Free Hitler and the Forgotten Nazis by Bruce F. Pauley Page B

Party, lined up with Hitler at the Salzburg convention, he would one day discover what Riehl had already learned, and what the future Austrian chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, would discover years later: that Hitler was opposed not to this or that Austrian policy, but to the very principle of independence for his former homeland.
    Perhaps overreacting, or more likely hoping to reverse the vote, as Hitler had done in similar circumstances in 1921, Riehl resigned his chairmanship of both the Austrian NSDAP and the Interstate Bureau (where he was succeeded by Rudolf Jung) for reasons of “health.” 9 The motives for Riehl’s actions became clearer during the fall of 1923. In a letter to a journalist in Salzburg, a copy of which was sent to Hitler, Riehl claimed that the executive committee that voted against him had been composed of “the most radical of the radicals.” The new Austrian Nazi leaders were “young fanatics.” He had resigned his offices because he did not want his name associated with the coming (Munich) Putsch, which he felt could only end in disaster. It was impossible to see how the Bavarian Nazis could profit from the weakening of the anti-Marxist forces in Austria. 10
    After his resignations Riehl received some very welcome support from Rudolf Jung. In an open letter to the Austrian leadership, which was distributed by Riehl, Jung harshly criticized an article appearing in the 25 August issue of the Deutsche Arbeiter-Presse. The article, written by Josef Muller, one of the editors of the DAP, was entitled “Kampf, nicht Wahl.” Jung claimed the article could only be interpreted as a call for a Putsch. He warned that any “intoxicated enthusiasm [ Begeisterungsrausch ] could only lead to the destruction of the party. . . . Our time has not yet come.” 11
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    From Disaster to Resurgence: Hitler’s Drive for Power, 1925-1926
    Soon after Riehl’s resignation the Austrian Nazi party was shaken by repercussions from the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. Although many Austrians took part in the uprising, the party as a whole was not involved. Only three days after the fiasco, however, Karl Schulz organized a rally in Vienna to proclaim the Austrian party’s unswerving loyalty to Hitler. 12 For months during the winter of 1923-24, the Austrian Nazis, who were anything but affluent themselves, also smuggled money as well as their party newspapers into Germany to aid the now outlawed German NSDAP. Numerous German exiles, including Hermann Goring, were given refuge by the Austrian party. 13 If the Austrians expected Hitler’s gratitude for this assistance, however, they were soon to be disappointed. 14
    Nineteen twenty-four and the first part of 1925 witnessed a modest renaissance in the party’s fortunes. In district elections held in Styria in May of
    1924 the Nazis won an impressive (for them) twelve thousand votes and sixty municipal representatives. 15 The outcome was one of the first indications that Styria was to be a fascist stronghold. Otherwise, there was little the Nazis could honestly cheer about in 1924. When they attempted to hold a “German pay” in Salzburg in August, the Austrian government refused permission. The presence of eighteen thousand German gymnasts and members of paramilitary formations, it feared, would provoke unfavorable foreign reaction. 16 For similar reasons Vienna rejected an attempt by the Bavarian government to deport Hitler to his native country after his release from prison in December. 17
    The year 1925 was for a time somewhat more encouraging, because the Austrian Nazis were able to attract attention through their stormy protests and organized riots during an international Zionist congress held in Vienna in midsummer. One of the protest rallies drew an estimated ten thousand participants, of whom the Nazis were the largest single element. The impact of the Nazis’ demonstrations, however, was undoubtedly blunted by the inclusion of countless other anti-Semitic groups