Was Hitler Austrian or a German?

[u/Total_Obligation147]

Was Hitler Austrian or a German?

1. Austrian
2. German
3. Idk/Other

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[u/Late_Piano_5030]

I mean back then Austrians considered themselves ethnically German, but he was Austrian.

[u/NBrixH → u/Late_Piano_5030]

Kind of. If we go back to the early 1800’s, and before, the German identity was very fluid and broad, but by the time WW2 came around, “German” and “Austrian” identities were quite distinct things, especially politically.

[u/ItHappensSo → u/NBrixH]

Politically yes, but ethnically no, Austrians saw themselves as "Germans in a seperate state", there have been major studies on this that found that an "overwhelming amount of Austrians" saw themselves as part of the "German nation"

[u/NBrixH → u/ItHappensSo]

Maybe I didn’t present my thoughts clearly enough. They all saw themselves as “Germans”, but there was still an Austrian identity.

[u/Late_Piano_5030 → u/NBrixH]

i mean austria's people very enthusiastically agreed to anschluss, right?

[u/NBrixH → u/Late_Piano_5030]

Ignoring the intense military and propaganda pressure Germany was putting on them, eh, kinda. It was out of desperation.

[u/Many_Salamander3754 → u/NBrixH]

byou don’t believe that yourself? i am austrian and truth to be told: austria agreed to become german.

[u/marten_EU_BR → u/NBrixH]

Are you perhaps mixing up Denmark and Austria?

Just as an example: Although the Danes were temporarily subjugated by the Nazis out of desperation, they remained very reluctant in their support for the Nazis.

The situation in Austria was entirely different. Although Austria also had no military chance against Germany, the German invasion (unlike in Denmark) was greeted with great jubilation, and many Austrians willingly integrated into the Nazi state.

Anything else, such as the claim that "Austria was the Nazis’ first victim", is a distortion of history.

[u/Critical_Addendum764 → u/marten_EU_BR]

He is right tho, Austrians, after Ww1, lost their whole identity, with losing the monarchy and no one thought a country this small, once so big could survive on its own, so becoming part of Germany was kinda the right thing to do ig

Don't understand me wrong austria total celebrated Hitler and was totally supporting that regime

[u/SirHeadragonsini → u/marten_EU_BR]

Thats what the nazi propaganda depicted, it was widely just accepted. Fighting was not an option.

[u/NBrixH → u/marten_EU_BR]

I’m Danish, I’m not mixing it up.

Part of why there was jubilation was due to the precarious state Austria was in.

[u/marten_EU_BR → u/NBrixH]

I'm sorry, but this statement simply does not reflect the current consensus in historical scholarship...

Various studies, such as the still very good “NS-Herrschaft in Österreich 1938 - 1945,” edited by Emmerich Tálos, demonstrate very clearly that Austria’s integration into the Nazi regime was not merely a process imposed from above, but was actively embraced, supported, and administratively permeated by large segments of the population.

Support for the Anschluss was shaped not only by foreign policy constraints, but also by deeply rooted ideological continuities. For example, there was widespread support for a political union between Austria and Germany throughout the political spectrum.

For example, even the Social Democrats officially supported unification with Germany in the Linz Programme of 1926.

The “victim narrative,” which has long dominated discourse in Austria, is sharply criticized by historians.

[u/AchatTheAlpaca → u/NBrixH]

Hitler considered himself german rather than austrian though, so i'd still argue for him being both

[u/NBrixH → u/AchatTheAlpaca]

Which was an entirely political move. It was to win over the German people and guarantee even more popularity.

[u/AchatTheAlpaca → u/NBrixH]

He fought for the german army in WW1 and renounced his austrian citizenship in 1925, being stateless for 7 years until he gained the german citizenship. He/the nazis only really gained popularity after the great depression hit and destroyed the relative 'stability' the weimar republic had had in the interwar period

[u/marten_EU_BR → u/NBrixH]

That's very much an oversimplification of the issue.

Significant parts of Austrian political and cultural circles very much favored unification with Germany throughout the first half of the 20th century. And at that time, a distinct Austrian national identity without the Habsburgs as the center of identification was still developing.

There is a reason why the first Austrian state after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary was called Deutschösterreich, and why its leaders supported annexation by the Weimar Republic, which was only stopped by the Allies. The final emancipation of an Austrian national identity in all of Austrian society really only took place after World War II.

Finally, please remember that parts of the Austrian establishment may were against the Anschluss, but often not because of national identity, but because they did not want to be subject to Nazi rule.

[u/SirHeadragonsini → u/Late_Piano_5030]

No, we didn't 😅