Anschluss and Munich Crisis

Anschluss with Austria1. Background

Following the Franco-Prussian war in 1870-1871, a number of small independent German states were united into the German Empire. This excluded Austria, where a large German-speaking population of seven million people resided, since it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the aftermath of World War I, the defeated Austro-Hungarian Empire was partitioned into smaller nations, of which Austria was one. The Paris Peace Conference where this decision was made was guided by US President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points. One of these points was the principle of national self-determination, which meant that people should be able to make decisions about governance for themselves. However, the Treaty of Versailles forbade the union of Germany with Austria, which seemed to run counter to this principle, since both countries were inhabited by ethnic Germans. The Big Three leaders included this article in the Treaty because they wanted to weaken Germany, not make it stronger.

Hitler wanted to create a new German Reich that included all German-speaking people, but needed to destroy the Treaty of Versailles to do so. Reception of the Treaty had shifted considerably between 1919 and 1938, with many people outside of Germany beginning to believe that the Treaty was unnecessarily harsh and unfair. Annexing Austria(opens in a new tab) not only furthered Hitler's goal of expanding Germany's borders, it also had natural resources such as magnesium and a strong manufacturing sector which had been hit hard by the Great Depression. Controlling these would benefit the German economy.

At this point, Britain and France were pursuing the policy of appeasement in order to avoid war with Germany. Austria is to the east of Germany, which is why neither Britain nor France were too worried about what happened there. Austria also borders Italy to the south, so Hitler had to negotiate his relationship with Mussolini in order to avoid a war between their two countries. He attempted to incorporate Austria into the Third Reich in 1934, but Mussolini had put his army on alert and Hitler did not pursue the attempt any further. By 1938, the two leaders had grown much closer and Hitler managed to gain Mussolini's consent for the unification of Germany and Austria.2. Nazism in Austria

After the Nazis came to power in 1933, they started working on cultivating the spread of their ideology in Austria, supporting pro-Nazi factions that attempted to undermine the Austrian government. In 1934, Austrian Nazis assassinated Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, who had banned the Austrian branch of the Nazi Party the year before. The Anschluss was halted after Mussolini put his army on alert, but the unification campaign continued while Hitler considered his next move. Dollfuss was replaced by Kurt von Schuschnigg, who did not support the unification of Germany and Austria and attempted to suppress the growing support for Nazism in Austria.

On 12 February 1938, Hitler met with Von Schuschnigg and accused him of allowing the persecution of Austrian Nazis. Hitler presented him with an ultimatum that included a demand to appoint Nazis as ministers in the Austrian government. Hitler especially wanted Arthur Seyss-Inquart appointed. At the same time, Austrian Nazis were rioting and causing civil unrest to exert pressure on Schussnigg. Von Schuschnigg felt he had no choice but to sign. On 20 February, Hitler made a speech that was broadcast in both Germany and Austria, announcing that Germany was not willing to accept the oppression of millions of Germans in neighbouring countries. In an effort to avoid implementing the provisions of the agreement, Schussnigg called a referendum on the question of unification with Germany on 9 March 1938, to be held on 13 March. This angered Hitler, who responded by demanding Von Schuschnigg's resignation on 11 March and then promptly invading Austria on 12 March 1938 to prevent the referendum from happening, because he feared that Austria would reject the Anschluss.

