Austrian Nazis - DNSAP

DNSAP

At a party congress in Vienna in May 1918, the DAP changed its name to the Deutsche Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei (DNSAP) and produced a National Socialist Program which is thought to have influenced the later German Nazi manifesto.

The Austrian DNSAP split into two factions in 1923, the Deutschsozialen Verein (German-Social Association) led by Dr. Walter Riehl, and the Schulz-Gruppe. After 1930, most former DNSAP members became supporters of the German NSDAP led by Austrian-born Adolf Hitler, and were one of the chief elements leading the pro-Nazi coup in 1938 that brought about the Anschluss of Austria with Germany.

Leaders of the party, who were dubbed Landesleiter due to the recognition of Hitler as overall Führer, included Alfred Proksch (1931-33), Hermann Neubacher (1935) and Josef Leopold (1936-38), although real power frequently lay with Theodor Habicht, a German sent by Hitler to oversee Nazi activity in Austria.

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