The House of Hapsburg in World War II
By: Mad Monarchist
The First World War saw the venerable Hapsburg dynasty deposed and
exiled, their empire, Austria-Hungary, broken up. The Second World War
saw the end of the last realistic hope for a Hapsburg restoration to
date. When it comes to monarchies, history has tended to take an “out of
sight, out of mind” attitude; if they do not have a throne, they are
not worth remembering. However, the Hapsburgs came closer than almost
anyone realizes to being restored to the Austrian throne just prior to
World War II. It is also technically true that they retained, in name
though not in fact, the throne of the Kingdom of Hungary until late in
the war. Unlike the other Central Powers of the First World War,
Austria-Hungary had ceased to exist entirely, yet, there were many
factors in the inter-war period that encouraged hopes of a restoration
in both Austria and Hungary. What had replaced the old “Dual Monarchy”
did not seem to be working out so well. Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia
were not nation-states but multi-cultural contrivances that faced
serious ethnic tensions and other powers, such as Hungary and Austria
found themselves isolated and wishing to be relevant again.
Altogether, the absence of Austria-Hungary helped pave the way to power
for Adolf Hitler, a man who despised everything about the “Dual
Monarchy”. There was the monarchy, the aristocracy, the multi-cultural
nature of it as well as what he viewed as the pandering to the Jewish
and Slavic populations by the Hapsburgs. There was nothing about it he
liked and the international tensions created by the new borders drawn
after World War I all worked together to create a situation the Nazis
were only too willing to exploit. Yet, the former Hapsburg lands also
posed the greatest threat to the Nazi movement ever gaining the
domination in Europe they longed for even after coming to power in
Germany. Czechoslovakia stood in the way and had an industrial center
that Nazi Germany very much needed. To unite all Germans into a single
nation-state also meant that the first “prize” on the Nazi wish-list was
Austria and yet Austria was also their first obstacle as Italy
supported Austrian independence as a buffer state between Italy and
Germany and this also barred the way to the Italo-German alliance which
Hitler considered paramount to his plans. A Hapsburg restoration, even
if only over Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, would have created a
power bloc that would have been a major obstacle to Nazi plans for
German expansion considering how militarily weak Germany was at the
time, even right up to the outbreak of war.
Of the countries involved, probably none presented a greater cause for
monarchist frustration than the Kingdom of Hungary. The full restoration
of the monarchy there was tantalizingly close on several occasions and
the fact that it ultimately failed can be attributed to two sources: the
paranoia of the Allies (primarily France, though only God in His wisdom
knows why) and the ambition of Admiral Miklos Horthy. At the end of the
First World War, power in Hungary had fallen to the Hapsburg Archduke
Joseph August of Austria, who was quite popular in Hungary and was given
the place of regent. He put down one attempted revolution, survived
another (communist) revolution and was restored to power again as
Hungarian regent. However, in their blind and short-sighted opposition
to a Hapsburg holding power in any part of the former Austria-Hungary,
the Allies forced Archduke Joseph to step down in 1919. He then became a
member of the House of Lords where he remained a respected figure until
the German occupation in 1944 forced him to flee to the United States.
Nonetheless, in 1920 the Hungarian government voted to restore the
monarchy though they lacked a monarch and so Admiral Miklos Horthy was
appointed regent. He was of service in preventing a communist takeover
of the country, reestablishing stability and a general sense of normalcy
but he proved to be ultimately treasonous by not handing power back to
the last King of Hungary, Emperor Charles I (Kaiser Karl), when he tried
to reclaim his throne twice in 1921 only to be forced out of the
country on each occasion. Horthy protested that the time was not right,
the Allies opposed it and though some of his arguments might have had
merit, as regent it was not his decision to make. As regent, he was only
to hold power until the King returned and as soon as Emperor Charles
set foot on Hungarian soil, Horthy should have deferred to his
legitimate monarch. According to some accounts, the idea that Britain
and France would have taken action against any Hapsburg restoration in
Hungary seems likely to have been exaggerated. If power had been handed
over and the restored monarchy solidified, it seems rather unlikely that
Britain and France would have risked a conflagration to keep the
Hapsburgs from their Hungarian inheritance.
