In early February, Hitler summoned the then Austrian Chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, to Bertchesgaden [Hitler's Bavarian mountain retreat], where he harangued von Schuschnigg until von Schuschnigg relented to his demands and agreed to appoint an Austrian Nazi as the Minister of Interior. [1] Soon afterwards, however, Schuschnigg decided to stand up to Hitler and called a referendum in early March on the question of Austrian independence. [2] Before this referendum had a chance to be voted on, however, the Germans invaded and incorporated Austria into the Third Reich.
This was the first violation of Versailles that involved invading another sovereign nation. It was a brazen act of aggression: Hitler invaded a small, neighboring, independent state. Yet the National Government did nothing. A day after the invasion, Attlee warned Parliament of the consequences of allowing such a thing to happen:
Each successive instance of bad faith, each successful act of aggression leads to another... Manchuria, Rhineland, Abyssinia, Spain, China, Austria--what next? In this progressive deterioration of the world situation there must come a time when it is necessary to stand firm unless all Europe is to be thrown into the melting pot.
[3]
Nevertheless, the British Government barely protested against Hitler's Anschluß. By 1938, it pursued an Appeasement policy, trying to gain peace from those, like Hitler, who would not give it. As a result of the Anchluß, Czechoslovakia was surrounded on three sides by Germany. It is little wonder that this was the next country affected by Hitlerian aggression.
The National Government's acquiescence in the Anschluß was not the only reason for Labour's criticism. Another was Neville Chamberlain's categorical refusal to consider a Soviet suggestion, in late March, that a conference be held to discuss practical means of stopping Hitler.
