What if the Austrofascists fought back after Dollfuss?

Strategos' Risk

After Austrian Nazis killed Dollfuss, what if the Austrofascists rallied and resisted German domination, even if Anschluss happens? Looks like Prince Ernst Rüdiger Camillo von Starhemberg was still alive, even if he had fled the country. Would be awkward if "Free Austrian" forces was led by a fascist, albeit one that seemed relatively light for the era?

John Gunther wrote in 1940 that the state "assaulted the rights of citizens in a fantastic manner", noting that in 1934 the police raided 106,000 homes in Vienna and made 38,141 arrests of Nazis, social democrats, and communists. He added, however:[5]

But—and it was an important "but"—the terror never reached anything like the repressive force of the Nazi terror. Most of those arrested promptly got out of jail again. Even at its most extreme phase, it was difficult to take the Schuschnigg dictatorship completely seriously, although Schutzbunders tried in 1935 got mercilessly severe sentences. This was because of Austrian gentleness, Austrian genius for compromise, Austrian love for cloudy legal abstractions, and Austrian Schlamperei.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Though that's a 1940s American reporter writing, and his cultural stereotyping would seem to have been contradicted by Hitler's Austrianness.

Would also be interesting if this caused any tensions between Mussolini and Hitler, like say if the former covertly continued to support the Austrofascists in exile as a sort of check against the Nazis.
 

NoMommsen

Well, the fate of Austria was to be decided between Berlin and Rome. Vienna didn't had much if any say in that.

And after the "Anschluß" ... tbh there won't be even a iota of populace' support against Hitler to be found. Any 'movement' or grouping against won't have any teeth at all, it won't be able to chew an overripe banana.

For Starhemberg ... it shouldn't be forgotten that
  • he was outesd by Schuschnigg well before the Anschluß
  • and that he went to France and became an 'allied soldier' only after his attempts of reconciliation with the then ruling Nazis failed.
 
BlackDragon98

BlackDragon98

Banned
Prince Ernst Rüdiger Camillo von Starhemberg was originally a supporter of Hitler and the Nazis until the failure of the Beer Hall Putsch convinced him otherwise.
 

Deleted member 94680

NoMommsen said:
And after the "Anschluß" ... tbh there won't be even a iota of populace' support against Hitler to be found. Any 'movement' or grouping against won't have any teeth at all, it won't be able to chew an overripe banana.
Click to expand...

There were Austrian resistance groups, so if they had something or someone to rally round more than they did OTL, they might be able to achieve something. But, it's the same case as Germany, the early successes of the Nazis stifled many of these groups from gaining popular support until it was "too late".
 

Strategos' Risk

That's a great article, very comprehensive though rather confused linking to the Legitimists for this group:

During the Nazi era confessed legitimists were persecuted by the National Socialists, as they considered Otto von Habsburg as their rightful head of state and refused the German Reich's oath of allegiance.
Click to expand...

So basically nationalist Austrian Nazis. Interestingly though there doesn't seem to be any reference of those still loyal to the legacy of Dolfuß and the Austrofascists. Did they just get completely absorbed into the German Nazis? Were they just not popular enough to survive Anschluß?
 
SealTheRealDeal

SealTheRealDeal

Strategos' Risk said:
After Austrian Nazis killed Dollfuss, what if the Austrofascists rallied and resisted German domination
Click to expand...
...
That's exactly what happened. The Nazis were violently suppressed after their failed coup and Austria "enjoyed" a few more years of Fatherland Front rule.

Strategos' Risk said:
So basically nationalist Austrian Nazis.
Click to expand...
What part of that sounds anything like Nazism?

Interestingly though there doesn't seem to be any reference of those still loyal to the legacy of Dolfuß and the Austrofascists. Did they just get completely absorbed into the German Nazis?
Click to expand...
No the Viennese Jewry most certainly wasn't absorbed by the Nazis. The Fatherland Front's leaders fled the country, killed themselves, or spent time in concentration camps. Party members were barred from serving in the German army, let alone the Nazi Party itself.

Were they just not popular enough to survive Anschluß?
Click to expand...
Offer no armed resistance and there will be no armed resistance in your name. At the (second) pivotal moment the Fatherland Front failed to produce any resistance at all to Austria's annexation, and as such not many Austrian nationalists felt like tying themselves to a ship that had clearly already sunk.
 

Strategos' Risk

SealTheRealDeal said:
What part of that sounds anything like Nazism?
Click to expand...

The part when I misread that description and read it as national socialists who were pro-Hapsburg. My mistake, sorry.

