The history of national socialism in Austria preluded and paved the way for and inspired the German Workers’ Party founded in 1920. The history of national socialism in Austria dates back to the first years of the 20th century with the foundation of the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei in November 1903. The party enjoyed most of its support in the regions of Bohemia and Moravia, todays Czechia. Regions which, at this time, had a significant German population.
The party was firm in its anti-capitalist, anti-marxist and antisemitic views, yet the party did not call itself national socialist from the start, but quite soon thereafter; the party program included the term national socialism, thus politically merging traditional left-wing and right-wing ideas together. During the First World War, the party adopted a even more radical stance, culminating in 1918 when the party changed its name to Deutsche Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei, DNSAP for short.…
