Chapter 69 - Klingenbach History, Pt. 8 ... Disaster of World War II

The Spanish philosopher, George Santayana, said that "those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it." That sentiment is certainly true of Austria after World War I. They lost 88% of their territory and 89% of their population but had to endure another catastrophe before they could learn that lesson.

The causes of World War II are myriad and complicated, and I'm not going to go into them except as how they affected Austria, and then only to hit the high points, or as I always told my kids, "give me the outline version."

After World War I the Austrian government asked to be unified with Germany, but the treaties that ended the war expressly forbade that unification - forever. Here is Europe after World War I with Austria at only 12% of her prewar size. Note Klingenbach's location, once again on the border.


During the 1920s Austria suffered from galloping inflation, followed by the Depression that gripped the rest of Europe and North America. But life still went on in Austria and in Burgenland where the citizens of tiny Klingenbach went about their daily work. The population in Burgenland in 1921 when the state was created on the eastern border of Austria was 285,600. Unemployment was so high and the economy so unstable that up to a quarter of Burgenlanders emigrated to North America during the 1920s.

A typical Austrian family during this period


The Austrian National Soccer Team sometime in the 1930s


A depiction of the harvest in rural Austria in the 1930s


People still went on holidays. This is a travel poster for the Styrian area of Austria in the 1930s.


And gentlemen still bought jewelry for their ladies. This black and clear crystal bead necklace is from the 1930s.


The First Republic of Austria struggled politically in the '20s and '30s, swinging violently between left and right. Vienna was largely controlled by communists, and right-wing parties close to the Roman Catholic Church held the rest of the country. Paramilitary forces clashed, and massive protests led to killings. Political conflict escalated until a brief civil war in 1934 resulted in a fascist government along the style of the Italians, accompanied by abolition of basic freedoms.

To make an extremely long and complicated story short, Austrian fascists arranged a plebiscite to vote on unification (Anschluss) with Germany. Distrustful of the results, German troops marched into Austria the day before the planned vote and installed a puppet government that held a rigged plebiscite a month later. That vote approved the annexation with a 99.73% majority. Austria disappeared as an independent nation and was renamed "Ostmark" (Eastern Mark). Britain, France and other European countries did nothing although I suspect they "deplored" the situation (don't you just love 'diplospeak').

This is a map of the new Third Reich after the Anschluss on March 12, 1938.


In case you were wondering if Austrians disapproved of the Anschluss, think again. They overwhelmingly approved.

Austrians welcoming German troops as they cross the border


Austrians welcoming German troops into Vienna


This is a celebration of the Anschluss in Heldenplatz (Square of Heroes) on March 15.


Hitler gave a speech in the Heldenplatz on that day.


Austrian women celebrating the Anschluss


Austrian children celebrating the Anschluss


This is a painting by Austrian artist Rudolf Hermann Eisenmemger, entitled "Austria Comes Home."


New official stamp. It means "Greater German Reich."


Members of the civil service and police forces in Burgenland had expressed the desire to join Germany since the mid 1920s, and Nazi Party strength was very strong in the state. Burgenland was the first Austrian state to go over to Nazi rule, even before the Anschluss and the first to expel Jews. Systematic looting, persecution and forced emigration began first in Burgenland which had a population of 3,632 Jews. There were seven Jewish communities in the north half of Burgenland including Eisenstadt and five in the south. Forced emigration of all Burgenland Jews - primarily to Vienna - was completed by the end of summer, 1938.

The Jewish population of Vienna was 176,000 in 1938 with another 17,000 living elsewhere in Austria. Many emigrated or were transported to the east by the Nazis. Only 700 survived the Holocaust. (Today's Jewish population of Vienna is about 8,000 due primarily to the immigration of Hungarian Jews in 1956 and Jews from Russia and other former Soviet republics in the '70s and '80s.) There is more on Jewish history in Austria on blog # 46 (Wiener Neustadt).

Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) was a pogrom ordered by Hitler. It took place on the night of November 9-10, 1938 all over the Reich. Synagogues were burned, Jewish businesses vandalized and ransacked, thousands of Jews were beaten, arrested and deported. It was particularly brutal in Austria.

Jews in Vienna being forced to wash the street


Most synagogues were razed to the ground. Here is Seitenstettengasse Synagogue, a lucky one. Because of an edict by Emperor Joseph II, this synagogue built in 1825 fitted into a block of houses so it would be hidden from plain view. The Nazis couldn't burn it because it would destroy nearby buildings. They ransacked and vandalized it instead. The damage was repaired in 1949.


The German government oppressed other ethnic minorities besides Jews. In Burgenland minority schools were closed, and speaking Croatian or Hungarian was discouraged. Sinti and Roma (two groups of Gypsies) were exterminated by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Between 220,000 and 500,000 Sinti and Roma died. In Burgenland many were held at a concentration camp in Lackenbach.

