Anschluß

Following World War I, the German word Anschluss was used to denote the reunion of Germany and Austria (short for "Anschluß Österreichs an das Deutsche Reich", i.e. Austria rejoining or again 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.

First proclamation

The Anschluss of Deutschösterreich to the German republic was first proclaimed by the (provisional) Austrian national assembly (12 November 1918). This was led by Victor Adler, who was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under the interim government of Karl Renner. He died on 11 November, the day the war ended, and a day before the proclamation. Adler had been one of the coauthors of the 1882 Linz Program, which called for the Germanization of Austria.

Anschluss was not 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.

Political pressures

In spite of this, nationalist political groups both in Austria (Anschlußbewegung) and in Germany continued to demand it. Adolf Hitler, who was born in Austria and despised the House of Hapsburg, had a strong emotional commitment to union.

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.

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 Franz 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.

The most powerful German diplomat in Austria was not von Papen, but Wilhelm Keppler. He would become the first Reich Commissioner for Austria, shifting to Slovakia in 1939.

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 and reaction

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 1938, the Anschluss of Austria, ccepted by Schuschnigg under threat of attack. German troops then entered 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

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.