So, Hungary would go on through most of World War II as a nominal
kingdom; a monarchy without a monarch. Without the monarchy, Hungary
drifted ever closer to Nazi Germany, first by increased economic ties,
later by taking part in the division of territory in Czechoslovakia and
finally militarily by joining the Axis and participating in the invasion
of the Soviet Union. Hungary regained some of the territory lost to
Romania thanks to Hitler, regained more in the Axis invasion of
Yugoslavia and took a slice for itself when Czechoslovakia was
dismembered. Slovakia had been part of the Kingdom of Hungary prior to
World War I and the Slovaks were persuaded to become a German
protectorate when Hitler threatened to allow Hungary to swallow them
whole if they tried to make any trouble about it. The Hungarians went on
as less-than-enthusiastic members of the Axis but the Hungarian
military was decimated at the Battle of Stalingrad and as the Soviet Red
Army drew closer, Horthy began trying to get Hungary out of the Axis
and surrender. When Hitler learned of this, not surprisingly, German
forces occupied Hungary in 1944, Horthy was arrested and the Hungarian
pro-Nazi “Arrow Cross” party took power as the willing instruments of
the German occupation.
All of these events were watched very closely by the man who should have
been King of Hungary, Archduke Otto of Austria. He succeeded as head of
the House of Hapsburg on the death of his father Emperor Charles in
1922. It was at that time that he became the nominal King of Hungary but
when he reached legal adulthood and was expected to actually take up
the Hungarian throne, Admiral Horthy advised him not to try it. The
Archduke knew well enough from the experience of his father that it
would be useless to try so long as Horthy opposed him, given the current
situation. With Horthy being replaced by the Nazis and they in quick
succession by the communists, the opportunity to take up the Hungarian
throne would never materialize for Archduke Otto. However, he did have
reason to be hopeful about a restoration in Austria and if the Austrian
situation had worked out, there is reason to believe that the situation
in Hungary, and perhaps beyond, would have altered considerably and in
favor of the Hapsburgs.
Very few people realize just how close Archduke Otto came to being
restored to the Austrian throne. By his own accounts, it was a done
deal, it was going to happen, the long-sought after goal of seeing the
House of Hapsburg in Vienna again was no longer a question of “if” nor
even of “when”. It was all planned out. The root cause for why it did
not ultimately happen came from the last place anyone would have
expected: Ethiopia. First, however, a little background information is
probably in order. After the First World War, Austria was left as a
small “rump state”, powerless and isolated in Europe. It is not
surprising that Austrians initially favored a union with Germany but the
Allies refused to permit this, fearing that it would strengthen the
Germans. Austria went through turmoil, civil strife, the all too common
threat of a communist takeover before order was finally restored by a
short, fervent man named Engelbert Dollfuss, leader of the Fatherland
Front. First coming to office as chancellor in 1932, Dollfuss solidified
his hold on Austria after defeating the socialists in 1934 but would
not survive the end of the year. He had courted the monarchists but
never took them home from the dance.
Banning opposition parties, Dollfuss established a Catholic, corporatist
state which has since been termed “Austrofascism”. He did manage to
restore a proper patriotic pride to Austria, ended the threat of a
leftist revolution and had very close and friendly ties with Benito
Mussolini in Rome. He kept monarchists dangling on promises but did see
eye-to-eye with Archduke Otto in their mutual loathing of the Nazis.
Most importantly, this attitude was shared by Il Duce in Italy. Given
the subsequent formation of the Axis, the “Pact of Steel” and so on, it
can easily be forgotten that while Hitler hero-worshipped Mussolini
since the Blackshirts march on Rome, that sentiment was not returned.
Mussolini initially disliked Hitler and even after Hitler came to power
and the two met face to face, Mussolini found something unsavory about
him. This was important as the Nazis wanted Austria more than anything,
it being the largest part of the German population outside Germany
itself, and Italy was the one major obstacle to the Nazis being able to
take Austria by force. In 1934, when Dollfuss was assassinated by the
Nazis in an attempted coup, Mussolini was outraged and rushed Italian
troops to the border, forcing Hitler to back down and denounce the
Austrian Nazis who had done the deed.
At the time, Germany was still militarily weak but Mussolini was rather
put off by the fact that, in that hour of crisis in 1934, he had been
forced to act alone; neither Britain nor France had backed him up. In
Austria itself, Kurt von Schuschnigg succeeded Dollfuss as chancellor
and he knew that something more would have to be done to preserve
Austrian independence and keep the country out of Hitler’s grasp.
Restoring the monarchy was something Schuschnigg determined he could do.
As Hitler and the Nazis in Germany grew in power and prestige there
were not a few Austrians who longed to be part of the “Greater Germany”
Hitler pledged to build. It was necessary then to give Austrians a
greater sense of themselves as a distinct people, to recall the glory
days of the past and there could be no better way to accomplish this
than by restoring the Hapsburgs. There would be those in the European
community who would oppose it but ultimately only two men mattered;
Archduke Otto himself and the guarantor of Austrian independence Benito
Mussolini.
Needless to say, Archduke Otto was more than willing to take the throne.