3. Unification and Referendum

Germany's invasion of Austria was a direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles. It was also the first time that the German military took direct action beyond their borders - when Germany sent troops to Spain it was to support the nationalists there, but when they invaded Austria it was expressly to expand German territory and grow the Third Reich. The annexation of Austria was over within days. Large crowds met German troops in the streets to celebrate their arrival. Even for Hitler, the overwhelmingly positive response to the annexation from within both Germany and Austria came as a surprise. His initial plan had been to replace Von Schuschnigg with Austrian Nazi Arthur Seyss-Inquart as Chancellor, making Austria a satellite state of Germany. However, upon seeing how much support there was for the Anschluss, Hitler changed his mind and incorporated Austria into Germany as a province, with Seyss-Inquart as its governor. However, historians have argued that the show of support for the Nazis in Austria was the result of a terror campaign which suppressed much of the opposition, and that this narrative is a product of Nazi propaganda.In the days after Germany invaded Austria, nearly 70 000 people were arrested and many of them were sent to concentration camps. Hitler had sent Heinrich Himmler and the SS ahead to suppress any possible dissent. Hitler called a referendum in April 1938 in order to reinforce the legitimacy of the Anschluss with Austria. The vote was preceded by a Nazi propaganda campaign, mass incarceration of political opponents, and the abrogation of voting rights for about 8% of the population. Votes also weren't secret; instead of depositing their ballot in a closed box, voters had to hand their completed ballot directly to a voting official. This is an example of voter intimidation, since voting "no" could quite possibly land the person in a concentration camp or worse. The results were recorded as 99.7% in favour of the Anschluss. Historians agree that the vote count itself was accurate, but the circumstances around the referendum made the vote neither free nor fair.4. Reactions to the Anschluss

The annexation of Austria and incorporation into the Third Reich happened in a very short space of time. Britain and France barely had time to react before it was over. When they did respond, they decided to simply accept it, in line with the policy of appeasement that they were following at the time. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain commented that it would have been impossible to stop the Anschluss without military intervention, and Britain was not prepared to risk war with Germany. France was experiencing internal political turmoil and therefore did not have the capacity to get involved in any way. Most other European countries, as well as the USA, expressed mild disapproval of Germany's annexation of Austria, but refrained from taking any action against it. Only Mexico expressed strong disapproval. Czechoslovakia expressed concern because it was now bordering on German territory in the north, west and south, and they feared they would be next, since Hitler had made no secret of his wish to gain Lebensraum for the growing German population by expanding eastwards.

Ultimately, most Europeans did not consider the Anschluss a direct threat to their security and did not want to antagonise Hitler. This turned out to be a severe mistake, since their inaction bolstered Hitler's confidence and made them look weak in his eyes. The persecution of Jews in Austria commenced almost immediately and thousands of Jews fled the country. Hitler's popularity in Germany also increased after Austria was incorporated into the Third Reich, because he had violated the deeply unpopular Treaty of Versailles and expanded German territory. Furthermore, Germany also gained 7 million people and at least 100 000 soldiers, along with all the resources Austria had to offer. The Anschluss therefore made Germany stronger and increased its influence in eastern Europe. The Annexation of the Sudetenland What was the significance of the Munich Crisis?1. Hitler's Views on Czechoslovakia

After the Anschluss in March 1938, Hitler realised that Britain and France wanted to avoid war with Germany at all costs. He therefore decided to pursue his goal of territorial expansion more aggressively, believing that they would not try to stop him. One of the key points in this plan was the incorporation of all territories where German speakers lived into the Third Reich. The annexation of Austria had gone about as smoothly as he could have hoped and had not resulted in war. Next, Hitler thought that it would be just as reasonable to demand that Czechoslovakia cede the territory on its border with Germany known as the Sudetenland, because this area was home to a large population of ethnic Germans. He argued that the Sudeten Germans were complaining that they experienced discrimination at the hands of the Czechoslovakian government and he only wanted to liberate them.

However, Hitler also disliked Czechoslovakia as a whole, since it was one of the successor states created after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I. He did not think it was a legitimate state. On top of that, it was a democracy, which Hitler hated. For its part, Czechoslovakia had made defensive agreements with both France and the Soviet Union as a way to protect itself from German aggression. It had built a series of defences on the border with Germany similar to France's Maginot Line; most of these were located in the Sudetenland. This mountainous region was crucial to Czechoslovakia's defence because it formed a natural barrier between it and Germany.2. The Munich Crisis

Hitler initially did not plan to invade Czechoslovakia. Instead, he wanted to get the Sudeten Germans to initiate the separation. Thus in March 1938 he told Konrad Henlein, a Nazi leader in the Sudetenland, to demand 'home rule' for the Sudeten Germans, knowing that the Czechoslovakian government would oppose this because it would break up the country.