War loomed, but women are always interested in fashion. This is what they were wearing in Europe in 1939-40.


Popular shoe in Europe in 1939-40. Continuing proof that there have never been comfortable shoes for women before the modern tennis shoe.


War began on September 1, 1939 when the Nazi Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe invaded Poland. For three years things went very well for Germany and its Axis allies. This map shows Europe in 1941 before the Reich's invasion of the Soviet Union. Note Klingenbach on the border between the Axis and its Axis allies, probably not a comfortable place to be.


Austrian soldiers preparing to leave for the front


A Flakturm in Vienna. There were three pairs of these flack towers.


When you sow the wind, you eventually reap the whirlwind, and it certainly raged through Austria. The Flakturms didn't prevent Allied bombing of targets; Vienna was bombed 52 times during the war, and 20% of the city was destroyed. Only 41 civilian vehicles survived, and 270,000 residents were left homeless. Nearby Wiener Neustadt, home to many military factories, was also heavily bombed (for more info on that, see blog #45).

A bombed palace in Vienna in 1944


A Viennese family


Women clearing bomb debris


The Austrian concentration camp, Mauthausen, a stain on the national conscience of Austria.


Victims at Mauthausen


Waiting for relatives to return at the end of the war


Austrian refugees


So World War II, the most destructive war in the history of man, was over after some fifty million people died. Austria lost 380,000 soldiers and 145,000 civilians, a considerable number for such a small country. To show how devastating the losses were, Austria lost close to the same number of soldiers as the United States, a country with 20 times the population. Austria was on the losing side for the second time in the 20th century, but the Allies didn't reduce the little country again; she was already so tiny. But Austria was divvied up into four parts and occupied for ten years.

Occupied Europe after the war. The pale yellow is British occupied, the gray by the Soviet Union, the green by the U.S., and the orange by the French.


Occupied Austria. The purple is French occupied, the yellow by the U.S., the pink by the British, and the green by the Soviet Union. This is where unfortunate Klingenbach lay.


In most of Austria the Allied occupation was strict but not cruel. That can't be said of the area in Austria the Soviet Union occupied, which included Burgenland and Klingenbach. Enraged by the severe losses they'd suffered during the war (20 million soldiers and civilians), they were especially cruel to citizens of the former Third Reich, and that included the residents of Burgenland. The Cold War will be the next chapter in the long and twisting history of Klingenbach.

Chapter 68 - Klingenbach History, Pt. 7 ... Catastrophe of World War I

So Austria-Hungary slumbered in the early 20th century, certain that things would never change. People always think that in the quiet times, never suspecting that disaster can lurk around the corner.

Europe before World War I. Note how Austria-Hungary dominated Central Europe.


Austria-Hungary was huge at 261,243 square miles in area with a diverse population of 52,800,000. Vienna, at 2.1 million strong, was one of the biggest cities in the world and at a peak of intellectual and cultural life.

Life was good. There hadn't been a war since the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, no epidemics of plague for 200 years, people lived longer, more children survived childhood. The inventions of the Industrial Revolution changed daily life. Technology and innovation flourished, from automobiles, ships and planes to chemicals and manufacturing. Things would just continue to improve into a roseate future.

This is what women were wearing in 1910.


Here is a depiction of a car in early 1900s Austria.


This is a 1910 Austro-Daimler.


Shipbuilding thrived on Austria-Hungary's long seacoast in its Croatian province. This is the Battleship Habsburg, built in 1899, which fought in World War I and was scrapped by the British in 1921.


So what happened to destroy this idyllic existence? No one really wants a war, but people get caught up in patriotism and excitement. They can't see past their current fervor - they especially can't see into a future of defeat, death and destruction.

It began with Crown Prince Rudolph's death in 1889 (whether by death or suicide is still in question [see blog # 63]). Since he was the only son of Franz Joseph and Elisabeth (Sisi), the new heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary was Franz Joseph's nephew, Franz Ferdinand. This is him with his wife, Sophie.

Franz Ferdinand was a stubborn customer and refused to take precautions for his safety even though he was repeatedly warned. In the summer of 1914 he and Sophie, were on a junket in Sarajevo, Bosnia when they were assassinated by a tubercular and insane Serbian anarchist.

Well, of course the government of Austria-Hungary went nuts. Without considering all - or any of - the ramifications they issued demands on Serbia that no self-respecting nation could accept. Emperor Franz Joseph was the first to declare war. As Serbia's historic ally, Russia jumped in to declare war on Austria-Hungary, followed by Germany declaring war on Russia. England and France, allied with Russia in the Triple Entente, followed the domino effect and declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. Some minor ones joined each side. Everyone behaved like idiots and plunged Europe into "the war to end all wars" - I'd love to know what idiot deemed the war that!

