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Originally Posted by Iliak
Don't you think it had something to do with the fact that Austria was absorbed, albeit more or less voluntairily, into Germany? I mean Austria wasn't on par with Germany, not a constituent part of the third reich.
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First one should make something clear. Schuschnig wanted to make a referendum among the Austrians if the country should voluntarely join the 3rd Reich. It would be interesting to know why Hitler had such a hectic to prevent this referendum and invaded first. Anyway, the "referendum" he made afterwards was not much more than a bad joke. I mean how reliable is a referendum that has a 99% turnout for yes.
Anyway, I do not know how keen Austrians were to become part of the 3rd Reich. But what I know for sure is that they did not have much resentiments against it.
The first Republic was not a nation state. Not really, after all it was the intermediate, where a former empire or better the pittifull rest of it had to look for a new identity. And not to forget a huge industry once determined to deliver to a 50 million people empire had to adopt to not even 8 million. It was split up between three forces. Nazis, Socialdemocrats and Christian social (that became the Austro fascists). While the Socialists have been the largest party constantly as long as there were fair elections, it was the Christian social (=conservatives/fascists) that allways governed in some coalitions until they made an end to the democracy. The Austrian Nazi movement came into existance after Austria has been allready become a fascist state and was quite soon made illegal, shortly afterwards also the Social democrats.
From these three political movements the Austro fascists were the only ones but therefore even the more fostering the idea of a souvereign Austrian nation. In the midth there Socialdemocrats who principally supported a unification with Germany, but for sure not under Nazi rule. And on the other side the "illegals", the Austrian Nazis, who did all they could for an Anschluss. They went as far as assassinating the Austrian chancellor, or better said dictator Dollfuß.
Given that situation it would be a questionable claim to say that Austrians were keen on getting "heim ins Reich". I would say, one third of them were in fact, half of them, though that as one can not change it anyway, lets give it a trial and even concentrated on the positive sides like the prospect of falling unemployment and ecnomic uprise. With the rest opposing strongly but shutting up because the first Austrian "virtue" is to save ones own ass.
So much for the Anschluss. After it has become a fact, Austrians adopted quite fast and its hard to admit but it turned out that we were the "better" Nazis. With the most cruel inhumane and asocial Nazi officials being Austrians. Its a shame we have to live with.
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Furthermore, the re-establishment of a very small, and rather insignificant, powerless country that was almost unrecognizable to the citizens, perhaps also played a role in the construction of a modern national identity. I know that if I was Austrian, I would be proud of the imperial pre-1914 history; I wouldn't see it a catastrophical, historical Other like the Germans would see the third reich.
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What are you talking about?
Austria is not more "insignificant" than Sweden is.
Concerning international cooperation Austria is even quite well known as conference town. Austria still has its world class things, like eg the Staatsoper that can claim easily to be one of the worlds most important opera houses for example. Austria belongs tot he most wealthy nations in the world (like Sweden too). I can not see why one should not be able to be proud at a country, just because it has not more than 8 million inhabitants.