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PARTISAN REVIEW
sailles and Saint Germain appeared as an unfair imposition by the victo–
rious nations. The viability of Austria's First Republic was destroyed by
the successor states in revenge. The Great Depression was successfully
transformed into a Jewish conspiracy by the National Socialists. The end
of Austria's First Republic was presented as an occupation by foreign
forces - an attitude that spread admittedly only after the euphoric hon–
eymoon. The end of W odd War II was a victory of wealthier nations.
Later on, the building of the Berlin Wall was necessary in order to pre–
vent an invasion of the aggressive capitalistic forces.
The same pattern of explanation that was applied to single historical
events was used to make plausible the whole National Socialist regime in
Austria. Austria's post-war elite cultivated a view of the Nazi past as a
military occupation by a foreign force: The weak and small country in
the heart of Europe was destroyed by Prussian militarism; the German
National Socialists subdued the innocent Austrians and made them invol–
untarily part of the
Grossdeutsches Reich
and pressed them as soldiers into
the
Wehrmacht .
After the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich,
Austrians sought their way back to their roots. Christian Democrats and,
ironically, Austria's Communists worked hard to create an independent
Austrian nation. The school administration banned German as a school
language for a while and invented a new language called " instruction
language" (something like a predecessor of political correctness);
Austrian patriots created a genealogy of cultural heritage going back to
the Middle Ages and tried to disconnect the links to German culture
wherever possible. Within only a few years the language in use had
changed considerably, as some returning former Austrians noted with
astonishment. I think Austrians misinterpreted the process of nation–
building as a voluntary effort by disconnecting not only political links
but also cultural relations. Naturally the economic connections with
Germany were restored after a few years of forced separation. Up to
now, the Austrian economy has been dependent on Gennan business
cycles; Austria's monetary policy follows Germany's; and the Alps still
remain Germans' preferred vacation resort.
Given this attitude, it is not surprising that official Austria hasn't felt
obliged to pay reparations to victims of National Socialism, especially to
former Austrian Jews. Austria itself was the "first victim," and one victim
cannot have obligations to other victims. Apart from all the disgusting
details of postwar history, the main strategy again was externalization of
internally produced contradictions. In the time of the Cold War-com–
petition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, Austrians were able to
develop a sort of national consciousness and national identity - fragile in