No the Viennese Jewry most certainly wasn't absorbed by the Nazis. The Fatherland Front's leaders fled the country, killed themselves, or spent time in concentration camps. Party members were barred from serving in the German army, let alone the Nazi Party itself.

Offer no armed resistance and there will be no armed resistance in your name. At the (second) pivotal moment the Fatherland Front failed to produce any resistance at all to Austria's annexation, and as such not many Austrian nationalists felt like tying themselves to a ship that had clearly already sunk.
Click to expand...

So what would be the circumstances that more active armed resistance could occur?

Relevant war game scenario from Avalanche Press: Hopeless, but not Serious.
 
Athelstane

Athelstane

Strategos' Risk said:
After Austrian Nazis killed Dollfuss, what if the Austrofascists rallied and resisted German domination, even if Anschluss happens? Looks like Prince Ernst Rüdiger Camillo von Starhemberg was still alive, even if he had fled the country. Would be awkward if "Free Austrian" forces was led by a fascist, albeit one that seemed relatively light for the era?


Though that's a 1940s American reporter writing, and his cultural stereotyping would seem to have been contradicted by Hitler's Austrianness.

Would also be interesting if this caused any tensions between Mussolini and Hitler, like say if the former covertly continued to support the Austrofascists in exile as a sort of check against the Nazis.
Click to expand...

Just so I understand the terms of the discussion: Who exactly counts here as "Austrofascist?" The Heimwehr? The VF? Both?
 

Strategos' Risk

The Fatherland Front and its constituent groups. Basically all of the right-wing and conservative parties that were in power under Dolfuß and didn't want to assassinate him. So the Fatherland Front/VF.
 

Strategos' Risk

I agree with you. That said, I'm curious about how the particular political situation might have led to it. For example, would it require Schuschnigg to order the army to make a stand? Were there any other figures after Dolfuß who might have rallied against the German takeover? A few sub-scenarios from the Avalanche Press game:

Scenario Five
Revenge
14 February 1938
German Chancellor Adolf Hitler summoned his Austrian counterpart, Kurt Schuschnigg, to Hitler's mountain retreat at Berchtesgaden. There, Hitler berated the Austrian and demanded that Austria install a Nazi-friendly government. Schuschnigg refused, and Hitler in turn would not let him leave. As no communication came from their leader, Austrian officers of the 8th Infantry Brigade headquartered a few kilometers away in Salzburg became concerned. Maj. Gen. Kurt Zborzil, appointed to the post just two weeks before, called his senior officers together. If no word came soon of Schuschnigg's fate, his brigade would storm the Eagle's Nest, free their chancellor and "kill the little (expletive)."

Conclusion: A coward in his heart, Hitler would undoubtedly have fled the field and left his fanatic bodyguards to die in his place. Losing the Eagle's Nest to the Austrian Army � and fleeing in the night to avoid them � would have been a political catastrophe. But in reality, Schuschnigg returned before Zborzil led his troops over the border. The chancellor was physically unharmed but spiritually broken. Forty years later, 8th Brigade officers still spoke wistfully of the lost opportunity to destroy Hitler before he unleashed his madness. However, if unsuccessful it would have plunged Austria into an utterly hopeless war.
Click to expand...

Scenario Six
Resistance
11 March 1938
Almost every Austrian unit obeyed its orders to offer no resistance to the incoming German forces. But at Bregenz, at the far western end of Austria, the garrison's offices could not abide Nazi rule. When Germans came marching on the small city expecting the flower-bearing maidens found elsewhere, the 6th Division met them with bullets.

Conclusion: Only after receiving a direct order from the Defense Ministry did the jagers stand down from their defense of Bregenz. It would be the last official combat action for Austrian forces.

Comments: Here's the one-and-only scenario depicting actual, historical armed resistance by Austrian forces against the Anschluss. The Germans move down the coast of the Bodensee to try and take the town of Bregenz, but an elite Austrian Alpenjager battalion stands in their way. As usual the Germans have numbers and artillery support on their side, but unit-for-unit the Austrians are better than the Germans so it will be a tough fight.
Click to expand...
 
SealTheRealDeal

SealTheRealDeal

Strategos' Risk said:
I agree with you. That said, I'm curious about how the particular political situation might have led to it. For example, would it require Schuschnigg to order the army to make a stand?
Click to expand...
Well yes, the head of the government's order is generally desired for the military to wage war.

Were there any other figures after Dolfuß who might have rallied against the German takeover?
Click to expand...
Well, Schuschnigg really seemed poised to do so but choked at the last minute. Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg or Emil Fey would be more likely to follow through given that they were even more verbosely nationalistic and much more militaristic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top