiroler Volkspartei might become even more popular than in OTL; for obvious reasons, Germany is not interested in making revanchist claims on what is now administered by Italy but, in an independent Austria free of the Nazi baggage, more than a few politicians might actually support, at least informally, the party's goals.

Moreover, the complaints about Austria being overrepresented in the German government (nine länder in an area smaller than Bavaria) wouldn't exist. In fact, without the Austrian example to follow, the länder of the new Germany might be drawn along somewhat artificial lines, instead of taking culture and history into consideration: I know there used to be proposals about merging Baden and Württemberg back in the day, for example.
 
Not to mention that Hitler was an Austrian....

Anyways, I think that if Austria goes indie, it either takes Bavaria and Swabia with it or they become independent as well.
So basically all of southern Germany? That's gotta have some serious effects, I mean with so much of southern Germany lost does it even still make sense for standard German to be so high German influenced?
 
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