Front Fighter Association of German-Austria

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Frontkampfervereinigung Deutsch-Österreichs was a military association of the political right in the Austrian First Republic , founded in April 1920 .

History of origin and recruitment of members

The members of the Front Fighter Association of German-Austria were mainly recruited from former soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Army and thus participants in the First World War . The military association was led first by Hermann Hiltl , then by Oskar Zeiss and finally by Walter Kopschitz.

The uniform consisted of a brown and yellow windbreaker, breeches, heels, and a black felt-covered headgear made from a collapsible steel frame. The insignia was a hand on the pommel with a laurel branch and laurel border. In the early years, the newspaper Die Neue Front (subtitle: Deutsch-antisemitische Zeitung ) served as the organ of the association, and from 1926 the magazine Der Frontkampfer .

Characteristic of this organization was a high proportion of officers, even among the lower ranks . Their goal was the "fight on an Aryan basis against elements that were destroying the people, such as social democrats and communists", the cultivation of "comradeship at the front" and "military strength", the "repression of Jewish influence" and the "unification of the entire German people."

The frontline fighters ' association gained notoriety primarily through the tragic events in Schattendorf in Burgenland on January 30, 1927. Frontline fighters there shot two people during a march by the Republican Protection League . In July 1927, protests against the acquittal of the gunmen in the so-called Schattendorf judgment led to the events surrounding the Vienna Palace of Justice fire .

In a confidential report by the Ministry of Defense on the domestic political situation of December 12, 1933, which divided the military units that existed in Austria into “ pro-government ” and “ anti-government ” states the following about the Front Fighter Association :

" The oldest, well-fortified organization, built on a purely idealistic Austrian basis, with purposeful leadership, which, however, has currently also come into conflict with homeland security . She fights hard to survive. Qualitatively, if not numerically, it must be regarded as the most valuable part of the pro-government forces. [...] Estimated current status 2-3000 members. "

In fact, in the years after 1929/30 quite a few front- line fighters had joined the organizations of the up-and-coming Austrian National Socialists, and conversely the association was infiltrated by National Socialists. Not least for these reasons, the Front Fighter Association was officially dissolved on June 21, 1935.

Prominent Members

literature

  • Gerhard Botz : Violence in politics. Attacks, collisions, attempted putsch, unrest in Austria from 1918 to 1938. 2nd edition, Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-7705-1295-2 .
  • Earl C. Edmondson: Home Guards and Other Defense Organizations. In: Herbert Dachs, Ernst Hanisch , Anton Staudinger and Emmerich Tálos (eds.): Handbook of the Austrian political system. First Republic 1918–1933 , Manz Verlag, Vienna 1995, pp. 261–276, ISBN 3-214-05963-7 .
  • Walter Wiltschegg: The Home Guard. An irresistible popular movement? (= Studies and sources on Austrian contemporary history, vol. 7), publishing house for history and politics, Vienna 1985, ISBN 3-7028-0221-5 .

Remarks

  1. ↑ Quoted from Botz (1983), p. 442.

web links