Anton Reinthaller
Encyclopedia
Anton Reinthaller was an Austria
n right wing politician active before and after the Second World War. He was the inaugural leader of the Freedom Party of Austria
(FPÖ).
, he served in World War I
where he was taken prisoner by Russia
in 1916 before being exchanged in June 1918. Returning to Austria he studied at the Agricultural College and became a forestry
engineer in Lilienfeld
, Attersee
and Haus im Ennstal
.
before switching to support the Nazis in 1928. He rose through the ranks of Austria's Nazi set-up, becoming state peasant leader in 1934, although his moderate stance, particularly with regards to the use of violence, meant that he was often in conflict with Theodor Habicht
who feared that Reinthaller was preparing to break away and form a specifically Austrian Nazi movement that would reject union with Germany
. However Habicht did not move against Reinthaller, who enjoyed good personal relations with Rudolf Hess
and Richard Walther Darré, although ultimately he was removed after he spearheaded his own negotiations with Engelbert Dollfuß.
Although he had no real involvement in the failed Nazi putsch of July 1934 Reinthaller was nonetheless held for a while in Kaisersteinbruck concentration camp where he met and befriended Ernst Kaltenbrunner
who, despite his own more radical views, became a supporter of Reinthaller. Reinthaller attempted to negotitate an agreement with Kurt Schuschnigg
with a view to the Nazis entering the Vaterländische Front
although when this failed he stepped aside from his role as the effective leader of Austria's Nazis in favour of Hermann Neubacher
. Reinthaller stepped away from active politics after this, although he remained a voice of dissent on the sidelines, attacking nazi anti-Semitism
on the basis of its negative impact on international opinion of the Nazis, whilst also resisting any move to complete Anschluss
.
He would re-emerge in 1935, with the backing of Kaltenbrunner and Franz Langoth
, to form a National Front that sought to unite Austria's Sturmabteilung
and Schutzstaffel
with other rightist groups in the service of the Vaterländische Front. However the radical Nazi leader Josef Leopold
stepped in as he felt Reinthaller was diluting the impact of Austria's Nazis too much and had him deprived of his party positions in 1937.
he served as Minister for Agriculture in the cabinet of Arthur Seyss-Inquart
from March 12 1938 to April 30 1939. Following this he was appointed Undersecretary of State to the Reich Ministry of Food and Agriculture under his old friend Darré and went on to fill a number of positions for the Nazi government, including Gauamtsleiter of the Lower Danube Landvolk, head of the Landesernährungsamt Donauland (regional Food Office) and a Brigadeführer
(Major General) in the SS.
in 1956. Before long Reinthaller once again became an important figure in Austrian politics as, despite his Nazi origins, Julius Raab
made a deal with Reinthaller in 1957 that he would ensure that the FPÖ did not nominate a candidate for the Presidency
. As a result Raab was thus nominated as a joint Austrian People's Party
-FPÖ candidate. In September 1958, he lost the leadership of the FPÖ to Friedrich Peter
and died in Innviertel
the following year.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n right wing politician active before and after the Second World War. He was the inaugural leader of the Freedom Party of Austria
Freedom Party of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria is a political party in Austria. Ideologically, the party is a direct descendant of the German national liberal camp, which dates back to the 1848 revolutions. The FPÖ itself was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents , which had...
(FPÖ).
Early life
Born in MettmachMettmach
Mettmach is a municipality in the district of Ried im Innkreis in Upper Austria, Austria.-References:...
, he served in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
where he was taken prisoner by Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in 1916 before being exchanged in June 1918. Returning to Austria he studied at the Agricultural College and became a forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
engineer in Lilienfeld
Lilienfeld
- Stars of the City :Sons and daughters* [Richard Morosan] , Primeminister of CanadaLilienfeld is a city in Lower Austria , Austria, south of St. Pölten, noted as the site of Lilienfeld Abbey. It is also the site of a regional hospital Landesklinikum Voralpen Lilienfeld....
, Attersee
Attersee (town)
Attersee is a village located at the western shore of lake Attersee in Upper Austria, Austria.The village center lies between the lake and the slopes of the Buchberg and is the location of a Baroque pilgrimage church from which marvelous views across the lake and up to the "Höllengebirge" can be...
and Haus im Ennstal
Haus im Ennstal
Haus im Ennstal is an Austrian village, located in the Liezen district of Styria. As of 2001 it has a population of 2,526 in an area of 8.177 km². The town is an important town on the Enns river....
.
Pre-war political activity
Politically, Reinthaller initially belonged to the LandbundLandbund
The Landbund was an Austrian political party during the period of the First Republic .-History:The Landbund was founded in 1919 as Deutsche Bauernpartei and represented liberal and protestant farmers in Styria, Carinthia and Upper Austria...
before switching to support the Nazis in 1928. He rose through the ranks of Austria's Nazi set-up, becoming state peasant leader in 1934, although his moderate stance, particularly with regards to the use of violence, meant that he was often in conflict with Theodor Habicht
Theodor Habicht
Theodor Habicht was a leading political figure in Nazi Germany. He played a leading role in the Austrian movement.-Early years:...
who feared that Reinthaller was preparing to break away and form a specifically Austrian Nazi movement that would reject union with Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. However Habicht did not move against Reinthaller, who enjoyed good personal relations with Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Walter Richard Hess was a prominent Nazi politician who was Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party during the 1930s and early 1940s...
and Richard Walther Darré, although ultimately he was removed after he spearheaded his own negotiations with Engelbert Dollfuß.