In May, Hitler was informed that Czechoslovakia had mobilised its army in response to a rumoured German attack. The rumours were false, but instead of deterring Hitler it made him all the more determined to destroy them. However, he remained cautious because he did not want to start a war, especially with Britain and France. This is why he kept encouraging the Sudeten Germans to agitate for home rule while he planned his next move. By September, he had decided to launch a small-scale invasion of Czechoslovakia on 1 October and had prepared the German military accordingly.

On 12 September 1938, Hitler made a speech at the annual Nuremberg Rally in which he attacked Czechoslovakia for its allegedly oppressive treatment of the Sudeten Germans, triggering an uprising in the Sudetenland. On 15 September, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain met with Hitler in Berchtesgaden in Bavaria in an attempt to resolve the crisis. Hitler told Chamberlain that he was seeking Anglo-German cooperation and friendship, not war, but if the Sudeten Germans were not freed, he was prepared to go to war over the issue. He also said that he would not claim any further territory in Europe.

Chamberlain therefore agreed that the Sudetenland should be transferred to the Reich if France, Britain and Czechoslovakia all agreed. French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier agreed to the cession of the Sudetenland to Germany three days later. This showed Hitler that France and Britain were trying to avoid war at all costs, and he thought this meant they would not stop his attempts to expand German territory in the east as long as he did not move west.

3. The Munich Agreement

The two leaders met again on 22 September, where Chamberlain informed Hitler that he had secured the approval of all three governments for the cession of all areas in Czechoslovakia with a population of 50% or more ethnic Germans to Germany. However, Hitler came to the meeting with a new set of demands: the Sudetenland should be immediately occupied by German troops, all Czechs should leave the area, the Czechoslovakian state should be dissolved, and all its territories should be distributed between Poland, Hungary and Germany. This was a drastic request, especially since it would give the Czech army no time to adapt their defences and would leave them vulnerable to further German aggression. Chamberlain was stunned by Hitler's change of mind and returned to Britain to mobilise the army in preparation for war with Germany. Britain made a further attempt to temper Hitler's ambitions; Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini was asked to intervene, considering the close relationship between Germany and Italy. Mussolini and Chamberlain proposed a conference between Britain, Italy, France and Germany at Munich on 29 September 1938. Czechoslovakian representatives were not present at the conference (although they were in Munich at the time) when the four leaders signed the Munich Agreement on these points:

The Sudetenland would be ceded to Germany over a ten-day period between 1 and 10 October 1938. In any area where a mixed population resided, a plebiscite would be held to determine what would happen. The four leaders (Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier and Mussolini) would guarantee the integrity of Czechoslovakia after Polish and Hungarian claims to territory were satisfied. Chamberlain informed the Czechoslovakian representatives of the outcome shortly after signing the agreement, and told them that they had the option to either fight the Nazis themselves without foreign assistance or accept the agreement. Even though Czechoslovakia had one of the most modern and well-equipped armies in the world at the time, they knew that they could not win a war against Germany on their own. France had already indicated that it would not come to their assistance despite their mutual defensive pact, and although the Soviet Union had offered their help, they could not get the Red Army army to Czechoslovakia without passing through Poland, and Poland refused to let them do so. This left Czechoslovakia to fend for itself and it had no choice but to cede the Sudetenland to Germany. The Sudetenland was officially transferred to Germany on 10 October 1938.4. Consequences

The Munich Agreement has become an infamous example of the failure and futility of trying to appease an aggressively expansionist country. Chamberlain returned to Britain and delivered a speech:

"My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Go home and get a nice quiet sleep."

British reaction to the Munich Agreement was mixed; some were relieved to have avoided war, while others saw it as a betrayal and capitulation to the demands of a dictator. Winston Churchill, who became British Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945, criticised Chamberlain(opens in a new tab) for creating the Munich Agreement by saying, "You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour and you will have war."

Chamberlain's statement that the Munich Agreement brought "peace for our time" has become famous for its irony, since World War II broke out just over a year later after Hitler invaded Poland. As for Czechoslovakia, Hitler declared the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (today the Czech Republic) in March 1939 after Slovakia declared its independence, and by 1944 Germany had occupied all of Czechoslovakia.