Diary entry on Italian-German disagreements about Austria, Nazi violence and the attempted takeover in Austria, and the German government's disavowal of the attempt

AMBASSADOR DODD'S DIARY—1933-1938 Edited by William E. Dodd, Jr., and Martha Dodd London; Victor Gollancz Ltd; 1941
[Entry for July 26, 1934]
July 26. Thursday. A very busy day. I sent two telegrams to Washington explaining the putsch against the Austrian Government by the Nazi conspirators.
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The attack upon Austria, from all evidence, was supported, if not planned, by the German Propaganda Ministry. Last February Ernst Hanfstaengl told me that he brought what was practically an order from Mussolini that Germans must leave Austria alone, and that Theodor Habicht, the German agent in Munich for Austrian annexation, must be dismissed and silenced. In May and June, Mussolini pretended to be in accord with the German antiFrench, anti-Russian policy, and June 18, at Venice, Hitler was reported to have promised Mussolini to leave Austria alone. At any rate, great ado was made in the German press about the friendly accord of the two "greatest statesmen" of Europe. On June 30 came the Hitler murder of "traitors" and their assistants.
Mussolini, who had murdered even more Italians than Hitler has thus far murdered Germans, allowed his press to denounce Hitler unmercifully. On Monday, July 23, after repeated bombings in Austria by Nazis, a boat loaded with explosives was seized on Lake Constance by the Swiss police. It was a shipment of German bombs and shells to Austria from some arms plant. That looked ominous to me, but events of the kind had been so common that I did not report it to Washington.
Today evidence came to my desk that last night, as late as eleven o'clock, the government issued formal statements to the newspapers rejoicing at the fall of Dollfuss and proclaiming the Greater Germany that must follow. The German Minister in Vienna had actually helped to form the new Cabinet. He had, as we now know, exacted a promise that the gang of Austrian Nazi murderers should be allowed to go into Germany undisturbed. But it was realized about 12 o'clock that, although Dollfuss was dead, the loyal Austrians had surrounded the government palace and prevented the organization of a new Nazi regime. They held the murderers prisoners. The German Propaganda Ministry therefore forbade publication of the news sent out an hour before and tried to collect all the releases that had been distributed. A copy was brought to me today by a friend.
All the German papers this morning lamented the cruel murder and declared that it was simply an attack of discontented Austrians, not Nazis. News from Bavaria shows that thousands of Austrian Nazis living for a year in Bavaria on German support had been active for ten days before, some getting across the border contrary to law, all drilling and making ready to return to Austria. The German propagandist Habicht was still making radio speeches about the necessity of annexing the ancient realm
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of the Hapsburgs to Third Reich, in spite of all the promises of Hitler to silence him. But now that the drive has failed and the assassins are in prison in Vienna, the German Government denounces all who say there was any support from Berlin.
I think it will be clear one day that millions of dollars and many arms have been pouring into Austria since the spring of 1933. Once more the whole world is condemning the Hitler regime. No people in all modern history has been quite so unpopular as Nazi Germany. This stroke completes the picture. I expect to read a series of bitter denunciations in the American papers when they arrive about ten days from now.