Anschluß

Following World War I, the German word Anschluss 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). This was a basic idea of the Pan-German nationalist movement, and a first attempt, in 1918, to perform it was ineffective due to the World War I peace treaties. Now the anschluss is mainly associated with 1938 when Nazi Germany incorporated Austria as the Ostmark. Austria became independent again after World War II.

Origins

The roots of the anschluss idea are found in the 19th century pan-German movement that, under the leadership of Prussia, led to the union of the many small independent German states, but with the exclusion of the German parts of the Austrian-Hungarian empire.

After World War I, Austria-Hungary disintegrated and its provinces declared their independence. Many believed that the small German-speaking rest of Austria (often called "Restösterreich") could not survive on its own. Consequently, the constituting provisional Austrian general assembly proclaimed, on 12 November 1918, a new republic with the name Deutsch-Österreich ("German-Austria"), and declared it, in Article 2, as a part of the German republic.

This first anschluss, however, could not be 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. The latter also prohibited the name Deutsch-Österreich. Austria had to become the Republik Österreich.

In spite of this, nationalist political groups both in Germany and Austria continued to demand the anschluss (Anschlussbewegung).

In 1931, another attempt of closer collaboration, the project of a tariff-union with Germany, failed due to French opposition. The international court in Haag ruled against it.

In an agreement between Hitler and Schuschnigg (July 1936), Hitler had to acknowledge Austria's independence and to officially give up his influence on Austria's national socialism, while Schuschnigg hat to promise a "German" politics and taking in the national opposition. However, soon the parties of this treaty accused each other of violating it.

The Anschluss 1938

The Anschluss was the result of a threefold process, a combination of a quasirevolutionary seizure of power ("anschluss from the base"), an imperialistic intervention by the German Reich ("anschluss from outside"), and an apparently legal seizure of power ("anschluss from the top").

This process was set in motion when Schuschnigg had to visit Hitler in Berchtesgaden. Under heavy pressure he had to concede an amnesty for national socialists, and to accept Seyß-Inquart as Innenminister (minister for interior affairs) in his cabinet (appointed 16 February).

During the weeks following this visit, control and power shifted gradually from the government to the NS taking over key positions in the bureaucracy. Beginning with about 20 February, in the whole country NS demonstrations took place, answered by demonstrations of the Vaterländische Front.

Since Schuschnigg knew that the workers' leaders wanted an independent Austria he announced, on 9 March, a plebiscit to take place on 13 March, expecting about 65 to 75 percent votes of support. The German reaction can be considered as an indication that this was a realistic assumption.

11 March 1938

Anschluss from the base
The 11 March 1938 was characterized by NS demonstrations everythere and an openly shown confidence of victory. By command of the central NS administration, the regional sections of the NSDAP occupied (similar to a coup-d'etat) the local centres of power, a task completed in the evening by about 21 o'clock. Also in the evening, the first arrests of officials of the "authoritarian regime" and of Jews took place.

Anschluss from outside
At the same day, a series of ultimata, presented by Hermann Göring via telephone, and communicated by the ministers Seyß-Inquart and Glaise-Horstenau led first to the cancelling of the plebiscit, then to the resignation of Schuschnigg. Though hesitatingly, Bundespräsident (Federal president) Miklas had to appoint Seyss-Inquart as chancellor (around 22 o'clock) and finally, near midnight, to accept the list of ministers presented to him.

12 March 1938

In the morning of the next day, the first German troups entered Austria, and in the afternoon Hitler's way from Braunau (at the border) to Linz was a triumph, because the frustrated population welcomed him in a spirit of (irreal) hope for a better future.

Also in the morning, Heinrich Himmler and his staff landed in Vienna. In what followed, his troups of 12,000 German police were brought in position faster than the military troups.

13 March 1938

Though originally Hitler did not intend to fully perform the Anschluss at once, he took advantage of the people's acclamation and the weak foreign reactions. Austria became part of the Third Reich, until 1942 as Ostmark, then as "Donau- und Alpenreichsgaue" (the Danube and Alps provinces).

Anschluss from the top
On 13 March, the new NS controlled Ministerrat accepted a Bundesverfassungsgesetz (Federal Constitutional Law) on the Wiedervereinigung.

Seyß-Inquart was leading the Austrian government (Landesregierung), Wilhelm Keppler became representant of the German ministries (Reichsbeauftragter), while Josef Bürckel (Reichskommissar), directly responsible to Hitler, had the most influence.

The plebiscit of 10 April 1938

Soon the Anschluss was supported by public figures (like Karl Renner) and, in particular, by a formal declaration of the Austrian Catholic church (March 18). The plebiscit was rescheduled for 10 April and thoroughly prepared by the NS administration, Massive propaganda "by words" in all available media was accompanied by "propaganda by deeds", i.e., by political actions improving the economical situation and supporting the unemployed.

The referendum was not carried out in a democratic way and frequently included votes casted openly. The result of 99.7 percent participation (with 200,000 people excluded) and 99,6 percent of voting "yes" is therefore no surprise.

Foreign reaction

Britain filed a formal diplomatic protest, but took no other action.

Occupation

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 created Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria proper, to avoid the difficulty of transporting Jews to Germany.

Schuschnigg had been put under house arrest from March 12 through May 28, and then taken to a hotel for the next 17 moths, where he was required to clean the guards' latrines. He and his wife were later taken to concentration camp, and were freed on 4 May 1945.