Imagining a Greater Germany: Republican Nationalism and the Idea of Anschluss by Erin R. Hochman

Abstract

Reviewed by: Imagining a Greater Germany: Republican Nationalism and the Idea of Anschluss by Erin R. Hochman Matthew P. Berg Imagining a Greater Germany: Republican Nationalism and the Idea of Anschluss. By Erin R. Hochman. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2016. Pp. xii + 273. Cloth $49.95. ISBN 978-1501704444 German nationalism and the Anschluss have not wanted for scholarly attention since 1945. During the initial postwar decades, historians concerned themselves with diplomats and other elite-level actors, and examined conservative and radical right-wing positions. Subsequent researchers, whose work integrated the methods of social and cultural history, expanded our understanding, but invariably concentrated on developments exclusively within either Germany or Austria. Erin Hochman's book breaks new ground with its focus on republican commitment to the großdeutsche cause within both states: "republican appeals to a transborder German national community," she argues, "must be taken seriously in order to grasp the complicated blend of republican, ethnic, cultural, and internationalist ideas that lay at the heart of their nationalism" (13). Hochman draws on an impressive range of German and Austrian archival sources to support this assertion, and brings fresh perspective to published documents that historians have consulted previously. The book comprises six thematic chapters, and each treats German and Austrian developments. At heart, Hochman explains, Republicans sought to popularize democracy by asserting a version of inclusive nationalism that countered the racist, violent, and exclusionary alldeutsche convictions prevalent on the political Right (3). They did so through newspaper and journal articles intended for popular consumption, attempts to create republican symbols around which citizens could rally, and by staging holidays and commemorative moments that brought participants in republican organizations and the broader public together. While she reminds us that republican, großdeutscher nationalism—rooted in the traditions of anti-Napoleonic resistance, mid-nineteenth-century revolutionary sentiment, and republican enthusiasm in November 1918—was not without its own chauvinistic elements (4, 23), its proponents asserted overwhelmingly that Jews and other minorities whom the Right considered "alien" should be considered members of the German community. Moreover, unlike the Right's tendency to imagine that Anschluss would be accomplished [End Page 667] through aggressive revanchism, Republicans understood the union of German and Austria as the fulfillment of self-determination and as a meaningful guarantee of peace after World War I. Hochman examines republican sentiment through a series of frames that she juxtaposes with right-wing positions. Her first chapter examines concepts of nationhood and democracy, and rhetorical strategies associated with them. Here she concentrates on elites—primarily politicians, journalists, and legal experts who represented republican nationalism as spokespeople and as active members of the Österreichisch-Deutschen Volksbund, including Wilhelm Marx, Paul Löbe, Karl Renner, and Julius Deutsch. Her chapter on the importance of the black-red-gold flag versus the imperial colors in Germany and the struggle over lyrics for the new Austrian anthem links debates on nationhood with symbols that republican nationalists invested with significance. One example: Republicans in Germany asserted that the new flag had its historical roots in the 1848 revolution, the very first pan-German movement. Austrian Republicans—for the most part those in the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAPÖ) camp—flew the black-red-gold flag at their own events, alongside the party banner. At virtually every turn, Republicans in both states countered assertions that they were antinational and were un-German with the argument that they were in fact better Germans. They had consistently placed the national interest ahead of narrow, selfish dynastic considerations (21–22). While mindful of elite influences, Hochman is attentive to ordinary citizens' roles in investing symbols with meaning. Certainly, popular attitudes can be more challenging to determine, but she employs police observations of mass gatherings and newspaper reports to effectively demonstrate examples of consistent popular engagement on behalf of republican principles. One unique example is the case of the Viennese schoolteacher Louise Pibus, who collected almost 350 signatures in an ultimately abortive attempt to call the attention of federal parliamentary deputies to the anthem debate (74–77). More consistent evidence of popular enthusiasm for republican celebrations emerges in Hochman's investigation into visits to Germany made by Schutzbund representatives and Reichsbanner participation at...