German National Movement in Liechtenstein
Volksdeutsche Bewegung in Liechtenstein
AbbreviationVDBL
LeaderRudolf Schädler (1938)

Theodor Schädler (1938–1940)
Alfons Goop (1940–1943)

Sepp Ritter (1943–1945)
Founded1938 (1938)
Dissolved1945 (1945)
NewspaperDer Umbruch
Membership150-250[1]
IdeologyNazism[2]
Political positionFar-right
SloganLiechtenstein den Liechtensteinern!
Landtag
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The German National Movement in Liechtenstein (German: Volksdeutsche Bewegung in Liechtenstein, VDBL) was a Nazi party in Liechtenstein that existed between 1938 and 1945.[1]

Formation and ideology

A Nazi swastika being hoisted in Vaduz, around 1938.

Nazi groups had existed in Liechtenstein since 1933, primarily because of the rise of Nazi Germany and the introduction of anti-Jewish laws in the country. Liechtenstein experienced a large rise Jewish emigrants to the country.[3][4]

The VDBL itself formed after the Anschluss of Austria in 1938 under the leadership of Rudolf Schädler, advocating for the integration of Liechtenstein into the Greater German Reich. The organization disseminated its ideology through its newspaper, Der Umbruch.[5][6] It was then taken over by Theodor Schädler.[6]

A slogan associated with the party was Liechtenstein den Liechtensteinern! (Liechtenstein for the Liechtensteiners!). This implied a radical populism that would threaten the allegiance of the people of Liechtenstein to ruling Prince of Liechtenstein Franz Josef II.[6]

The party offered Patriotic Union leader Otto Schaedler leadership of the party primarily due to his contacts with Nazi Germany, but he refused and distanced himself from the party.[7]

Coup attempt and party demise

In March 1939, the VDBL staged an amateurish coup attempt, first trying to provoke a German intervention by burning swastikas, followed by declaring an Anschluss with Germany. The leaders were almost immediately arrested and the hoped-for German invasion failed to materialise.[8][9] The party was effectively defunct from this point until 1940.[8]

In the wake of World War II the governing Progressive Citizens' Party and opposition Patriotic Union formed a coalition, assigning a roughly equal number of seats each, in order to prevent the VBDL from acquiring any seats in the Landtag.[10][11]

The inability of the party to participate in the 1939 elections (after a pact between the main parties to keep the election date a secret), combined with the drastic decrease in Nazi sympathies following the outbreak of World War II led to a temporary demise of the party. However, in June 1940 it was reconstituted under the leadership of Alfons Goop. During 1941 and 1942, the party was involved in vehement anti-Semitic agitation, urging a solution to the country's presumed "Jewish Question," accusing Jewish families in Liechtenstein of spying for the Allies. Until 1943, the party attempted to recruit Liechtensteiners into the Waffen-SS and gain public sympathy for the Nazi cause, which infuriated Switzerland.[6]

The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in March 1943 forced the VDBL to hold talks with the Patriotic Union (VU), in Friedrichshafen under auspices of the Waffen-SS, in order to reach a fusion of both parties, which shared an anti-Bolshevik and anti-clerical programme. Severely disappointed, Goop resigned as party leader and it was taken over by Sepp Ritter. In the end the VU only consented to some "cultural cooperation." When Germany's war fortunes declined, in July 1943 Der Umbruch was forbidden by the authorities.

In 1946, party leaders were prosecuted for the 1939 coup attempt.[12] In 1947, Goop and other leaders were tried for high treason. Goop was sentenced to a thirty-month imprisonment.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Volksdeutsche Bewegung in Liechtenstein". e-archiv.li (in German). Liechtenstein National Archives. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  2. ↑ Gustaf Adolf von Metnitz (1941). Hundert Millionen Deutsche schaffen Raum. NS.-gauverlag Steiermark. p. 15.
  3. ↑ TIMES, Wireless to THE NEW YORK (1933-07-03). "Nazi Group Formed in Lichtenstein". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  4. ↑ "Regierungschef Josef Hoop orientiert den Landtag über einen Entwurf für ein Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz". Staatsarchiv des Fürstentum Liechtenstein (in German). 29 May 1933. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  5. ↑ Gustaf Adolf von Metnitz (1941). Hundert Millionen Deutsche schaffen Raum (in German). NS.-gauverlag Steiermark. p. 15.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Marxer, Wilfried. "Volksdeutsche Bewegung in Liechtenstein (VDBL)". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  7. ↑ Schremser, Jurgen. "Schaedler (Schaedler), Otto". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  8. 1 2 Büchel, Donat (31 December 2011). "Anschlussputsch". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "Liechtenstein Jails Nazi For Attempt at Uprising". The New York Times. 27 April 1939. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  10. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p1179
  11. ↑ "Parties in Liechtenstein 1921-1943". Prince and People: Liechtenstein Civics (in German). 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  12. ↑ "27 April 1939". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 27 April 1939. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
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