ABSTRACT
German investment dominated the First Austrian Republic and plays an important part in the Second. Austria spent seven years under occupation by Hitler Germany, after which it was occupied by the victorious Big Four. Vienna's most prestigious nonmusical stage, the Burgtheater, prides itself on being intelligible to all Germans; in fact, it even claims to monitor the German language. German newspapers generally outclass their Austrian cousins in quality, but they are only scarcely read in Vienna. Many Austrians are able to receive German television. Berlin certainly was not the first German capital, but neither was Vienna. The Habsburgs were German kings, but from the early sixteenth century on their main interest was in their non-German possessions, especially Hungary, which was not even in the Holy Roman Empire. The political parties in the two states are very similar, with the exception of the third party, which is more liberal in Germany and more nationalist in Austria.
