Germany's Annexation Of Austria: Understanding The Past

On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria to annex the German-speaking nation for the Third Reich. This event is known as the Anschluss, which means joining or connection in German. The annexation of Austria was the first act of territorial aggression and expansion by Nazi Germany, violating the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain, which expressly forbade the unification of Austria and Germany. The invasion was led by none other than Adolf Hitler, who was born in Austria, and was met with enthusiastic support from most Austrians.

German troops march into Austria

On the morning of 12 March 1938, the 8th Army of the German Wehrmacht crossed the border into Austria. The troops were greeted by cheering Austrians with Nazi salutes, Nazi flags, and flowers. The "invasion" without shots fired was therefore dubbed the Blumenkrieg ("Flower War"). For the Wehrmacht, the invasion was the first big test of its machinery. Although the invading forces were badly organized and coordination among the units was poor, it mattered little because the Austrian government had ordered the Austrian Bundesheer not to resist.

Hitler, riding in a car, crossed the border at his birthplace, Braunau am Inn, with a 4,000-man bodyguard. In the evening, he arrived at Linz and was given an enthusiastic welcome. 250,000 Austrians gathered in Linz to meet Adolf Hitler and support Anschluss. The enthusiasm displayed toward Hitler and the Germans surprised both Nazis and non-Nazis, as most people had believed that a majority of Austrians opposed Anschluss. Many Germans from both Austria and Germany welcomed the Anschluss as they saw it as completing the complex and long overdue unification of all Germans into one state.

Hitler had originally intended to leave Austria as a satellite state with Seyss-Inquart as head of a pro-Nazi government. However, the overwhelming reception caused him to change course and absorb Austria directly into the Reich. On 13 March, Seyss-Inquart announced the abrogation of Article 88 of the Treaty of Saint Germain, which prohibited the unification of Austria and Germany, and approved the replacement of the Austrian states with Reichsgaue. The seizure of Austria demonstrated once again Hitler's aggressive territorial ambitions, and, once again, the failure of the British and the French to take action against him for violating the Versailles Treaty. Their lack of will emboldened him toward further aggression.

Hitler's journey through Austria became a triumphal tour that climaxed in Vienna on 15 March 1938, when around 200,000 cheering German Austrians gathered around the Heldenplatz (Square of Heroes) to hear Hitler say that "The oldest eastern province of the German people shall be, from this point on, the newest bastion of the German Reich" followed by his "greatest accomplishment" (completing the annexing of Austria to form a Greater German Reich) by saying "As leader and chancellor of the German nation and Reich I announce to German history now the entry of my homeland into the German Reich."

Hitler appoints a new Nazi government

On 30 January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg. However, Hitler wanted more power, and so he sought to pass an "enabling act" that would allow his government to pass laws directly, without the support of the Reichstag.

Hitler lacked the two-thirds supermajority necessary to pass the act, and so Hindenburg dissolved the Reichstag on 31 January. In the resulting election, the Nazis won 43.9% of the vote. With the support of his allies, Hitler enjoyed the support of 60% of the deputies. He secured the support of the Catholic Centre Party by promising to respect the rights of the Catholic Church, and the Enabling Act was passed.

Hitler had effectively become a dictator, but Hindenburg technically retained the ability to dismiss him, and so was the only check on Hitler's power. In the summer of 1934, Hindenburg grew outraged at escalating Nazi excesses and threatened to sack Hitler and declare martial law. Hitler responded by ordering the Night of the Long Knives, in which several SA leaders, including Ernst Röhm, were murdered.

On 19 August 1934, seventeen days after Hindenburg's death, a referendum was held on merging the posts of Chancellor and President. The referendum was associated with widespread voter intimidation and significant electoral fraud. Hitler used the large "yes" vote to claim public support to succeed Hindenburg as the de facto head of state of Germany. He took the title Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Reich Chancellor).

The Anschluss is proclaimed

The Anschluss was proclaimed on 13 March 1938, when Hitler issued a decree declaring the complete annexation of Austria to Germany. The German name for Austria, Österreich, was changed to the Nazi name Ostmark.

The Anschluss was the culmination of a series of events that began with Hitler's takeover of power in Germany in 1933. Hitler had long harboured ambitions to unite all Germans in one state and viewed Austria as part of this "Greater Germany". However, the idea of unification was not universally popular in Austria, and the Austrofascist Fatherland Front, which controlled the Austrian government, opposed unification.

