Anschluß

Following World War I, the German word Anschluss ("connection") was used to denote the union of Germany and Austria (short for "Anschluß Österreichs an das Deutsche Reich", i.e. Austria joining or becoming part of Germany). It was a basic idea of the Pan-German nationalist movement.

Adolf Hitler, who was born in Austria and despised the House of Hapsburg, had a strong emotional commitment to union. In 1938, Germany exerted heavy political and military pressure, and forced the proclaimed as Wiedervereinigung (reunion) of Austria with the Third Reich on 13 March.

First proclamation

The anschluss of Deutschösterreich to the German republic was first proclaimed by the (provisional) Austrian national assembly (12 November 1918) but was not immediately realized because it was explicitly forbidden by the peace treaties of Versailles (28 June 1919) with Germany and of St. Germain-en-Laye (10 September 1919) with Austria. In spite of this, nationalist political groups both in Austria (Anschlußbewegung) and in Germany continued to demand it.

Economic pressures

There was an attempt, in the early 1930s, to create a customs union between German and Austria, to create larger markets. Nevertheless, external powers, seeing this as an attempt to circumvent the Treaty of Versailles, prevented it.

12 February 1938 meeting

The Austrian Bundeskanzler (Federal Chancellor) Kurt Schuschnigg, was ordered to visit Hitler in Berchtesgaden (12 February), as a result of which he had to grant an amnesty for national socialists and to appoint Arthur Seyß-Inquart as Innen-Minister (Minister for interior affairs).

February to March 11

On 9 March, Schuschnigg announced a referendum for 13 March, that was cancelled (11 March) after a German ultimatum and the forced resignation of Schuschnigg and his government.

German action

Finally, on 13 March 1938, the Anschluss of Austria, was performed by German troops entering Austria, and a new government was formed by Seyß-Inquart. Austria, now called Ostmark, became part of the German Reich. After that the referendum held to legitimize the Anschluss was only a formality

Early occupation

Literally "annexation", by convention, the Anschluss was the March 1938 Nazi takeover of Austria by measures short of full-scale war. Austria, the birthplace of Adolf Hitler, had always been a goal of Nazi Pan-German nationalism. The process accelerated with the Austro-German Agreement of July 1936, with a secret annex that gave additional power to the Austrian Nazis. They steadily increased subversion and terrorism throughout 1937, and Austrian police captured documents indicating they planned to stage a revolt in the spring of 1938, which could provide a pretext for German intervention.

Former German Chancellor Fritz von Papen had been a special representative to the Austrian Chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg. Von Papen revealed that one of the captured documents had called for his own killing by German agents, again as a pretext for intervention. Ironically, von Papen had escaped death in the Night of the Long Knives purge in 1934. Hans Lammers informed him, on 4 February, that he was fired, along with Constantin von Neurath and others who did not give total support to Hitler, such as War Minister Werner von Blomberg and Army Chief of Staff Werner von Fritsch. Von Papen began keeping, in Switzerland, secret copies of his correspondence with Hitler.

Shirer, reporting from Vienna, reported the antisemitism of the Austrian Nazis as worse than anything he had seen in Germany, characterized by looting and sadism. Reinhard Heydrich, assisted by Adolf Eichmann, set up an Office of Jewish Emigration, by which would-be emigrants could buy permission to leave. They also creaed Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria proper, to avoid the difficulty of transporting Jews to Germany.