Letter from Salzburg

Iolo Webb

Salzburg is an Austrian city situated near the border with Germany on the beautiful Salzach river. The city is filled with wonderful architecture from a variety of periods, remarkable coffee houses and restaurants, charming and peaceful gardens, and phenomenal views.

It is also a city I have had the privilege of calling my home for the last six months.

It can be difficult to imagine, however, that 88 years ago this month on 12 March, in this very city, German soldiers were seen in the distance cheerfully marching over the bridges of the river Saalach. Marching past the futile border posts into Austrian territory, they were met with little or no resistance.

It’s also hard to imagine that my own country, Wales, is less than two months away from arguably one of the most important moments in its political history.

The German abolition of the Austrian state happened quickly following an impassioned speech from the pro-independence Austrian Chancellor, Kurt Schuschnigg (himself a fascist but not a Nazi), who was subsequently forced to resign and cancel the planned Volksbefragung (plebiscite) on Austrian independence.

The pro-Austrian bloc was expected to win with a clear majority, but the Nazis acted quickly to prevent the mandate being secured.

Following Schuschnigg’s resignation, Austrian Nazi Arthur Seyss-Inquart was appointed as Chancellor of the doomed Austrian state shortly after midnight on 12 March, and the Wehrmacht entered the country later that day. Despite the Germans themselves admitting that they would win only  around 20% of the vote in the referendum, the streets of Salzburg, as well as Austria’s capital and other cities were filled with crowds waving previously banned swastika flags and saluting the new regime: many out of pure Stockholm syndrome, some out of ongoing resentment about the loss of empire, the Treaty of Saint-Germain and the Great Depression, some out of anti-Semitism, others out of fear, and some even brought from parts of Germany such as Berlin to swell the crowd.

There are of course many differences between Wales and Austria, and between these two events 88 years apart.

The Austrian Republic had only existed for twenty years, the rump of a centuries-old empire which previously covered much of central and eastern Europe, and it had already ceased to be a functioning democracy (like most European states in the 1930s).

Ethnically, culturally and linguistically, Austria has much in common with Germany, whereas Wales has had a distinct identity for 1,500 years. Austria has a population three times larger than that of Wales.

However, there are also similarities: a large and powerful neighbour with a supremacist and imperialist mentality that considered itself entitled to absorb the smaller state, a significant inferiority complex, vocal collaborationists, and disillusion with the status quo. 

It seems to me that Wales today also has a choice of two futures. The first is a path to full democracy, self-confidence, prosperity, compassion and hope, leading in time to de-separatism, accession to the international community, joining the other states of the world on an equal plane and upholding international law.

The second is Trumpism-Faragism (which could also be termed ‘Imperial Fascism’): lies, hypocrisy and false promises, denying and exacerbating both the climate and biodiversity crises and the threat to our language, culture and communities, elevating selfishness and greed, legitimising supremacism, racism and misogyny, scapegoating the poor (including those fleeing from oppression and poverty), decimating public services, censorship and suppression of the press and media, erosion and then abolition of democracy (first in Wales, then in the rest of the state), leading to full dependence on and integration with our larger neighbour. 

I strongly suspect that the eradication of Welsh nationhood is part of the end goal of Reform UK (despite their spurious claim to be pro- ‘family, community and country’). Wales simply existing goes directly against their beliefs.

Anyone with the ability to read between the lines can see that Farage and his minions will try to fully anglicise Wales by a subtle process of weakening language rights and prioritising English and Englishness in education and in the public and private sectors.

Reform members of the Senedd (elected as Conservatives) have already openly questioned Welsh democracy, thereby challenging the existence of Wales as an entity. They will use the Senedd as a stepping-stone to power and then abolish it.

Within hours of German occupation, the red-white-red flags of Austria were ripped down and replaced with flags of the Third Reich.

The Federal State was no more. The flag, anthem, and any other national symbols were strictly prohibited. ‘Österreich’, the German name for Austria, was replaced with ‘Ostmark’ and the country was downgraded to a Reichsgau (province) of Greater Germany.

Greater England

Wales reverting to a province of Greater England (or even partitioned between English provinces) matches the Reform agenda: an English-dominated dystopian state, with Welsh identity forgotten to time. Faragism is not the same as ‘National Socialism’, but definitely shares much of its supremacist, racist and colonialist ideology. As a result, we risk losing our existence as a nation – aided and abetted by the imperialism and incompetence of the Labour Party.

That would have been the fate of Austria, had the war gone differently. Ultimately Nazism was not victorious, and an Austrian Republic could breathe again. We can’t yet say the same about us: if Reform and Faragism get a hold of Wales and her parliament, the outlook will not be good.

Strangled

With less than two months to go to decide the future of Wales, the choice is a clear and simple one: let Wales live and thrive or let her be strangled.

The idle and sleepy Welsh branch of the imperial Labour Party offers no way out of the current hole that Wales is in. Reform only offers to deepen that hole to the point of no return. This choice is not so dissimilar to that of preserving the Austrian nation or wiping it from the map.

Like every other country in the world, Austria is not perfect, but it could have been much worse. Living here for the past few months, I’ve learned what imperialism and supremacism nearly did to this nation and state. Don’t let the same thing happen to ours.