Allies and enemies in World War I

Note that the Central Powers Alliance (in red on this map) consisted of Austria-Hungary, Germany (dotted border line between them), the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Bulgaria. Interesting that Austria should be allied with the Ottoman Turks after fighting them for so many centuries. The Allied Powers (in dark blue on the map) consisted of the Britain, France, Russia, Italy and later the U.S. Neutral countries are in green. Klingenbach is the yellow dot right in the middle of Austria-Hungary.

At the beginning war is patriotic and flashy. Everyone cheers and predicts the war will end by Christmas.

This is the way Austrian soldiers looked when the war began.


These are bayonets for Austrian soldiers' guns.


This is a typical Austrian dugout, from the World War I Museum in Gorizia, Italy (on the Slovenia border). What caught my eye were the gas mask and the picture of Emperor Franz Joseph.


These are Austrian Uhlans (cavalry regiments) riding to battle in 1915. It's odd to see cavalry in a war that introduced airplanes and tanks to the battlefield, but horses were still frequently used.


These are Austrian soldiers in one of the common trenches.


This is what war descends to - the chaos of the battlefield.


Both sides bogged down in trench warfare. In four years millions died while the front hardly changed. The logjam was finally broken by the entry into the war of America whose fresh troops turned the tide. The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 (which killed 25 to 50 million people worldwide) may have played a part, too, since it attacked the Central Powers before the Allies and caused widespread illness and deaths in the armies.

The Allies had 22 million casualties, including 5 million dead; the Central Powers had 37 million casualties, including 8.5 million dead. In particular, Austria-Hungary mobilized 7,800,000 men, of whom 1,200,000 died, 3,620,000 were wounded, 2,200,000 were missing or POWs, and 32,000 died of disease.

After wars, people want to remember the fallen and honor the brave. This is the Commemorative War Medal issued by Austria.


On November 11, 1918 the guns fell silent. The war was over, and Austria-Hungary was on the losing side. Now she had to face the rage and bitterness of the victors who were very angry at Austria-Hungary for starting the war.

So how to get revenge? Britain and France were beyond ticked off; they had both lost the cream of a generation, and the aristocracy was basically destroyed in Britain. The two countries redrew the map of Europe and severely punished Austria-Hungary. The country was reduced to 12% of its former size and 11% of its population. Unlike Germany, the new tiny Austria didn't have to pay war reparations because the Allies determined Austria would have no way to pay them, certainly a reflection of how little the country retained. (On a side note, Britain and France also redrew the map of the Middle East, creating the modern borders of countries like Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Their efforts there have certainly led to some "interesting" results that still afflict us today.)

Europe after World War I. Austria is the tiny dark blue country in the middle of Europe. Klngenbach - the red dot - is back in its customary position on the border.


After the war there was an event that directly affected the future of Klingenbach. The German inhabitants of far-western Hungary wanted to join Austria. Ethnic Germans made up 74% of the population, Croats 15% and Hungarian only 9%. Hungary protested, but the Allies set a date for Burgenland's official unification with Austria in 1921. A vote had to be held with the result that all of the area voted to go with Austria except the Hungarian town and area of Sopron (German - Odenburg) which was supposed to be the capital of Burgenland. The small town of Eisenstadt was chosen to be the new capital of Burgenland ("land of castles"). Klingenbach has been officially Hungarian more than Austrian in its history, but it was now once again part of Austria.

So life continued for the citizens of Austria. During the 1920s however, with terrible inflation and economic disaster, many citizens of Burgenland emigrated to America or Canada. In some places up to 25% left.

This was fashion in 1918. That may have been the style in Vienna, but I suspect farmers in Klingenbach didn't dress that way.



These are typical Burgenland men in Croatian dress.

Riding to the vineyards in Burgenland in the '20s. Some things don't change - this reminds me of when I rode to the vineyards with the Biricz family.


Among famous people who came from Austria during this period was the Viennese actress Gretl Berndt.


Probably the most famous woman to come from Austria was Viennese-born actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000).


Here are the kind of fashions Hedy Lamarr or the women of Vienna might have worn.




This is a painting of a typical Burgenland peasant of the period.


And here is what Klingenbach women commonly wore at that time.

The caption on this picture said it was women of Burgenland but doesn't name a specific village. It looks like it could be Klingenbach.

So once again the people of Klingenbach went about their daily lives as inhabitants of small towns and villages always do. Perhaps they were aware of great things happening in Europe, especially in the country to their north, but I suspect they thought that it wouldn't really influence their lives. Maybe they thought that the calamity of World War I was the worst that could happen. You always see that in people's recollections; they always say they didn't think it would affect them and are surprised when the cataclysm engulfs them.