Otto Strasser

**Otto Johann Maximilian Strasser** (10 September 1897 - 30 April 1937) was a Bavarian-born Austrian politician who served as the founder and first leader of the Germanic People's State. He was also instrumental in the popularization of the Pan-Germanic Revolutionary National Socialist Workers' Party, as well as the spreading of the ideology of National Socialism, often referred to as Strasserism in reference to him.

While Bavaria remained neutral in the First World War, Strasser still fought in the conflict on the side of the German Republic. Upon returning home, he joined the Bavarian Social Democratic Party, but quickly became disillusioned with the party, viewing it as too moderate and not dedicated enough to the principles of republicanism. In 1922, he left the party and joined the recently created Pan-Germanic Revolutionary National Socialist Workers' Party. Strasser quickly became the most popular member of the party, leading to him ousting Anton Drexler as leader. Under his leadership, the party was reoriented to focus more strongly on revolutionary republicanism, Pan-Germanism, and romantic nationalism inspired by the ideas of 1848.

In 1926, the National Socialist Workers' Party launched a revolt in Munich to finally bring down the ruling House of Wittelsbach and the largely oligarchic government. The first stage of the Strasserist Revolution ended with the revolutionaries being brutally crushed and kicked across the Danube, where they ended up in Vienna. Taking advantage of the discontent of the local Austrian population and the growing anti-monarchist sentiment, the Strasserists bolstered their numbers and stormed the Schönbrunn Palace, bringing down the Habsburg monarchy. From the balcony of the palace, Otto Strasser declared the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the creation of the Germanic People's State in the former Austrian territory, with him serving as the first *Volksführer*.

The following weeks after the Strasserists had violently assumed power in the country proved to be even bloody than the events of the revolution itself. Many opponents of the new regime, whether they be socialists, communists, or democrats, were rounded up en masse and imprisoned or executed. The National Socialist Workers' Party became the sole legal party in the nation, and all other political parties were banned and suppressed. In accordance with the worker-based policies of Strasserism, trade unions were allowed to continue, as long as they swore an oath of allegiance to the new government and embraced the principles of National Socialism. While Otto Strasser rejected the notion of direct acts of antisemitic violence, he still was a firm believer in economic antisemitism, passing new laws to restrict their movements, eventually resulting in their mass expulsion from the country. Many nations put sanctions on the country, leading to the Germanic People's State becoming increasingly isolationist, both politically and economically.

In 1937, over a decade after the Strasserists had assumed power, Austria had been fully transformed into a Strasserist pariah state. While the Communist Party of Austria had been long been pushed underground every since its founding following the First World War, many far-left insurgents still remained in the nation and plotted against the new government. One such insurgent, Johann Koplenig, was tasked with assassinating Otto Strasser. On April 28th, as Strasser was finishing a speech in Vienna, Koplenig fired from the crowd three times, striking Otto twice in the chest. Strasser would die a couple of days later, leading to a political crisis as he had not yet named a successor. The different factions of the National Socialist Workers' Party eventually settled on a compromise candidate in the form of Gregor Strasser, Otto's brother. Considered to be a 'centrist' within the party, they all believed he would take each of the faction's concerns into consideration.