- Headline
-
Nazi Coup Puts Strain On Rome-Berlin Axis
- Publication Date
- Saturday, March 12, 1938
- Historical Event
-
Germany Annexes Austria
This database includes 5,687 articles about this event - Article Type
- Location
- Page Section and Number
- 1
- Author/Byline
- AP
- Article Text
- ROME, March 11. (AP)—The turbulent situation in Austria put the Rome-Berlin axis under heavy strain tonight a Italy's fascist grand council reconvened.
An official announcement acknowledged that Rome was in contact with Berlin, keeping close watch on the rapidly changing picture.
The ministry of popular culture, however, declared the contact merely was normal diplomatic intercourse. Its spokesman said Italy was exercising "every diplomatic reserve."
The The[sic] arrival of German troops in Austria towered over other matters on the council's agenda.
Foreign circles saw Italy on the horns of a dilemma and in a precarious diplomatic position because of the Austrian situation.
Until ties between Italian and German foreign policy grew close, the preservation of Austria's now-imperilled independence had been a major point of Italian diplomacy.
But since the development of the Rome-Berlin axis, diplomatic sources pointed out, any appearance of Italian intervention on behalf of Austria would antagonize Hitler and Premier Benito Mussolini would be forced to abandon either Austria or Germany.
Italy, not having concluded her peace-making negotiations with Great Britain and having few other European ties, therefore would face the peril of isolation should the axis break now, these quarters said.
Italian protection of Austria in 1934 impelled her to rush troops to the Brenner pass as a warning against any Nazi coup after the assassination of Austria's chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss.
The culture ministry spokesman said his office would make no statement of possible Italian troop movements. Reports from Bolzano, near the Italo-Austrian border, however, said no unusual movements were observed.
Although tension here increased noticeably as rumors and news poured in from Vienna. Berlin and the rest of Europe, the foreign press spokesman refused to enlarge on this brief, oral statement:
"In face of contradictory reports of a grave and delicate nature, Italy is exercising every diplomatic reserve. The situation is so confused it is impossible to say anything." - History Unfolded Contributor
- Charlene Y.
- Location of Research
- Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com)
Learn More about this Historical Event: Germany Annexes Austria
- Austria (Encyclopedia Article)
- Vienna (Encyclopedia Article)
- German Prewar Expansion (Encyclopedia Article)
Bibliography
Bukey, Evan Burr. Hitler’s Austria: Popular Sentiment in the Nazi Era, 1938-1945. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000.
Fuchs, Martin. Showdown in Vienna: The Death of Austria. New York: Putnam’s Sons, 1939.
Low, Alfred. The Anschluss Movement, 1931-1938, and the Great Powers. Boulder, CO: East European Monographs, 1985.
Wagner, Dieter. Anschluss: The Week Hitler Seized Vienna. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1971.
Wimmer, Adi. Strangers at Home and Abroad: Recollections of Austrian Jews Who Escaped Hitler. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2000.
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