Austria, 1938-1988: Anschluss and Fifty Years (Studies in Austrian Literature, Culture, and Thought)

A half-century after the Anschluss of Austria to Germany, the engrossment of the Austrian Republic into the third Reich in March of 1938 seemed to be a convenient point at which to look back and assess what transpired then and since. Enough time had elapsed to allow a new, young generation of historians to mature, people who had not been witnesses or participants in the events and were not freighted with the passions of those who had lived through that turbulent and perilous era. But not so much time had elapsed that there were no more contemporary representatives who had seen, heard, and felt the events, people who could offer descriptions and make judgments from intimacy with the conditions that prevailed then. Each has much to contribute to any assessment of those most troubled and troubling times. Representatives of both are counted among the authors here presented. Moreover, these authors represent viewpoints of both Austrians, with their sense of immediacy, and those who look upon Austria from outside, with the detachment of the uninvolved.