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

German nationalist German nationalism () is an ideological notion that promotes the unity of Germans and German-speakers into one unified nation state. German nationalism also emphasizes and takes pride in the patriotism and national identity of Germans as one nat ...

and

national liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

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

during the First Republic of Austria, established in 1920.

Foundation

After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the dissolution of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, 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 The Republic of German-Austria (german: Republik Deutschösterreich or ) was an unrecognised state that was created following World War I as an initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking and ethnic German population ...

with 102 representatives, ahead of the Socialists 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 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 Karl Josef Seitz (; 4 September 1869 – 3 February 1950) was an Austrian politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party. He served as member of the Imperial Council, President of the National Council and Mayor of Vienna. Early life Sei ...

and the Christian Social politician Jodok Fink. Under his presidency, the assembly voted for the accession to the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) 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 ...

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

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

, 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 (german: Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, DAP) was a short-lived far-right political party established in Weimar Germany after World War I. It was the precursor of the Nazi Party, which was officially known as the National Soc ...

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 is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and free trade.

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 The Government of Austria (german: Bundesregierung der Republik Österreich) is the executive cabinet of the Republic of Austria. It consists of the chancellor, who is the head of government, the vice chancellor and the ministers. Appointm ...

, in a coalition with the Christian Social Party, providing the Vice-Chancellors in the cabinets of

Johann Schober Johannes "Johann" Schober (born 14 November 1874 in Perg; died 19 August 1932 in Baden bei Wien) was an Austrian jurist, law enforcement official, and politician. Schober was appointed Vienna Chief of Police in 1918 and became the founding preside ...

Ignaz Seipel Ignaz Seipel (19 July 1876 – 2 August 1932) was an Austrian prelate, Catholic theologian and politician of the Christian Social Party. He was its chairman from 1921 to 1930 and served as Austria's federal chancellor twice, from 1922 to 1924 ...

and

Rudolf Ramek Rudolf Ramek (12 April 1881 – 24 July 1941) was an Austrian Christian Social politician, who served as Chancellor of Austria from 1924 to 1926. Life Ramek was born in Teschen in Austrian Silesia (present-day Cieszyn, Poland). A member ...

. From 1927, the similar oriented Landbund took the Greater Germans' position as coalition partner. Chancellor

(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 The Heimwehr (, ) or Heimatschutz (, ) was a nationalist, initially paramilitary group operating in Austria during the 1920s and 1930s that was similar in methods, organization, and ideology to the Freikorps in Germany. It was opposed to parliam ...

'' 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 ( de-AT, Bundesstaat Österreich; colloquially known as the , "Corporate State") was a continuation of the First Austrian Republic between 1934 and 1938 when it was a one-party state led by the clerical fascist Fa ...

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

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, many former members joined the German

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in form of the Federation of Independents and later the

Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aus ...

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