Effects of Anschluss on German politics

Snaut

Suppose the Weimar Republic manages to annex Austria sometime during the interwar period.

How does the presence of several million Austrians influence German politics? In particular, how would it impact farther irredentism? Would it be reduced, or would its main focus be altered?
 

eliphas8

I expect Austria as a German Federal State will be essentially another Bavaria, a province with a lot of internal autonomy and a political system different from the rest of the country. In terms of other effects it's kind of hard to say without knowing what's different.
 

MrHaakwood

More votes for conserative parties, perhaps a go for the Sudentenland...depends on how exactly the "Anschluss" was going on.
 

MerryPrankster

About Austria, wasn't Vienna socialist but the countryside conservative and Catholic?

The Social Democrats and Catholic Center Party might benefit nationally, I'd think.
 

Lalli

You mean that Germany would be still democracy? I don't see plausible way for Anschluss on this scenario. Germany should leastly fix its own economy firstly and leaders of Germany should be arrogant enought that they would dare violate terms of Versailles.
 

Deleted member 1487

Lalli said:
You mean that Germany would be still democracy? I don't see plausible way for Anschluss on this scenario. Germany should leastly fix its own economy firstly and leaders of Germany should be arrogant enought that they would dare violate terms of Versailles.
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Germany and Austria were pushing for a customs union in 1931, but were stopped by the banking crisis.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsch-österreichische_Zollunion
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4545885?uid=2&uid=4&sid=21104598960133
 

MerryPrankster

Lalli said:
You mean that Germany would be still democracy? I don't see plausible way for Anschluss on this scenario. Germany should leastly fix its own economy firstly and leaders of Germany should be arrogant enought that they would dare violate terms of Versailles.
Click to expand...

Just because something's a bad idea doesn't mean a democratic state won't do it, and a democratic electorate can be pretty arrogant.

(And violating this particular term of Versailles wouldn't be "arrogant"--the Austrians wanted Anschluss in 1920 and were stopped by the threat of French violence. Their self-determination had been violated.)
 

raharris1973

The Social Democrats and Catholic Center Party might benefit nationally, I'd think.
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This-

plus Catholic Center aligned parliamentary complaints about the situation of Germans in south Tyrol and Sudetenland, with Italy and Czechoslovakia getting more concerned and rearming and fortifying earlier.

Both Germany and Austria were militarily weak at the time. How would Mussolini have felt about a military intervention in the late 20s early 30s? Would he get Czech support? On the one hand, everyone Rome is stronger, but it is not necessarilly very militarized or ready to initiate a policy of force and occupation against a foreign population's wishes at this stage of the Fascist regime.

France could and would and did use all manner of financial and diplomatic and threats against Anschluss, but would it in the end be willing to invade Germany in the 1928-1933 era if Weimar and Vienna were determined not to be intimidated?
 
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