Chapter Twenty-Five
…This is OurLand
The disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire held repercussions few at the time could have foreseen. Chaos reigned in the former empire as weary eyes from both home and abroad watched on.
The turbulent rise and bloody fall of Communism in 1919 Hungary was but one facet that showed the region’s fragile vulnerability to extremism.
Furthermore the Austro-Slovene Conflict over Carinthia ending in a pre-war status quo did not sit well with the Austrian people. They had felt that victory was at hand, only to be snatched away at the last moment which amplified Austria’s feelings of being targeted by the Entente.
As the victorious Allied Powers became lax with victory, political radicalism quickly entrenched itself across Central Europe. This was clearly demonstrated in the 1920 Austrian Legislative Election for the newly formed National Council (successor to the Constituent Assembly).
The two political parties that emerged from the baptismal 1919 election with widespread support were the Social Democratic Workers’ Party of Austria (SDAPÖ) and the Christian Social Party (CSP). These represented the liberal socialist and conservative traditionalist parties, respectively. While these were the largest parties within the Republic, already firmly established since the second half of the nineteenth century, they would soon find an upstart contestant in the form of the National Liberal Front.
The Front, as was typical for National Liberal ideology, was an amalgamation of ideals from across the political spectrum. It was firmly conservative in matters relating to social issues with a heavy focus on pro-business policies. It held a nationalist stance where foreign policy and race were concerned, simultaneously pro-Austrian in the formation of a “true” Austro-Germanic nation-state yet one that decried the collapse of their hegemony over former imperial territory. The NLF advocated for the return of these territories to Vienna’s rule through whatever means deemed necessary, much to the alarm of neighboring countries like Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
On the other side of the coin it fielded liberal policies concerning national industry, particularly providing substantial government subsidies for industries classified as being of strategic importance to the Fatherland as well as instituting a preferential customs union alongside moderate trade protectionism.
These sometimes contradictory outlooks coalesced into a weak political platform in February 1919 which showed in the election results with the NLF securing a “mere” fourteen Assembly seats despite its seasoned leadership in the form of Gustav Gross. This was no mean feat, as the Nationalliberale Front was a new party amongst a sea of lesser political movements spawned in the chaotic post-war years but still relegated the NLF as a secondary party. As a matter of fact only the SDAPÖ and CSP held any real power in the nascent Republic’s early years. The two parties would go on to form a coalition government under Chancellor Karl Renner, a Social Democrat.
This was no doubt amplified by an inconsistent and weak propaganda apparatus under Jakob Lutschounig whose charisma and magnetism were at best, in place of a more apt word, lukewarm. With a far smaller support base and less party revenue than its two principal competitors, the NLF winning any sort of outright victory through democratic means was considered highly unlikely. Yet in spite of all their missteps, failings and humble origins, the National Liberals still netted a strong foundational showing in the 1919 election with a promise of a stronger showing the following year.
The 1920 National Council Election saw to the Front rising in popularity, shepherded by the party’s new chief of propaganda, Adolf Hitler. Hitler’s speeches in Vienna drew large crowds that grew from hundreds of attendees to the low thousands.
In the year and a half since the February 1919 Election, Hitler had established National Liberal propaganda offices across Austria, all spewing the same lines of rhetoric, and all of it coming from Hitler. The words of the Black Wolf were printed in a half-dozen sympathetic newspaper firms, as was the public endorsement of retired far-right politician Georg Ritter von Schönerer, which greatly swelled the Front’s ranks with veterans, anti-Semites and militant nationalists.
It should be noted that it was at this time that the Front’s unofficial split between Hitler’s ‘radical’ faction and Gross’ ‘moderate’ faction began.
The Front began to experience steady growth throughout the latter half of 1919 leading into October 1920 due to Hitler’s tactics and his nationalist appeal. The Black Wolf’s reputation, earned from Hill 53 and Carinthia, were supplemented by Hitler’s energetic speeches that led to the NLF securing twenty-four votes in the 1920 election. Far short of a majority to be true, but it showed the two parties in the coalition government that the Front was a force to be reckoned with, which began to fray at the coalition government’s seams.