Horrified by the thought of a Nazi takeover in Vienna and Austria
becoming a state in Germany, the imperial heir offered to return at any
time if he could be of help in saving the situation. The laws banning
the Hapsburgs from Austrian soil were repealed and properties of the
Hapsburgs were restored to them. The monarchists were jubilant, the
Nazis were outraged and Schuschnigg finally put the issue to Mussolini.
Would Italy support or oppose a restoration of the Hapsburg monarchy in
Austria? By this time, Mussolini had come close to falling out with the
Allies but still had no love for Hitler nor did he want to see the
Germans on his border by annexing Austria. Surprisingly, given his
background, Mussolini informed Schuschnigg that he would not oppose a
restoration of the monarchy. He even went a step further and suggested
that Italo-Austrian ties could be cemented by a Hapsburg marriage to a
member of the Italian House of Savoy (something for which there was
plenty of historical precedent). Schuschnigg arranged a secret meeting
with Archduke Otto to inform him that the path had been cleared for the
restoration of the monarchy. It was all agreed to and Schuschnigg stated
that everything should be set for the restoration to happen the
following year.
Unfortunately, problems arose that prevented the speedy restoration that
Schuschnigg and Archduke Otto planned. After an Ethiopian attack on an
Italian outpost along the disputed border between Ethiopia and Eritrea,
Mussolini launched his invasion of Ethiopia. Liberal world opinion came
down hard on Italy with Britain and France denouncing Italy in the
League of Nations. Sanctions were imposed on Italy that succeeded in
infuriating the public but not in deterring the Duce from his war.
Germany, of course, did not join in the sanctions against Italy but
continued to offer an outstretched hand of friendship. Ethiopia was
conquered by Italian forces within seven months and Mussolini was turned
against the Allies firmly and irretrievably. Since the Allies had
offended him, the Duce turned to Hitler. From that point on, Austria
could no longer count on Italian protection from a Nazi takeover and
Hitler immediately began planning for the annexation of Austria and to
do it before Archduke Otto could be restored to the throne. Fittingly
enough, the Nazi plan for the invasion of Austria was given the codename
of “Operation Otto”.
Today, few people realize how close Austria came to restoring the
monarchy, were it not for the British and French sanctions on Italy over
Ethiopia, it almost certainly would have happened. More than that
though, few people realize just how seriously the Nazis took the
possibility. They were positively panicked by the idea and their fears
were not entirely unjustified. Stories circulated in Nazi Germany that
Archduke Otto would be restored to the Austrian throne but also that
Hungary and Czechoslovakia were planning to join together under the
House of Hapsburg and attack Nazi Germany. Of course, the idea that
Archduke Otto or any government he presided over would have launched an
unprovoked attack on Germany is absurd, yet there was some elements of
truth to the stories. Schuschnigg had worked to forge better relations
with Hungary and Archduke Otto was already nominally the King of Hungary
anyway, so it is not that far-fetched to foresee a restoration in
Austria leading to a full restoration in Hungary as well. The idea of
Czechoslovakia rejoining Austria and Hungary also seems far-fetched but
considering that they were under threat from Nazi Germany themselves, if
Italy, Austria and Hungary had become an all-monarchy, anti-Nazi power
bloc, it is not impossible to imagine the Czech government joining in as
a matter of practical necessity.
But, as we know, it didn’t happen. Schuschnigg called for a referendum
on Austrian independence and Hitler determined to take action before it
could be carried out. The only one who could have stopped him was
Mussolini and he was no longer prepared to stand in the way. When this
news reached Hitler, the Nazi dictator was ecstatic, knowing that
Austria was as good as his. To sweeten the deal, Hitler also renounced
forever any claim to the Southern Tyrol (a German populated area ceded
to Italy after World War I). Prince Philip of Hesse telephoned the
Fuhrer from Rome to inform him that Mussolini would keep his troops at
home this time. Hitler excitedly shouted into the phone, “Please tell
Mussolini that I shall never forget this…Never, never, never! Come what
may! …And listen -sign any agreement he would like…You can tell him
again. I thank him most heartily. I will never forget him!…Whenever he
should be in need or in danger, he can be sure that I will stick with
him, rain or shine -come what may- even if the whole world would rise
against him -I will, I shall-” No child on Christmas morning was ever so
excited and, though it was said in an obviously exuberant moment,
Hitler would be as good as his word, at least as far as Mussolini was
concerned. On March 12, 1938 German army units drove into Austria and in
quick order the annexation was accomplished.
