The German-Austrian union

Heightened assertiveness also characterized foreign policies in Europe in 1937. But while Hitler’s involved explicit preparations for war, Britain’s consisted of explicit attempts to satisfy him with concessions. The conjuncture of these policies doomed the independence of Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, and set Europe on a slippery slope to war.

By the end of 1936, Hitler and the Nazis were total masters of Germany with the exceptions of the army and the foreign office, and even the latter had to tolerate the activities of a special party apparatus under the Nazi “expert” on foreign policy, Joachim von Ribbentrop. Nazi prestige, bolstered by such theatrics as the Berlin Olympics, the German pavilion at the Paris Exhibition, and the enormous Nürnberg party rallies, was reaching its zenith. In September 1936, Hitler imitated Stalin again in his proclamation of a Four-Year Plan to prepare the German economy for war under the leadership of Hermann Göring. With the Rhineland secured, Hitler grew anxious to begin his “drive to the east,” if possible with British acquiescence. To this end he appointed Ribbentrop ambassador to London in October 1936 with the plea, “Bring me back the British alliance.” Intermittent talks lasted a year, their main topic being the return of the German colonies lost at Versailles. But agreement was impossible, since Hitler’s real goal was a free hand on the Continent, while the British hoped, in return for specific concessions, to secure arms control and respect for the status quo.

Meanwhile, Stanley Baldwin, having seen the abdication crisis through to a finish, retired in May 1937 in favour of Neville Chamberlain. The latter now had the chance to pursue what he termed “active appeasement”: find out what Hitler really wants, give it to him, and thereby save the peace and husband British resources for defense of the empire against Italy and Japan. By the time of Lord Halifax’s celebrated visit to Berchtesgaden in November 1937, Hitler had already lost interest in the talks and begun to prepare for the absorption of Austria, a country in which, said Halifax, Britain took little interest. Hitler had also taken measures to complete the Nazification of foreign and defense policy.

On November 5, Hitler made a secret speech in the presence of the commanders of the three armed services, War Minister Werner von Blomberg, Foreign Minister Konstantin von Neurath, and Göring. The Führer made clear his belief that Germany must begin to expand in the immediate future, with Austria and Czechoslovakia as the first targets, and that the German economy must be ready for full-scale war by 1943–45. On November 19, Hitler replaced Schacht as minister of economics. Two months later he fired generals Blomberg and Werner von Fritsch in favour of the loyal Walther von Brauchitsch and Wilhelm Keitel and replaced Neurath with Ribbentrop. Historians have debated whether the November 5 speech was a blueprint for aggression, a plea for continued rearmament, or preparation for the purges that followed. But there is no denying that the overheated Nazi economy had reached a critical turn with labour and resources fully employed and capital running short. Hitler would soon have to introduce austerity measures, slow down the arms program, or make good the shortages of labour and capital through plunder. Since these material needs pushed in the same direction as Hitler’s dynamic quest for Lebensraum, 1937 merely marked the transition into concrete time-tables of what Hitler had always desired. Nazification of the economy, the military, and the foreign service only removed the last vestige of potential opposition to a risky program of ruthless conquest.

German intrigues in Austria had continued since 1936 through the agency of Arthur Seyss-Inquart’s Nazi movement. When Papen, now ambassador to Vienna, reported on February 5, 1938, that the Schuschnigg regime showed signs of weakness, Hitler invited the Austrian dictator to a meeting on the 12th. In the course of an intimidating tirade Hitler demanded that Nazis be included in the Vienna government. Schuschnigg, however, insisted that Austria remain “free and German, independent and social, Christian and united,” and scheduled a plebiscite for March 13 through which Austrians might express their will. Hitler hurriedly issued directives to the military, and when Schuschnigg was induced to resign, Seyss-Inquart simply appointed himself chancellor and invited German troops to intervene. A last-minute Italian demarche inviting Britain to make colonial concessions in return for Italian support of Austria met only “indignant resignation” and Anthony Eden’s irrelevant complaints about Italy’s troops in Spain. A French plea for Italian firmness, in turn, provoked Ciano to ask: “Do they expect to rebuild Stresa in an hour with Hannibal at the gates?” Still, Hitler waited nervously on the evening of March 11 until he was informed that Mussolini would take no action in support of Austria. Hitler replied with effusive thanks and promises of eternal amity. In the nighttime invasion, 70 percent of the vehicles sent into Austria by the unprepared Wehrmacht broke down on the road to Vienna, but they met no resistance. Austrians cheered deliriously on the 13th, when Hitler declared Austria a province of the Reich.