The 1923 Election proved to be substantially different from the 1919 and 1920 elections from the start. At Hitler’s insistence, the Front’s Central Committee hesitantly adopted a more aggressive strategy. Using allied branches of the paramilitary
Heimatschutz, opponent political rallies were broken up via wooden cudgels and clenched fists. Leading these rally breakups were Hitler’s private militia, the
Kampfgruppe Wolf, which numbered just under two hundred (it was a closed organization that refused any new blood to enter its ranks).
Social Democrats and Christian Socials were taken aback by the National Liberal strategy, yet after several months of broken gatherings and cracked skulls the Social Democrats organized their own paramilitary wing, the
Republikanischer Schutzbund, while the CSP fielded other
Heimatschutz units loyal to them thought NLF-CSP entanglements were far less frequent. The
Heimatblock, the
Heimatschutz’s political wing, was similarly split, with a slight majority allied to the CSP but the more radical and militant largely aligning itself with the NLF.
While the fighting in the streets was but one weapon in Hitler’s arsenal. The second was the radio and it proved instrumental in spreading National Liberalism across Austria. Hitler made frequent use of the radio, sending his nonsensical yet popular tirades over the wireless waves, enrapturing the bitter, the disillusioned and the desperate.
Though the SDAPÖ and CSP would both eventually integrate the radio into their strategies, it would never equal Hitler’s implementation or frequency, especially once the Sozinat Party was formed later on during the 1920s.
The 1923 Election was close and the results would hold ramifications for years to come…
-excerpt from Bloodstained Iron - Origin of Austrofascism, written by Lauren MacClintlocke
Vienna, Austria
Republic of Austria
October 1923
Adolf Hitler felt a bead of sweat trail down his neck, odd considering the autumn weather, but not overly curious if one were to understand the severity of today’s election. In his hands was a copy of the
Kleine Zeitung, the Carinthia regional newspaper. On the cover was a photo of Benito Mussolini, celebrating the upcoming first year anniversary since his March on Rome. Hitler frowned while reading the article.
Mussolini represented a change, an unknown, in an old rival of the Fatherland and could be a threat to Austrian interests in the future. Though the discipline the strong jawed Fascist kept his Blackshirts, their sharp outstretched salutes and dedication to national revival were to be admired. He would not admit so out loud to his passenger as the man who sat near Hitler despised the Italians with a deep hatred few could match.
Jakob Kuhr, his principal bodyguard and closest advisor next to Olbrecht and Seyss-Inquart seemed quiet and relaxed, yet Hitler saw Kuhr’s eyes dart at the blurred crowds outside the window, hand near his M1912/P16 machine pistol.
Ever since the assassination attempt a year ago his Wolves had been very firm about his security detail. A car in front of and behind Hitler’s own vehicle were staffed with Wolves while allied
Heimatschutz patrolled the general area.
The three cars were all Austro-Daimler ADM 1923s. Expensive to be sure, but reliable and manufactured in-country. Hitler would be damned if he rode a foreign car to an event to determine the nation’s future.
Not only would his own party criticize him for hypocrisy, let alone his plethora of political opponents, but it was a symbol of pride to him. They may have lacked the ease of production of the American Model Ts or the recognition of German or Italian brand names but by God it felt
right.
“Nervous, sir?” Kuhr asked.
“Somewhat, yes. Three years of work are about to pay off tonight.”
Kuhr nodded, never taking his gaze off the crowds outside for long.
“How do you think we’ll do?”
“National Liberalism is an ever growing movement, building upon victory after victory. A government majority is within our grasp.”
“I see,” Kuhr replied dryly. “And the truth, sir?”
Hitler chuckled. He liked Kuhr. Good man, very loyal. The only ones he could trust these days were the Wolves and a handful of Front members. He would need such loyalty for whenever Gross retired from politics.
“Truth is what I make it, Jakob. Repeat a lie long enough and it becomes indistinguishable from fact. Such a philosophy is essential to our inevitable victory, whether we secure it today or years from now.”