Austrian aristocrats and monarchists were immediately arrested by the
Nazis, many of them being killed, along with any others who had opposed
the union. The laws against the Hapsburgs in Austria were put back into
effect, their property was again confiscated and Archduke Otto himself
was declared a criminal, a wanted man and he had to take extra
precautions for his own security. He moved to France and helped a great
many Jews escape from Austria prior to the outbreak of World War II. He
also remained adamant that the Austrians were not partners with Germany,
but their first victims. Without the unity that the Hapsburg monarchy
had provided, Hitler had a relatively easy time taking the German
populated areas of the former Austria-Hungary for himself. First was the
Sudetenland and then all of Czechoslovakia was partitioned with Poland
and Hungary joining in the feast. Anyone who would dismiss the impact on
the world of the loss of the “Dual Monarchy” should consider the fact
that all of Hitler’s pre-war territorial gains were a nibbling away at
the former lands of Austria-Hungary. It also warrants pointing out that
the Allies took no action against Germany in these days and that should
serve as an illustration of how unwarranted the fears were of Allied
opposition to the restoration of the Hapsburgs. It would all seem to
indicate that, despite the protestations of those who did not want to
give up power, that the French and British would not have taken any
action to oppose a return of the Hapsburgs if a country like Hungary had
just gone ahead and done it. Ultimately, the only one who made a
commitment to restore the Hapsburgs regardless of Allied opinion was
Schuschnigg and he was abandoned.
When World War II broke out in Europe and the Germans finally got around
to launching their invasion of France, Archduke Otto was again forced
to flee, this time to the United States of America via Portugal. With
the Nazi laws enacted against them, the Austrian Imperial Family in
America were people without a country but Archduke Otto never relented
in his anti-Nazi campaign. He settled in Washington DC but traveled
across America extensively. He met with President Roosevelt several
times and urged him and the American people (which at the time wanted no
part of Europe’s war) to intervene and take up the cause of defeating
the Axis. He also raised money for refugees from the former
Austria-Hungary and charitable causes to benefit them as well as doing
his best to make it clear to all that his people were not the enemies of
America but victims of the Nazis just as much as the Czechs or the
Poles. At the end of 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and Hitler
and Mussolini declared war on the United States in solidarity with their
Japanese ally, America committed itself to the world war. Always a man
of peace who greatly emphasized the role played by his father in trying
to negotiate a peaceful end to the First World War, Archduke Otto
nonetheless volunteered to fight for the Allied cause. While in America
he tried to raise funds and gain support for an army battalion of
Austrian exiles but was unable to bring it to fruition.
When the war progressed in favor of the Allies, ending ultimately in the
total destruction of Germany and its division among the Allies,
Archduke Otto was on the scene and was briefly able to visit his
Austrian homeland in 1945. His immediate concern was lobbying Allied
leaders to keep Austria out of the hands of the Soviets. He put forward
his own proposal for post-war Central Europe, calling for the creation
of a “Danube Federation” that would encompass much of the former
territory of the Empire of Austria-Hungary. British Prime Minister
Churchill seemed supportive of the idea but, not surprisingly, it was
thwarted by the opposition of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. As nearly
all of the territory of the proposed federation was within the agreed-to
Soviet sphere of influence, Stalin was able to veto the plan. Although
it was not stated outright that the “Danube Federation” would be another
Hapsburg empire, for the Archduke was certainly not an ambitious man,
it stood to reason that he would have been the only logical candidate to
assume a position of leadership in such a state. As it was, he busied
himself with arguing for the rights of the German-speaking peoples
outside of Germany, trying to gain recognition of Austria as a victim of
Nazi aggression rather than an accessory and to form an Austrian
government-in-exile. The last goal proved unreachable and he also railed
against the handing over of Eastern Europe to Stalin and the Soviets
which was the primary impediment to most of his plans. Unfortunately,
that concerned agreements already made and involved territory that the
Red Army already occupied so that, even if the British and Americans had
regrets, there was little to nothing they could do about it.
With the situation as it was at the end of the war, hopes for a Hapsburg
restoration vanished quickly. However, it is still a mark of how much
the power-mad politicians who seized control of Austria in the aftermath
of the war were about the possibility of Archduke Otto gaining the
throne that, while Austria was purged of all the laws and policies
enacted during the union with Nazi Germany, the post-war republican
government retained those that were anti-Hapsburg. The Archduke remained
banned from Austrian soil for decades until he was obliged to renounce
his claim to the throne simply to have the basic freedom enjoyed by any
other citizen. It was an obscene injustice for a man who had opposed the
Nazi movement from the very beginning, a man who had been singled out
by the Nazi regime as an “enemy of the state” and who had devoted his
entire life during the war to resisting the Nazis and rescuing Austria
and the other Hapsburg realms from their grip.
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