The Deaths of Austria and Czechoslovakia - Part 1
From this point on, Hitler had two active policies: one was to ensure that the Austrian Nazi Party was funded and obtained more members; and the other was to court Mussolini. The Austrian Nazis proved themselves as vicious and brutal as the original German ones. Acts of terrorism and bombings occurred almost daily. Demonstrations against the government always turned violent. A group called the Committee of Seven, set up to reconcile the German and Austrian governments, was found, in January 1938, to be the actual organizer of the anarchy and center of the planning on what was to happen after the Anschluss, which was set for the spring of 1938. Franz von Papen, the German Ambassador, found that his name was on a list to be killed to provide the excuse for the German Army to move in. However, shortly after the discovery, he was relieved of his post. Schuschnigg saw that he had little time left but, through Papen's personal initiative with Hitler, he was given the opportunity to try to appease Hitler further. A meeting was arranged at the Berchtesgaden for 12th February and a month of anxiety and humiliation followed as Austria tried to avoid the German demands, but, finally, had to accept. Schuschnigg had no stomach for war as ultimately shown by his cancellation of a plebiscite he called at the eleventh hour, for 13th March, after deciding on his own that he did not want the deaths of Germans on his conscience, and after the usual threats by Hitler.
Meanwhile, during the same year 1937 to 1938, Hitler had been befriending Mussolini. The Italian army did pose a threat to Hitler's plans and, with the Stresa Agreement to help Austria in need, and a recent agreement with Britain confirming their individual interests in the Mediterranean, Hitler could not be at all sure of Mussolini's reaction in the case of an Anschluss. Mussolini was extremely vain and had a high opinion of his own military abilities, and was very unhappy at the dressings-down he had had from Britain and France about Abyssinia and Spain, where he sent some 70,000 troops, and his ideas of his position in the Mediterranean. He was more than ready to listen to Hitler and, after several visits from important Nazis, he accepted an invitation to visit Germany at the end of September. He was shown Germany's might, its armament factories, its parades, and
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