“Of course, sir.”
The car was silent for a moment before Hitler repented.
“We’ll get third again, I’m sure. But it will be different from 1919 and 1920. I can feel it.”
“Your intuition hasn’t failed us yet, sir.”
Hitler nodded, looking out at the window. The three cars passed by a protest, a few score men and women with red armbands waving similarly colored banners. They were but a few meters from where doing so would be against city electoral ordinances. Men and women, many wearing worn and stitched clothing, handed out pamphlets to those who walked by. Many threw the papers away or put them in their pockets, likely to be used later as a wipe, but some read it and did so intently. A squad of policemen watched on like falcons, ready to swoop in and break up the Red filth.
Hitler’s lip snarled at the sight of the Communists. The KPÖ had been growing steadily the last two years. Smaller than the Front, but growing enough to become a dagger aimed at the heart of National Liberalism. The Christian Socials rightfully detested them while the Social Democrats weathered them with varying degrees of tolerance, but it seemed that with the rise of the NLF on the far-right, the far-left rose up to challenge its ideological foe and took form in the Communist Party of Austria.
The Communists, it was hoped, wouldn’t win more than a few seats in the National Council, but there was no counting how many desperate fools would vote for the Marxists. Hitler once again concluded that the Achilles’ heel of democracy were the voters themselves. Ignorant, easily misled, simple. All they wanted was a leader to tell them what to do and how to do it, to install pride in them and instill loyalty through every fiber of their being.
The three cars pulled up to the
gymnasium. A waiting Wolf opened his door, coming to military-precise attention.
Hitler walked straight towards the building where two policemen waited at the door. A line of people were waiting to vote, many holding small Austrian flags on wooden sticks. When they saw him, some booed but far more cheered. This poll location was in one of the National Liberal-heavy city districts.
Hitler put on his largest smile and waved at the Front supporters. Jakob was forced to wait outside, much to his chagrin. Walking to the officials’ desk, shaking hands with supporters on the way, he gave them his name. Sliding forward a voter sheet, he didn’t even deign to take it to a private booth. He voted National Liberal in every available category. He pushed the finished form to the official who took it solemnly.
“Adolf Hitler has voted,” the bespectacled elderly man intoned as he dropped Hitler’s vote into the sealed box.
Leaving, Hitler quickly returned to the car. The crowd cheered as he left.
“Where to now, sir?” asked the driver, Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock.
“Party headquarters.”
The three cars drove off to the Front’s headquarters near Innere Stadt. It had once been an office building for an insurance company but it had collapsed alongside the economy in the months following the end of the war. Now it was simply called the Hold.
Gross has rented the Hold for cheap, which was good since the Front’s coffers were not as deep as the Social Democrats or the Christian Socials. For the 1920 Election it had been barely half-filled, with few resources available and little staffing. Yet now it was fully staffed and busy with phones ringing, messengers coming to and fro, and the clattering of typewriters. It was a building constantly filled with cigarette smoke and half-empty coffee mugs.
A dozen
Heimatschutz bruisers stood sentry, pistols and cudgels in hand, though three sported M1895 rifles. Hitler did not like the idea of a separate organization becoming the Front’s security, yet had a Devil of a time convincing the rest of the Central Committee to use street violence and paramilitary forces to break up and dissuade opponent gatherings.
Hitler had wanted for the Front to create its own military wing directly rather than depend on the fractious Heimatschutz but he had been denied.
Gross had explained that if the Front created and used its own paramilitary it couldn’t use plausible deniability with any degree of effectiveness if a serious enough incident were to occur, such as a government official or police officer getting killed in a confrontation.
Hitler had reluctantly agreed but had caused so much contrition within the party, threatening to use his Wolves and other supporters, that Gross had to make significant concessions. Though Hitler was officially only the Propaganda Chief, he was for all intents and purposes the Front’s second-in-command, having sidelined Deputy Chairman von Hoffenberg and his more moderate backers.
The
Vaterland didn’t need moderation, it needed action.
