Federal Government of Seyß-Inquart

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Federal Government of Seyß-Inquart

The federal government of Seyß-Inquart (also connection cabinet ) was the last federal government of Austria before the connection to Hitler's Germany and existed only from March 11th to 13th, 1938.

occurrence

In response to the increased number of National Socialist rallies and marches, Kurt Schuschnigg announced a referendum on the independence of Austria on March 9, 1938. The date of execution should already be four days later on Sunday, March 13, 1938. Schuschnigg believed in a decision in favor of an independent Austria. The German State Secretary Wilhelm Keppler saw it that way and reported to Hitler on March 10th . On the evening of the same day, he had Group Command 3 of the Wehrmacht mobilized .

On March 11th, Hitler summoned the Austrian Minister Edmund Glaise-Horstenau , who was in Germany. Hitler saw the announced referendum as a breach of the Berchtesgaden Agreement and threatened military sanctions. Via Odilo Globocnik he had a written ultimatum brought to Schuschnigg in Vienna : Immediate renunciation of the vote, otherwise the Wehrmacht would begin to invade Austria. Hermann Göring confirmed this demand and the threat by telephone. Schuschnigg then decided to cancel the referendum. Interior Minister Arthur Seyß-Inquart informed Göring of this decision. But this concession was no longer enough for him and he demanded the resignation of the Schuschnigg government and the establishment of a National Socialist cabinet under a Federal Chancellor Seyss-Inquart, which should, as the first official act, request the German government to send troops to maintain order.

Thereupon Schuschnigg resigned and announced this decision on the radio at 7:47 pm: "The Federal President instructs me to inform the Austrian people that we are giving way to violence." Then he announced that he had given the order to the armed forces to withdraw in the event of an invasion without resistance "because we are not at any price, even in this serious hour, inclined to shed German blood [...] God protect Austria!" After the speech, National Socialist marches were carried out all over the country, a torchlight procession marched to Ballhausplatz , in state capitals National Socialists stormed the state governments and declared the state governors deposed.

Federal President Wilhelm Miklas tried unsuccessfully for a few hours to convince other politicians to be appointed Federal Chancellor instead of Seyss-Inquart, which Göring called for. In a phone call around 8:00 p.m., Göring was informed of Schuschnigg's resignation. The latter raved about why Seyss-Inquart was not yet Federal Chancellor, and now declared the order to be given for the invasion. When the false report arrived that German troops had already crossed the border, Miklas gave up his resistance. At 11:14 p.m., the Austrian radio announced the appointment of Arthur Seyß-Inquart as the new Austrian Federal Chancellor.

The German military attaché Wolfgang Muff no longer considered an invasion necessary and tried to reach Hitler by telephone. He had to be awakened and announced gruffly that nothing would be changed in his orders, the invasion of the troops would begin in the morning.

On March 12 at 1:30 a.m., State Councilor Hugo Jury announced the government list from the balcony of the Federal Chancellery.

Members

On March 13th, Friedrich Wimmer and Maximilian de Angelis were also appointed State Secretaries in the Federal Chancellery.

Most of the members of the government were already active in the interests of the illegal NSDAP (Hitler movement) , five were members of the German Club : Seyß-Inquart, Fischböck, Hueber, Jury and Menghin.

Act

The new government met on March 12, 1938 in a Council of Ministers and passed a federal law amending and supplementing the currency regime.

On March 13th, Seyss-Inquart submitted a law on the reunification of Austria with the German Reich to the Council of Ministers for approval, which the latter approved. Since, according to the constitution, a law only became valid after it had been signed by the Federal President, it was also submitted to Miklas. However, the latter refused to sign on the grounds that he had taken his oath to the “people for an independent state in German-Austria”. Miklas resigned from his office, as a result of which the functions of the Federal President were transferred to the Federal Chancellor according to the constitution.

Now head of state for a short time, Seyß-Inquart was able to authenticate the law himself, whereby Austria ceased to be an independent state with Federal Chancellor or Federal President.

With the exception of Michael Skubl - he resigned from his position on March 13 - the government continued to operate as the state government of Austria in the Third Reich under the supervision of the Berlin Reich government. It was headed by Seyss-Inquart, who was appointed Reich Governor on March 15. When the Ostmark Law came into force on May 1, 1939, this state government was dissolved.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hugo Portisch : Austria I: The underestimated republic . Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1989, ISBN 978-3-218-00485-5 , p. 534 ff .
  2. ↑ Kurt Schuschnigg's last radio address as Austrian Chancellor on March 11, 1938. Austrian Mediathek , 2017, accessed on October 4, 2017 .
  3. ^ Hugo Portisch : Austria I: The underestimated republic . Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1989, ISBN 978-3-218-00485-5 , p. 540 ff .
  4. ^ Government of Seys-Inquart formed . In: New Free Press . Vienna March 12, 1938, p. 1 ( article online at diepresse.com).
  5. ↑ Peter Broucek : Minister in the corporate state and general in the OKW . In: Brigitte Mazohl (Ed.): A General in the Twilight. The memories of Edmund Glaise von Horstenau . tape 2 . Böhlau, Vienna 1983, ISBN 978-3-205-08743-4 , pp. 95 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  6. ^ Changes in the federal government. In:  Wiener Zeitung , March 14, 1938, p. 2 (online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrz.
  7. ↑ Linda Erker, Andreas Huber, Klaus Taschwer: Austro-Nazis in the Hofburg. In: The Standard . July 22, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2017 .
  8. ^ Otto Helmut Urban : Cabinet Seyß-Inquart: The last Austrian federal government of the 1st Republic. ORF , accessed on October 1, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Federal law on the amendment and addition to the foreign exchange system . In: BGBl . No. 72/1938 . Vienna March 13, 1938 ( online at ALEX ).
  10. ^ Hugo Portisch : Austria I: The underestimated republic . Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1989, ISBN 978-3-218-00485-5 , p. 546 .
  11. ^ Decree of the Führer and Reich Chancellor on the Austrian provincial government . In: BGBl . 1938 I p. 249 . March 15, 1938 ( online at ALEX ).