Greater German People's Party

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The Großdeutsche Volkspartei (GDVP or GdP) was a political party in Austria . It emerged on August 8, 1920 in Salzburg from the Greater German Association , a union of German national and German liberal-minded members founded by Franz Dinghofer in 1919 , and existed until the party ban in 1934. It included up to 17 groups. Many of its members were civil servants or high school teachers.

history

In 1919 the Salzburg Citizens' Club (Mayor Max Ott ), the German Freedom People's Union , the German Freedom Association and the Salzburg Business Club merged. The major German party then formed in 1920 as a pan-Austrian successor to the German National Movement and the previously fragmented German-nationalist camp and was large German oriented, d. H. on the membership of German Austria to the German Empire . But it was limited to the bourgeoisie, next to it were the Landbund (rural) and then also DNSAP . In many respects she represented positions of the Pan-Germans and their associations, with a lower proportion of anti-Semitic components.

The party resolutely advocated the unification of Austria with the Germany of the Weimar Republic and knew that the majority of the population in Austria was behind it until the beginning of Nazi rule in the Reich in 1933. The party was thus also a staunch opponent of the provisions of the Peace Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye , which was considered a "dictate". In addition, the GDVP was anti-Semitic and anti-clerical .

The party colors used by the Greater German Party were the federal colors of black, red and gold , which go back to the German revolution of 1848 .

1921-1927 The Great Germans were as a junior partner of the Christian Socialists in the government involved, the first time in 1921 in the government Schober , and presented from 1922 to 1927 under the chancellors Schober, Ignaz Seipel and Rudolf Ramek the Vice Chancellor Felix Frank , Leopold Waber and Franz Dinghofer . For the National Council election in Austria in 1930 , the party stood together with the ideologically similar Landbund für Österreich as the electoral alliance of the National Economic Bloc and the Landbund .

After the loss of government participation, many members left the party and switched to the Heimwehr and the National Socialists . In 1933 the Greater Germans formed a combat community with the Austrian NSDAP , the liberal parts of the program were lost as a result of the political radicalization of the bourgeoisie.

With the “Anschluss” in 1938, many former members of the Greater German People's Party joined the NSDAP .

In 1945, former members of the Greater German Party and the NSDAP merged to form various groups, some of which in turn became part of the Association of Independents , from which the Freedom Party of Austria later emerged.

literature

  • Robert Kriechbaumer : The great stories of politics. Political culture and parties in Austria from the turn of the century to 1945. Böhlau, Vienna 2001. pp. 424–491.

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