Germany 1919-1990

1937

The Empire of Austria, a state that had remained outside of the German Unification of 1871, because of its rivalry with Prussia for leadership over the German states and the practical problem that the state was mostly non-German, was reduced to less than its German speaking territory in the 1919 peace treaties. The allies banned the German part of Austria from joining Germany. And so the Republic of Austria was born. The separation of Austria from the rest of Germany was caused by the fact that divided Germany in the Nineteenth Century, had two great powers among ist constituent states (Austria and Prussia) instead of one, as we have seen.

Diminished German speaking and Republican Austria was one of the failed democracies of Europe. Its dictator Chancellor Dolffus was allied to Italys's Mussolini. Dolffus was murdered in a pro German Nazi coup. His successor Chancellor Schussnig lost Italian support and Hitler (born in Austria)  was able to annex Austria to the German Realm in 1937, thus finalising the failed Great-German Unification that had failed in the 1840's.