Many in the office stood as he walked through, including a significant number who were not from the
Kampfgruppe. They nodded respectfully to him, many former veterans that he had advocated for, to bring on into the Front party structure. After all, he needed a core support base for any… future endeavors.
Hitler was moving to Gross’ office but a call stopped him.
“Adi,” called Franz Olbrecht. Hitler turned and a genuine smile was on his features.
“Franz, it’s good to see you. When did you come back from Linz?”
“Just an hour ago. I brought company.” Olbrecht gave him a mirthful look.
Hitler closed his eyes in exasperation. “Please don’t say-“
“Margarete is here.”
“I’m surprised the building still stands.”
“Here she comes,” the former colonel murmured, gesturing behind Hitler.
Hitler turned and saw a tall thin woman with red-brown hair stalking through the office. She was dressed as a woman of class, sporting a wide brim hat, a handbag, and her heels clicked across the floor.Aides, secretaries and even a few ranking party members moved out of her path lest they be caught in her fury.
The woman’s gaze was fixed on Hitler and it wasn’t kind.
“Ah, Adi, so good to see you,” she lied for the benefit of others nearby, most noting the hollow words. As she leaned in for a brief embrace, she whispered. “Are you an idiot?”
Hitler froze his face with a neutral expression. Margarete Olbrecht was a severe woman, one unaccustomed to not getting her way. And as a significant donator to the Front and sister to one of its ranking members, she held some not insignificant sway.
“Come to my office, please.” Hitler escorted her to his office in the corner facing the main road. He could see von Hoffenberg and Dinghofer in conference with Gross in the Chairman’s office, likely finalizing any new developments or strategies for the day’s election.
After the two Olbrechts followed Hitler in, with trusted Franz closing the door and shutting the blinds, Margarete Olbrecht slammed her hands down on his work-strewn desk. Several papers fell, annoying him further.
“What can I do for you, Ms. Olbrecht.”
“Cut the ‘what can I do for you’ nonsense, Adi. You know why I’m here and you why I’m so damn frustrated.”
Hitler locked gazes with her, his dark blue versus her pale green.
“You lied to me. A week ago you stood there and told me in no uncertain terms that you would not approach Walter Pfrimer.”
“I’m a politician, of course I lied,” Hitler mocked, ignoring the sudden cough from his friend. Margaret was none too pleased and leaned forward, her pale complexion darkening.
“Pfrimer is a thug,” she stated. “It is suspected he ordered the murders of several people in southern Styria.”
“Those ‘people’ you referenced were Yugoslavian spies coming into our country to carry out political espionage. Two of whom were suspected of communist affiliation in that bastard state they call a country.”
“Yugoslavian, yes, but not spies. For God’s sake, Adi, two of them were sixteen. Sixteen!”
Hitler did not stir from his chair.
“If a man develops a tumor, do you wait until it threatens his life to then cut it off?”
“That is not a fair compar-“
“Damn it, Margarete,” Hitler barked, rising from his chair. “Those filth snuck into our country like criminals, undoubtedly intending to leech off the back of the hardworking Austrian. Parasites are to be expunged, not welcomed!”
“Pfrimer will give the Front a bad image. He will hurt us with the
Landbund.”
“The
Landbund will support us, regardless of Pfrimer. They have zero chance of winning anything without the Front’s sponsorship.”
“Pfrimer’s ties with the
Alpine Montangesellschaft are damning to the
Landbund! Austrian farmers will not abide being seconded to industrialists.”
“They will abide it because I have arranged it. If they cannot toe the line, then they will be made to do so.” Hitler slowly leaned against his desk, palms flat on its wooden surface.
“I need Pfrimer and his
Heimatschutz . They are well armed, nearly all veterans from the war. Some even fought in Carinthia. His association with
Alpine Montangesellschaft only reaffirms our support amongst Austrian industrialists. Even if we do not have their open support, their quietly donated funds will do well in securing future electoral victories.”
Hitler’s voice turned flat, dangerous even, a far cry from the loud and energetic propagandist whose message was in the newspaper and on the radio nearly every week.
