Theodor Habicht
| Theodor Habicht | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Theodor Habicht 4 April 1898 Wiesbaden |
| Died | 31 January 1944 (aged 45) Nevel |
| Citizenship | German |
| Known for | Nazi official |
| Political party | Nazi Party |
Theodor Habicht (4 April 1898 – 31 January 1944) was a leading political figure in Nazi Germany. He played a leading role in the Austrian movement.
Born in Wiesbaden and educated in his hometown and Berlin, he volunteered for the German Imperial Army in 1915, serving on the Western Front and at Isonzo in Italy. Briefly involved with communism after his 1919 demobilization he soon took part in skirmishes against the Spartacist League before settling into various low-level white-collar jobs.
Habicht joined the Nazi Party in 1926 and established a number of local journals for the group, whilst also serving as a member of the Hesse-Nassau assembly and the leader of the Nazis on Wiesbaden council. By 1931 he had also been elected to the Reichstag for Nassau and theoretically retained this position until 1938.
Under orders from Adolf Hitler he was sent to Austria in 1931 as Landesinspekteur to oversee the reorganization of the Austrian Nazi Party, and before long he was the effective leader of the group, despite official control resting with Alfred Proksch. Under Habicht the Nazis experienced growth, mostly at the expense of the Heimwehr, many of whose members switched over to Nazism. Initially Engelbert Dollfuß attempted a conciliation, notably offering Habicht two Nazi cabinet seats, before trying to get Italy to exert pressure on Hitler to restrain Habicht's anti-government activities. Habicht was deported in 1933 after the Austrian government finally decided to ban the Nazi Party outright. In response Habicht set up a leadership-in-exile in Munich which directed a campaign of terror against the Dollfuß regime which culminated in a failed coup attempt in the murder of Dollfuß in July 1934 under the command of Austrian SS leader Fridolin Glass. An unpopular figure with many of the Austrians, he was excluded from the country after this failure as Hitler placed the blame on Habicht, who had been responsible for determining the details of the coup attempt.
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