When the story appeared in The Little Twentieth of August 1938 to August 1939, heralds the events of World War II appear. It is these events that Hergé will consider in the backstory of King Ottokar's Sceptre. At that time, Austria was threatened by Germany. On 11 and 12 March 1938, Nazi German troops invaded Austria. On 13 March, the country was annexed and became a province of the Third Reich. This is the Anschluss!
King Ottokar's Sceptre is the description of a failed Anschluss. In this episode, Borduria wants to take Syldavia with the help of the president of the steel Guard Müsstler, whose name is the mixture of Mussolini (Muss-) and Hitler (-tler), d Besides the methods used by the fictional characters are very close to those of German real tyrant and his Italian sidekick. With these powerful opponents, the King of Ruritania, Muskar XII apparently has no chance to fight and more especially if it loses the confidence of his people, do more with the traditional scepter.
To make it really real Syldavia with readers, Hergé had a trick: to discover it through the tourist brochure reads Tintin during his flight. All the elements, both historical and geographical, provided by this brochure, make it really this country. In addition, this information will be reused in the content of history to play an important role. There is also a major element found in Ottokar's Sceptre is the appearance of the diva Bianca Castafiore, already sings Tintin Air Faust Jewelry that our hero has a chance ( or rather bad luck) to hear again later.
