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
German nationalism in Austria Austrian Nazis resumed the earlier pan-Germanist tradition of wearing a blue cornflower in their buttonhole. The Nazis firmly fought the Austrofascist regime of chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, and orchestrated his assassination. They continued this battle against his successor, Kurt Schuschnigg. Austrofacism was strongly supported by Benito Mussolini, leader of Fascist Italy. Mussolini's support for an independent Austria can be seen in a discussion he had with Prince Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg, an important Austrian nationalist and Heimwehr leader. He said that "an Anschluss with Germany must never be permitted ... Austria is necessary to the maintenance of Europe ... the day that