“You are valuable to the Front, Margarete. Your public support, your money, and your embracing of National Liberalism has done much to aid this movement. But,” the Black Wolf narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you ever presume to speak to me in such a way again. To do so would be unwise.” Those last words were akin to chipped ice, clear in meaning and cold in delivery
Something in Hitler’s tone disturbed her. She moved back a step, her face morphing from flushed to pale. She looked at her brother.
“Franz… you can’t support this, can you? Pfrimer and the others Adi has brought on… they are dangerous. Violently brutal, murderous, and intolerant. The things some have said about Jews and Serbians are unspeakable. Many on the Central Committee are worried where this is leading.”
Franz Olbrecht stood silent for a moment, a flash of sadness overcoming him before he stiffened to a form of attention.
“I stand by my Commander, no matter the cost.”
“Franz-“
“I think it is time for you to go, Marge,” Olbrecht said quietly.
Margarete Olbrecht left without a word, not even looking back. She didn’t even slam the door on her way out.
Hitler looked at his second. “Thank you for your support, Franz.”
“Of course, sir.” Olbrecht looked embarrassed at what he said next. “Don’t take what she says to heart, Adi, she supports the end goal the Front is aiming for, just not the steps along the way.”
“I understand. But if she continues to be problematic I will be forced to take action.”
“Please,” his friend seemed pained to speak. “Please don’t do anything drastic or… permanent. I will speak to her. I’m sure she can be brought around to sharing our vision.”
“Let us hope,” Hitler said, not believing Margarete would for a moment.
“Promise me nothing will happen to her.”
Hitler weighed the question for a moment as if giving it considerable thought. “I promise.”
Olbrecht breathed in relief.
“Thank you.”
Hours later, results started to come in once the polls closed that afternoon. Messengers ran through the doors with the Viennese results, waving new voter-turnout information while the radios spewed how the election was developing across the country.
The main office was filled with cigarette smoke as always. Hitler, Olbrecht and Kuhr sat next to a score of other Wolves near the center of the central room. Front members scrambled to update the chalkboard that held the election results. They had been there, listening intently as more and more poll data filtered through.
Hitler didn’t smoke, detesting the smell and taste, but he had downed a half-dozen cups of coffee and had eaten a plate of
Wiener Schnitzel to keep up his energy. The results flooding in were a confusing mass of numbers and information, but after a few hours the truth was cyphered out.
The National Liberal Front, after three long years since the last National Council election, had secured thirty-three seats. While it lagged behind the CSP’s sixty-four seats and the SDAPÖ’s fifty-eight seats, it nonetheless held its strongest position since its inception. And more importantly neither party had formed a majority, thus needing a partner to have a functioning government.
The CSP and SDAPÖ, having been in two coalition governments for the last five and a half years , had been at odds with each other throughout much of it, with their relations deteriorating further in the last year or so. It had become so bitter a working relationship that the federal government devolved into political in-fighting, stalling legislation and accruing the frustration of their constituents.
A wedge had been formed between the two parties, carefully erected by Hitler and sympathetic elements in the Christian Social Party. The CSP had little love for the Front, but its disgruntled acceptance of the Social Democrats had evolved into intense dislike, worsened further by Communist agitators.
And now the SDAPÖ had lost a significant voter base to the point it
had to ally with the CSP to remain in power at all. Not even the KPÖ’s eight seats gave the Social Democrats the necessary majority. And due to Austrian parliamentary law, a political party had to attain a certain percentage of the vote to be represented in the
Nationalrat.
But the CSP, due to careful negotiations and plans orchestrated in secret with the NLF, would formally dissolve their coalition government with the socialists and create a new government with the Front instead.
As the office erupted into cheer, as all knew the party had done very well, Hitler leaned back in his chair. A smile threatened to reveal itself but he kept it under control lest some take note of its predatory display.
In the weeks to come the CSP-SDAPÖ government under Karl Renner would dissolve and a CSP-NLF coalition government would emerge… and Hitler planned to be there making the decisions that would put Austria on the path of recovery.
And no one would stand in his way.
