The Greater German People's Party ( German ''Großdeutsche Volkspartei'', abbreviated GDVP) was a German nationalist

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

during the First Republic of Austria, established in 1920.

Foundation

After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the dissolution of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, the German nationalist and "German-Liberal" camp, which was fragmented into many splinter parties and factions, formed the largest group in the Provisional National Assembly of German Austria with 102 representatives, ahead of the

Socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

and the Catholic Christian Socials. In 1919, the 17 different groupings and clubs formed a federation, the Greater German Association (''Großdeutsche Vereinigung''), led by the former

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

mayor Franz Dinghofer. As delegate of the Provisional Assembly, Dinghofer was elected one of its three presidents on 21 October 1918, together with the Socialist Karl Seitz and the Christian Social politician Jodok Fink. Under his presidency, the assembly voted for the accession to the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (, from ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty entirely from a continuing unitary German ''Volk'' ("na ...

and declared German Austria a republic. On a 1920 convention in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, the Greater German Association was transformed into a single party, the German nationalist and antisemitic Greater German People's Party. The only nationalist parties which did not join were the

German Workers' Party The German Workers' Party (, DAP) was a short-lived far-right political party established in the Weimar Republic after World War I. It only lasted from 5 January 1919 until 24 February 1920. The DAP was the precursor of the National Socialist ...

and the rural Landbund. The party did not have a strong organisation but instead was supported by people who were nationalistic but not generally involved or interested in politics. The party received strong support from students, teachers and bureaucrats.Jelavich, p. 168.

Ideology

The party supported the creation of a ''

Volksgemeinschaft ''Volksgemeinschaft'' () is a German expression meaning "people's community", "folk community", Richard Grunberger, ''A Social History of the Third Reich'', London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1971, p. 44. "national community", or "racial community" ...

'' or people's community. They called for the unification of Austria with

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

Support

During the First Republic the party never won more than 17% in elections. However, from 1921 to 1932, it was the junior partner of the Austrian Federal Government, in a

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

with the Christian Social Party, providing the Vice-Chancellors in the cabinets of Johann Schober, Ignaz Seipel and Rudolf Ramek. From 1927, the similar oriented Landbund took the Greater Germans' position as coalition partner. Chancellor Johann Schober (in office 1921–22, 1930–31), although not a party-member, was considered to be close to the German nationalists. With the rise in support for the Austrian Nazi Party in the early 1930s, the Greater German People's Party lost numerous members to the Nazis and the paramilitary '' Heimwehr'' forces. On 15 May 1933, the party's radicalised remnants formed an action group (''"Kampfgemeinschaft"'') with the National Socialists and eventually merged with the Nazi party during 1933–34. With the implementation of the Austrofascist dictatorship of the

Federal State of Austria The Federal State of Austria (; colloquially known as the "") was a continuation of the First Austrian Republic between 1934 and 1938 when it was a one-party state led by the conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and politi ...

in 1934, all parties were banned. Upon the 1938 ''

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

'' to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, many former members joined the German

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

Legacy

The Greater German People's Party represented the Austrian "Third Camp" (''Drittes Lager'') which traditionally has embraced pan-German nationalists and national liberals (in Austria "German-Liberals"). The Third Camp was revived after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in form of the Federation of Independents and later the

Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria (, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, and Eurosceptic. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five part ...

References

{{Authority control Antisemitism in Austria Defunct political parties in Austria Defunct liberal political parties in Austria Nationalist parties in Austria Political parties established in 1920 1920 establishments in Austria National liberal parties German nationalism in Austria German nationalist political parties Political parties disestablished in 1934 1934 disestablishments in Austria Right-wing parties in Europe

Foundation

Ideology

Support

Legacy

See also

References