I get austria means east of germany right? but im still a bit confused I thought the ethnicity was different.
In: Other
Austria means east, but it is south of Germany not east of it. Austria wasn’t a country when Hitler was born. Austria-Hungary was.
Austria-Hungary was a multi ethnic empire dominated German speakers in what is now just Austria.
It was less a German state that Hitler was obsessed with and more the German people.
Germany as a united country only came into existence less than 2 decades before Hitler was born.
Before Germany united into the country it was before WWI, there were a number of different scenarios in play of what a united Germany should look like including ones that included what is now Austria or what was then the German speaking parts of Austria-Hungary.
For many people Germany was not just the states that were part of the German Empire but all places where Germany lived.
People like Hitler wanted a German Ethnostate a greater Germany that was home to all Ethnic Germans.
This would include people like Hitler, but exclude people who were born in and were citizens of the German empire but didn’t fit their idea of what was a real German. It would also exclude all the non German speakers in places were various people lived in the same place next to each other like in Bohemia.
Hitler was always pretty consistent about those views even if they are inconsistent with how we we nationality today.
He fought for the Bavarian military in WWI not the Austro-Hungarian one and after his failed coup-attempt he gave up his Austrian citizenship while imprisoned.
He gained (after many failed attempts) citizenship in Brunswick through some underhand deal with a no show job and thus became an official German citizen shortly before running for office.
Latest Answers