ABSTRACT
Events of 1933 and 1934 largely set the scene for the tragic occurrences which marked the later part of the decade. In 1931, an attempt was made by the German and Austrian governments to achieve a Zollverein, or customs union, between the two countries. Early in 1934, there was virtual civil war in Vienna, and considerable trouble in other important Austrian cities. During the period of Adolf Hitler's rise to power, the Soviet authorities seem to have thought that a Nazi Government in Germany was not necessarily a bad thing, for the experience would drive German workers rapidly towards Communism. The Nazi cartoon alludes to the Nazi argument that the Marxists a generic word which included both Communists and Social Democrats were responsible for most of Germany's troubles in the period. The German cartoon, French foreign and domestic politics, was drawn at a time when Hitler had already been in office for a year.
