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| | '''Anschluß''' (or '''Anschluss''') is the German word for "unification". It is the specific term for the formal annexation by [[Nazi Germany]] of Austria, then a federal state, into the Third Reich on 13 March 1938. The Nazis chose the title for [[propaganda]] purposes to recast coerced annexation as peaceful joinder. The union is also called the ''Anschluß Österreichs''. |
| After World War I, the German word '''Anschluss''' was used to denote the union of Germany and Austria
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| (short for "Anschluß Österreichs an das Deutsche Reich",i.e, Austria joining or becoming part of Germany).
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| The anschluss of Deutschösterreich to the German republic was first proclaimed by the (provisional) Austrian national assembly (12 November 1918)
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| but was not realized because it was explicitly forbidden by the peace treaties
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| of Versailles (28 June 1919) with Germany and of St. Germain-en-Laye (10 September 1919) with Austria.
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| In spite of this, nationalist political groups both in Austria (''Anschlußbewegung'') and in Germany continued to demand it.
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| In 1938, Germany exerted heavy political and military pressure:
| | ==References== |
| <br>
| | {{reflist}} |
| The Austrian ''Bundeskanzler'' (Federal Chancellor) [[Kurt Schuschnigg]],
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| had to visit Hitler in Berchtesgaden (12 February), as a result of that
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| he had to grant an amnesty for national socialists and to appoint [[Arthur Seyß-Inquart]] as ''Innen-Minsiter'' (Minister for interior affairs).
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| <br>
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| On 9 March, Schuschnigg announced a referendum for 13 March,
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| that was cancelled (11 March) after a German ultimatum and the forced resignation of Schuschnigg and his government.
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| <br>
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| Finally, on 13 March 1938 the Anschluss of Austria,
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| proclaimed as ''Wiedervereinigung'' (reunion) of Austria with the German Reich, was performed by German troops entering Austria,
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| and a new government was formed by Seyß-Inquart.
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| Austria, now called [[Ostmark]], became part of the German Reich.
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| After that the referendum, held to legitimize the Anschluss, was only a formality.
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| 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]], was always 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.
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| Former German Chancellor [[Fritz von Papen]] had been a special representative to 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 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. <ref name=S>{{citation
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| | author = William Shirer
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| | title = The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
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| | publisher = Simon & Schuster
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| | year = 1960}}, pp. 322-324</ref>
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| ==12 February 1938 meeting==
| | [[Category:Reviewed Passed if Improved]][[Category:Suggestion Bot Tag]] |
| ==February to March 11==
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| ==British reaction==
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| ==Czech reaction==
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| ==Had there been a plebiscite==
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| ==Early occupation==
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| 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. <ref>Shirer, p. 351</ref>
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| ==References==\
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| {{reflist}}
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