German nationalism in Austria Austria falls and is swallowed up by Germany will mark the beginning of European chaos." The Austrofascist party, Fatherland Front, would echo the sentiments of Mussolini, and continue to struggle for an independent Austria. Nazis in both Germany and Austria intended that the German Reich would quickly annex Austria, the homeland of its leader, Adolf Hitler. They attempted to bribe many low-ranking Heimwehr leaders, and also attempted to bring Starhemberg into their fold, in effect merging the Heimwehr with the Nazi Freikorps. Gregor Strasser, an early, prominent Nazi figure, was charged with this effort. When Starhemberg, a fervent believer in
Trialism in Austria-Hungary Trialism in Austria-Hungary In the history of the Austria-Hungary trialism was the political movement that aimed to reorganize the bipartite Empire into a tripartite one, creating a Croatian state equal in status to Austria and Hungary. Franz Ferdinand promoted trialism before his assassination in 1914 to prevent the Empire from being ripped apart by Slavic dissent. The Empire would be restructured three ways instead of two, with the Slavic element given representation at the highest levels equivalent to what Austria and Hungary had at the time. Serbians saw this as a threat to their dream of a new state of