Nazism and the Working Class in Austria
Industrial Unrest and Political Dissent in the 'National Community'

An account of the relationship between Austrian industrial workers and the Nazis regime.

Timothy Kirk (Author)

9780521475013, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 October 1996

206 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.437 kg

'… a valuable contribution to our understanding of the complex relationship between the working class and Nazism. Well-researched and well-written, it is thoughtful and stimulating in approach, and deserves a wide readership.' Detlef Mühlberger, Labour History Review

The image of Hitler as a demagogic 'pied piper' leading astray the 'little people' of Austria is as misleading as it is powerful. Nazism and the Working Class in Austria is a case study of the ambiguous relationship between state and society in Austria under the Nazis. It places the experience of Austrian industrial workers in the Third Reich in a broader historical context, from the origins of the earliest 'national socialist' movements in the backwaters of the Habsburg empire to the end of the Second World War. Workers did not seriously attempt or even expect to overthrow the Nazi regime in the face of unprecedented surveillance and terror; but neither were they converted, and their oppositional strategies and disgruntled political opinions reveal a truculent workforce, rather than one that was contented and converted.

Introduction
1. Austrian fascism, 'Austro fascism' and the working class
2. Economic integration and political opposition between the Anschluss and the war
3. The war economy and the changing workforce, 1939–45
4. Work discipline in the war economy
5. Popular opinion and political protest in working class communities
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]