In early 1938, Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg announced a referendum on a possible union with Germany, to be held on 13 March. Hitler, portraying this as defying the popular will, threatened an invasion and pressured Schuschnigg to resign. On 11 March, the day before the planned referendum, the German army crossed the border into Austria, unopposed by the Austrian military.

Hitler's original plan was to form a German-Austrian union, but the enthusiastic reception he received in Austria caused him to change course and absorb Austria directly into the Reich. On 13 March, the second session of the Austrian government passed the “Reunification with Germany Law”. The federal president Wilhelm Miklas refused to endorse it and resigned, and Hitler signed a law that made Austria a German province.

The Anschluss was a flagrant breach of the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint Germain, which specifically prohibited the unification of Austria and Germany. It was also a huge step in Hitler's rise to power, and he soon set his sights on Czechoslovakia and the Sudetenland.

Austria becomes a province of Nazi Germany

On March 11-13, 1938, Nazi Germany annexed Austria, an event known as the Anschluss. This marked the beginning of Austria becoming a province of Nazi Germany.

The idea of a union between Austria and Germany, or the Anschluss, was not new. It had first arisen after the unification of Germany in 1871, which excluded Austria and German Austrians from the new German Empire. Support for the union grew after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, as many believed that Austria, stripped of its imperial land, was not economically viable.

In the 1920s, the idea of the Anschluss was supported by many Austrian citizens of the political left and center. However, over time, popular support for unification began to fade. The idea became closely associated with the Nazis after Hitler rose to power in 1933. For the Nazis, the unification of Austria and Germany was an integral part of their ideology, which sought to incorporate as many ethnic Germans as possible into a "Greater Germany".

In early 1938, Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg announced that a referendum on unification would be held on March 13. Hitler, however, was not willing to let the Austrian people decide. He threatened to invade Austria and pressured Schuschnigg to resign. On March 11, the day before the planned referendum, the German army crossed the border into Austria, unopposed by Austrian military forces.

On March 12, 1938, German soldiers in tanks and armored vehicles crossed the German-Austrian border. They met no resistance and were welcomed as heroes by many Austrians. Hitler himself rode in a car across the border at his birthplace, Braunau am Inn, and gave an emotional speech in Linz.

On March 13, Austrian chancellor Arthur Seyss-Inquart, a pro-Nazi politician, signed the "Reunification of Austria with Germany" law. This formally incorporated Austria into Nazi Germany, and Austria became a province of the German Reich. Hitler himself shed tears of joy when presented with the actual document.

Hitler's journey through Austria became a triumphal tour, culminating in a speech in Vienna on March 15, where he boasted of his greatest accomplishment of uniting his birth country with Germany. The seizure of Austria demonstrated Hitler's aggressive territorial ambitions and his willingness to violate international treaties.

The annexation of Austria was followed by an outbreak of anti-Jewish violence. Jews were forced to scrub walls and sidewalks, clean public toilets, and perform other humiliating tasks. They were also jailed, had their homes and businesses looted, and were driven out of public life. The process of Aryanization began, and Jews were robbed of their freedoms and blocked from schools and universities.

A referendum to ratify the annexation was held on April 10, preceded by a major propaganda campaign. The result showed 99.73% approval for the Anschluss in Austria, but it is important to note that Jews, Roma, and political opponents of the Nazis were excluded from the vote.

Austria remained a province of Nazi Germany until the end of World War II. On April 27, 1945, a provisional government in Allied-occupied Austria declared the Anschluss ""null and void," and the country regained its independence.

Hitler's triumphal tour of Austria

Hitler's entourage entered the city to cheering crowds. The previous day, he had ordered a law drafted providing for the immediate Anschluss (union) of Austria with Germany, which was approved by the Austrian government led by Arthur Seyss-Inquart.

Hitler gave a speech in Heldenplatz in front of tens of thousands of cheering people, boasting of his "greatest accomplishment". He said:

> "As leader and chancellor of the German nation and Reich I announce to German history now the entry of my homeland into the German Reich."

> "German Austria must return to the great German motherland" and "common blood belongs in a common Reich".

Hitler's annexation of Austria was marked by an outbreak of anti-Jewish violence. Throughout Vienna, Jewish men and women were grabbed at random by Nazis and forced to scrub walls and sidewalks clean of any pro-independence slogans. They were also forced to clean public toilets and SS barracks with sacred Hebrew prayer cloths.

Hitler's tour of Austria was also a tour of his youth. He visited the Academy of Fine Arts, which had twice rejected him on the basis that his drawings were unsatisfactory. He also gave a speech at Heldenplatz, where, years earlier, he had sold hand-painted postcards on the street to pay for his bed at a men's boarding house.

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