The Dolfuss Affair - Conflict and Tension

Question 1

what were causes of the Dolfuss affair?

Answer 1

• Austria had been hit with a harsh treaty in 1919 and the effects of the Depression had made this worse
• Hitler wanted to unite all Germany speaking people and he was Austrian himself
• for hundreds of years there had been a debate over whether Austria should be a part of a ‘Greater Germany’ or should be an independent power in its own right (the TofV had of course banned union of Austria and Germany - Anschluss)

Question 2

what was the Dollfuss affair?

Answer 2

• Dr Engelbert Dollfuss became chancellor of Austria in 1932 - he was a far right nationalist and conservative but he was not a Nazi
• he wanted to protect Austria’s Catholic national identity from the Germans
• violence and unrest was common, so Dollfuss established a dictatorship in 1933, outlawing all other political parties for the ‘safety of the nation’
• this included the Nazi Party - the Austrian Nazis had been founded before Hitler had come to power, but they looked to him for support
• Hitler encouraged the Austrian Nazis to create chaos within Austria
• 1934 - Dollfuss was assassinated by 10 Austrian Nazis
• Hitler considered an invasion to support the Austrian Nazis, but Mussolini wanted to be seen to be protecting Austria and threatened war in retaliation, moving the Italian army to the Austrian border
• Hitler realised that he didn’t have a big enough army to successfully go to war and he backed down

Question 3

significance of the Dollfuss affair?

Answer 3

1. Hitler knew he would need to build up the power of Germany’s armed forces
2. Italy had shown Britain and France that they could be a useful power against Germany - the allies would hope to keep Italy on their side if they could
3. although, he was forced to back down on this occasion, Hitler would be determined to try again, with more success just four years later