Anschluss of Austria

Anschluss of Austria
Name	Anschluss of Austria
Caption	Celebrations in Vienna after entry of Wehrmacht forces, March 1938
Date	March 12–13, 1938
Location	Austria
Result	Annexation of Austrian Reich into German Reich

Anschluss of Austria The Anschluss of Austria was the 1938 incorporation of Austria into Nazi Germany that ended Austrian sovereignty and accelerated European crisis before World War II. It combined political maneuvering by Adolf Hitler, pressure from the German Foreign Office, mass mobilization among pro-Nazism factions in Vienna and Graz, and acquiescence or appeasement by leading capitals such as London and Paris. The event reshaped Central European borders, catalyzed persecution of Austrian Jews, and influenced later Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact calculations.

Background: Austria and German Nationalism

After World War I, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire produced the First Austrian Republic and contested ideas of German unity among Austrian Germans, Bavarians, and other German-speaking populations. The 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye prohibited political union with Germany and established the international status of Austria. Interwar politics saw rivalry between the Christian Social Party (Austria), the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria, and nationalist forces rooted in the legacy of the German National People's Party and the cultural milieu of Vienna. The rise of National Socialism in Germany after 1933 and the remilitarization under Heinrich Himmler and Hermann Göring intensified calls among movements like the Austrian Nazi Party and paramilitary groups such as the Sturmabteilung for Anschluss, while conservative Austrofascist figures like Engelbert Dollfuss and Kurt Schuschnigg promoted autonomy and the Austrofascism model.

Political Developments and Domestic Actors (1918–1938)

During the 1920s and 1930s Austria experienced political polarization between Austrian Social Democrats based in the Red Vienna welfare state and right-wing coalitions involving the Fatherland Front and clerical conservatives aligned with Pope Pius XI positions. Dollfuss’ 1933–1934 suppression of the Austrian Nazi Party culminated in the failed July 1934 coup supported by elements of the SS and SA and the assassination of Dollfuss, which linked Austrian instability to Benito Mussolini’s Italy and the Axis powers diplomacy. Successor Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg sought to preserve independence through treaties with France and repositioning toward the United Kingdom, while clandestine Austrian Nazis organized propaganda, strikes, and terror, cooperating with Rudolf Hess agents and exiled activists in Munich and Berlin.

German Pressure and Diplomatic Preparations

Beginning in 1936, relations between Berlin and Vienna shifted after the Rome–Berlin Axis and the weakening of Italy as a guarantor of Austrian independence. Hitler and Joachim von Ribbentrop leveraged the German Reichstag rhetoric, economic coercion, and intelligence operations by the Abwehr to destabilize the Schuschnigg government. Diplomatic notes, geheimdienst activity, and demands for cabinet posts by Austrian Nazis were accompanied by military maneuvers near the Austrian Alps and mobilizations of Wehrmacht units. International responses were constrained by the policy of appeasement practiced by Neville Chamberlain and Édouard Daladier, while the League of Nations lacked the means to enforce the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye prohibitions.

The Anschluss: Events of March 1938

In March 1938 Schuschnigg announced a plebiscite to assert independence but, after a meeting at Berchtesgaden with Hitler on March 11, was forced to resign; Arthur Seyss-Inquart, an Austrian National Socialist, was appointed Chancellor. On March 12, the Wehrmacht crossed the border without significant resistance, entering Innsbruck, Salzburg, and Vienna amid organized Nazi demonstrations involving the Hitler Youth and SA contingents. Large public rallies in Heldenplatz and orchestrated marches culminated in a manipulated plebiscite on April 10 endorsing union under conditions set by Berlin; the formal incorporation was proclaimed by the Reichstag and celebrated with ceremonies invoking the Nazi Party Rally aesthetic.

Domestic and International Reactions

Domestically, many Austrians greeted the takeover with enthusiasm while other groups, including Social Democrats, trade unionists, and religious minorities, protested or fled. Reactions abroad were mixed: United Kingdom and France protested diplomatically but did not intervene militarily; Italy, once a protector of Austrian independence under Benito Mussolini, accepted the outcome after the Pact of Steel realignments; the Soviet Union condemned the annexation in principle but remained diplomatically isolated. International law debates involved the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) settlement and the constraints of the League of Nations system.

Legal and Administrative Integration into Nazi Germany

After annexation, Austrian institutions were reorganized under Gauleiter administration aligned with the Nazi Party (NSDAP). The Austrian Federal Army was subsumed into the Wehrmacht; Austrian civil service, police, and judiciary were Nazified under directives from Reinhard Heydrich and Hermann Göring’s economic offices. Laws such as the Nuremberg Laws and decrees issued by the Reich Ministry of the Interior were applied, property seizures were carried out by agencies linked to Hauptamt and Gestapo, and Austrian municipalities were renamed and restructured under Gau divisions.

Consequences: Persecution, War, and Historical Legacy

The Anschluss precipitated immediate persecution of Austrian Jews, Roma, political dissidents, and clergy; many were subjected to violent pogroms, internment, and deportation to Dachau, Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex, and other camps administered by the SS. Economically, Austrian assets and industries were integrated into German war preparations directed by leaders like Albert Speer and Hjalmar Schacht-era banking networks. The annexation emboldened Hitler’s expansionism, undermined the Stresa Front remnant, and set precedent for the Sudetenland crisis and eventual invasion of Poland in 1939. Postwar, the 1943 Moscow Declaration and the 1945 Allied occupation of Austria led to debates over Austrian culpability, culminating in the 1955 Austrian State Treaty and Declaration of Neutrality; historiography includes works by scholars referencing Christopher Clark, Timothy Snyder, and archival collections from the Austrian State Archives and German Federal Archives that examine collaboration, resistance, and memory politics. The Anschluss remains a central topic in studies of nationalism, totalitarianism, and the legal limits of territorial revisionism.

Category:Austria in World War II Category:History of Germany Category:1938 in Europe