Anschluss

Anschluss was the annexation of Austria by Germany in March 1938, carried out under the leadership of Adolf Hitler and presented by the regime as the “reunification” of German-speaking peoples. The event unfolded between March 11–13, 1938, and was followed by a highly controlled plebiscite on April 10, 1938. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the annexation violated the post–World War I treaties and marked Nazi Germany’s first major act of territorial expansion; Britannica similarly defines it as the political union of Austria with Germany achieved by annexation in 1938. (encyclopedia.ushmm.org)

Background and constraints Following World War I, international settlement terms explicitly forbade union between Austria and Germany in both the Treaty of Saint-Germain and the Treaty of Versailles; Austria’s internal politics during the interwar period included an unsuccessful Nazi coup in 1934 and increasing authoritarian rule that limited cohesive resistance to external pressure. Italian support that had previously helped deter German intervention receded by 1938. These dynamics, summarized by Britannica and its history of Austria, set the stage for the crisis of early 1938. (britannica.com)

Berchtesgaden agreement and the March crisis On February 12, 1938, Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg met Hitler at Berchtesgaden and accepted demands that empowered Austrian Nazis, including installing Arthur Seyss-Inquart over policing and security. On March 9, Schuschnigg announced a plebiscite on independence; Germany issued ultimatums on March 11 demanding cancellation of the vote, Schuschnigg’s resignation, and Seyss-Inquart’s appointment. German troops crossed into Austria at dawn on March 12, greeted by cheering crowds, and Hitler traveled to Linz and Vienna. A detailed timeline and analysis are provided by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Photographic collections at the Library of Congress document mass demonstrations and the regime’s staging of events. (encyclopedia.ushmm.org)

Legal incorporation into the Reich On March 13, 1938, the regime proclaimed the “Law concerning the Reunion of Austria with the German Reich,” whose Article 1 declared: “Austria is a province of the German Reich,” and scheduled a plebiscite for April 10. An English translation of the promulgated text is available via Yale Law School’s Avalon Project. Subsequent Reich decrees extended German laws and administrative authority into Austria. (avalon.law.yale.edu)

Plebiscite and propaganda The April 10, 1938 vote—conducted after the annexation and amid pervasive coercion and propaganda—returned an official result of approximately 99.7% in favor of “reunification,” a figure reported by Britannica. Contemporary propaganda and ballot design favored “Yes” responses, as shown in source material curated by the German History in Documents and Images. (britannica.com)

Administration and renaming After annexation, Austria’s institutions were rapidly integrated into the Third Reich. The Nazis replaced Austrian nomenclature with “Ostmark” and later, in 1942, officially referred to the area as the “Alpen- und Donau-Reichsgaue,” reflecting the erasure of separate Austrian statehood. These changes are outlined by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (encyclopedia.ushmm.org)

Persecution and violence in Austria Anti-Jewish violence and humiliation accompanied and followed the annexation. The USHMM documents “scrubbing parties” (Reibpartien) and other abuses in Vienna beginning the night of March 11. The intensity of antisemitic persecution in Austria escalated through 1938, culminating in Kristallnacht (November 9–10, 1938), where destruction in Vienna was particularly severe. Britannica’s history of Austria reports that more than 100,000 Jews—about half of Austria’s Jewish population—emigrated by the outbreak of war, and that more than 65,000 Austrian Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. (encyclopedia.ushmm.org)

International reaction and legal context The annexation contravened the postwar treaties (Versailles and Saint-Germain), but international responses were limited to protests that accepted a fait accompli. The event is widely treated by historians as a critical step in the policy of appeasement and a precursor to further territorial demands. See the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on treaty violations and Britannica’s historical survey of Austria on British, French, and U.S. reactions. (encyclopedia.ushmm.org)

Postwar status of Austria Allied governments declared the annexation null and void in the 1943 Moscow Declarations, stating that Austria was the “first free country to fall a victim to Hitlerite aggression,” while also affirming Austrian responsibility for participation alongside Germany. The text is available via the Avalon Project. Austria’s full sovereignty was restored after occupation with the signing of the Austrian State Treaty in Vienna on May 15, 1955, which entered into force on July 27, 1955. For context on the treaty’s negotiation and significance, see Philip E. Mosely’s analysis in International Organization (Cambridge University Press), and summary details in the general reference entry on the Austrian State Treaty. (avalon.law.yale.edu)