Although he had no real involvement in the failed Nazi putsch of July 1934 Reinthaller was nonetheless held for a while in Kaisersteinbruck concentration camp where he met and befriended Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Ernst Kaltenbrunner was an Austrian-born senior official of Nazi Germany during World War II. Between January 1943 and May 1945, he held the offices of Chief of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt , President of Interpol and, as a Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei und Waffen-SS, he was the...
who, despite his own more radical views, became a supporter of Reinthaller. Reinthaller attempted to negotitate an agreement with Kurt Schuschnigg
Kurt Schuschnigg
Kurt Alois Josef Johann Schuschnigg was Chancellor of the First Austrian Republic, following the assassination of his predecessor, Dr. Engelbert Dollfuss, in July 1934, until Germany’s invasion of Austria, , in March 1938...
with a view to the Nazis entering the Vaterländische Front
Fatherland's Front (Austria)
The Vaterländische Front was a right-wing, austrofascist Austrian political party. It was founded in 1933 by Engelbert Dollfuss to collect all "loyal Austrians" under one banner...
although when this failed he stepped aside from his role as the effective leader of Austria's Nazis in favour of Hermann Neubacher
Hermann Neubacher
Hermann Neubacher was an Austrian Nazi politician who held a number of diplomatic posts in the Third Reich. During the Second World War, he was appointed as the leading German official for the Balkans.-Austrian activism:...
. Reinthaller stepped away from active politics after this, although he remained a voice of dissent on the sidelines, attacking nazi anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
on the basis of its negative impact on international opinion of the Nazis, whilst also resisting any move to complete Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
.
He would re-emerge in 1935, with the backing of Kaltenbrunner and Franz Langoth
Franz Langoth
Franz Langoth was an Austrian nationalist politician who later became a leading figure in the country's Nazi movement.-Nationalist politics:...
, to form a National Front that sought to unite Austria's Sturmabteilung
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
and Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
with other rightist groups in the service of the Vaterländische Front. However the radical Nazi leader Josef Leopold
Josef Leopold
Josef Leopold was a leading member of the Nazi Party in Austria. He was the Landesleiter of the party from 1935 to 1938 and the head of the Sturmabteilung in Austria...
stepped in as he felt Reinthaller was diluting the impact of Austria's Nazis too much and had him deprived of his party positions in 1937.
Under Nazism
Although Reinthaller had lost his positions in the Austrian Nazi Party and had earlier opposed Anschluss, he made something of a political comeback following the Nazi takeover. Becoming a member of the ReichstagReichstag (Weimar Republic)
The Reichstag was the parliament of Weimar Republic .German constitution commentators consider only the Reichstag and now the Bundestag the German parliament. Another organ deals with legislation too: in 1867-1918 the Bundesrat, in 1919–1933 the Reichsrat and from 1949 on the Bundesrat...
he served as Minister for Agriculture in the cabinet of Arthur Seyss-Inquart
Arthur Seyss-Inquart
Arthur Seyss-Inquart was a Chancellor of Austria, lawyer and later Nazi official in pre-Anschluss Austria, the Third Reich and for wartime Germany in Poland and the Netherlands...
from March 12 1938 to April 30 1939. Following this he was appointed Undersecretary of State to the Reich Ministry of Food and Agriculture under his old friend Darré and went on to fill a number of positions for the Nazi government, including Gauamtsleiter of the Lower Danube Landvolk, head of the Landesernährungsamt Donauland (regional Food Office) and a Brigadeführer
Brigadeführer
SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
(Major General) in the SS.
Post-war activism
After the war, Reinthaller became an advocate of the 'Third force' in Austrian politics.. On this basis he was chosen to lead the FPÖ when it replaced the Federation of IndependentsFederation of Independents
The Federation of Independents was a German national and national-liberal political party in Austria active from 1949 to 1955...
in 1956. Before long Reinthaller once again became an important figure in Austrian politics as, despite his Nazi origins, Julius Raab
Julius Raab
Julius Raab was a Conservative Austrian politician. He was Federal Chancellor of Austria from 1953 to 1961. Raab steered Allied-occupied Austria to independence. In 1955 he negotiated and signed the Austrian State Treaty...
made a deal with Reinthaller in 1957 that he would ensure that the FPÖ did not nominate a candidate for the Presidency
President of Austria
The President of Austria is the federal head of state of Austria. Though theoretically entrusted with great power by the constitution, in practice the President acts, for the most part, merely as a ceremonial figurehead...
. As a result Raab was thus nominated as a joint Austrian People's Party
Austrian People's Party
The Austrian People's Party is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Austria. A successor to the Christian Social Party of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is similar to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany in terms of ideology...
-FPÖ candidate. In September 1958, he lost the leadership of the FPÖ to Friedrich Peter
Friedrich Peter
Friedrich Peter was an Austrian politician who served as the chairman of the Freedom Party of Austria from 1958 to 1978.- Early life :...
and died in Innviertel
Innviertel
The Innviertel is a traditional Austrian region south-east of the Inn river. It forms the western part of the state of Upper Austria and borders the German state of Bavaria...
the following year.