r/europe • u/MarktpLatz Lower Saxony (Germany) • Apr 25 '17

Australia? What do you know about... Austria?

This is the fourteenth part of our ongoing series about the countries of Europe. You can find an overview here.

Todays country:

Austria

Austria is a country in central Europe. Ever since world war two, Austria has maintained military neutrality, they have not been and still are not part of NATO. Austria also has the only green party head of state in Europe.

So, what do you know about Austria?

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u/iwanttosaysmth Poland Apr 25 '17

Although there were irregularities, LIFE in 1938 acknowledged that the results of the referendum and its German counterpart were "largely honest"[8] Some postwar accounts claim that the poll was rigged, but there is no evidence that this was necessary

It wasn't a joke. As wiki says it wasn't entirely fair referendum but it was showing more or less the people's opinion. Secondly you shouldn't identify support of Nazi party with the support of unification - two totally different things

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u/luleigas Austria Apr 26 '17

It wasn't a joke. As wiki says it wasn't entirely fair referendum but it was showing more or less the people's opinion.

You do realize that you are essentially parroting Nazi propaganda? "Not entirely fair", are you fucking kidding me?

Before the referendum, Austria was annected by force. Then, an enormous propaganda campaign was rolled out in favour of the unification; needless to say, there was no dissenting votes allowed, let alone free press or fair discussion. Furthermore, a large portion of voters (jews, political opponents) were not allowed to vote. At the actual referendum, people were forced to vote publicly and the Nazis made it clear that even if you chose to vote secretly, there will be inspections. But even under these conditions, >99% turnout and >99% "yes"-votes are implausible, so there for sure was also vote-rigging, ballot-stuffing, or the numbers were simply made-up. Even by the lowest democratic standards this referendum cannot be used to prove anything.

Secondly you shouldn't identify support of Nazi party with the support of unification - two totally different things

No, you should not mix this up. You stated that during the first Austrian republic (which ended in 1934), there was quite a lot of support for unification with Germany; then you concluded that this proves that the people wanted to unite with Nazi-Germany in 1938. As I said, I do not exclude the possibility, I'm just saying that we cannot know because there was no fair referendum.

By the way, the Nazis also never won the absolute majority in free and fair elections in Germany.

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u/iwanttosaysmth Poland Apr 26 '17

By the way, the Nazis also never won the absolute majority in free and fair elections in Germany.

Yes if you count also votes casted on Deutschnationale Volkspartei, which was basically satellite-party of NSDAP. My point from the begining is that majority of Austrians in prewar period was supporting idea of unification with Germany. It's just a fact.

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u/luleigas Austria Apr 26 '17

Yes if you count also votes casted on Deutschnationale Volkspartei, which was basically satellite-party of NSDAP.

Depends if you still count 1933 as free and fair elections but... okay.

My point from the begining is that majority of Austrians in prewar period was supporting idea of unification with Germany. It's just a fact.

If it's a fact then how do you explain that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anschluss#Schuschnigg_announces_a_referendum

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u/iwanttosaysmth Poland Apr 26 '17

What exactly I need to explain?

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u/luleigas Austria Apr 26 '17

What exactly I need to explain?

If there was overwhelming support for the Anschluss, why did Schuschnigg want to hold a referendum in order to avoid it?

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u/iwanttosaysmth Poland Apr 26 '17

If he was so sure about the outcome why excluded large portion of people? Also he probably wanted to gain a time, hoping of West to react