We explain what the Anschluss or German annexation of Austria was. In addition, the historical context and its protagonists.
What was the Anschluss?
The Anschluss was Austria’s annexation for Nazi Germany Proclaimed on March 13, 1938. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler presented annexation as a political union, so he used the German term Anschluss that can be translated as “union” or “connection.”
The Anschluss formed Part of the expansionist project promoted by Hitler in the thirties and breached the peace treaties Signed at the Peace Conference of Paris in 1919, after World War I (1914-1918).
This measure was approved by a rigidly controlled plebiscite by Nazi Germany that was held on April 10, 1938 and was favorable to annexation. Most of Austria was renamed Ostmark (Eastern brand) and the chancellor of Austria became a kind of governor.
The governments of the United Kingdom and France protested against annexation but did not react, because they were committed to the appeasement policy. Shortly after Hitler obtained the British and French agreement for the annexation of the south ones in Czechoslovakia. In March 1939 Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia and on September 1 began the invasion of Poland, which caused the beginning of World War II (1939-1945).
Key points
- Anschluss was the German Austrian annexation proclaimed on March 13, 1938.
- He was part of the expansionist project of German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, who came to power in 1933.
- “Anschluss” means “union” or “connection.” Hitler used this word to justify the union of German -speaking populations under the dominance of the third Reich.
- See also: German expansion before World War II
The historical context
The defeat of the central empires in the First World War implied important territorial losses for Germany and the dissolution of the Austrohungal Empire, which gave way to a series of independent states, such as Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
Some nationalist and pangermanist leaders (supporters of the union of the countries of German origin) proposed the political unification of all German -speaking populations. In November 1918, the Austrian state claimed to join Germany. In a plebiscite, The population of Austria voted mostly in favor of this Union or Anschluss.
However, the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint Germain, prepared by the representatives of the entrance and signed in 1919, ignored the principle of nationalities and prohibited the political union of Austria and Germany.
From now on, The Anschluss became a key goal for German nationalists. From the appointment of Adolf Hitler as German Chancellor in 1933, the Anschluss had less supporters in Austria.
- See also: World War I peace treaties
The antecedents of the ANSCHLUSS
Hitler’s rise to power in Germany precipitated the events that led to Anschluss. In 1934, the Austrian Nazis tried a coup d’etat in Vienna And they murdered Austria’s chancellor, Engelbert Dollfuss.
The coup d’etat failedpartly because of the opposition of the fascist Italy leader, Benito Mussolini, who was an ally of Dollfuss and quickly deployed a series of military divisions in the Alpine Pass of the Brennero, on the border between Austria and Italy. Hitler postponed his annexation plans.
Austria’s new chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, was contrary to union with Germany. Hitler then followed the plans gathered in the Hossbach Memorandum and tried to force Schuschnigg’s government to accept Austria’s annexation through threats.
After an interview with Hitler in February 1938, Schuschnigg was forced to appoint the Austrian Nazi leader Arthur Seys-Inquart as interior minister. At that time, Mussolini had begun to approach Hitler and left unprotected the Austrian government.
The German annexation of Austria (Anschluss)
Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg tried to resist and convened a plebiscite about anxchuss for March 13. This decision precipitated the German invasion of Austria.
Schuschnigg resigned on March 11, 1938 and was replaced by Seys-Inquart. This new chancellor called the German troops to enter Austria and the Nazi invasion began on March 12, 1938.
On March 13, 1938, the Anschluss was proclaimed. The favorable reaction from the Austrian population led to the call for a plebiscite on April 10. According to Nazis authorities, 99.7 % of the population approved annexation, but the electoral process was strongly guarded by Nazism and the figure was not representative of the majority opinion.
Austria went on to integrate the third Reich with the name of Ostmark (Eastern brand)administered by a kind of governor. The first to occupy this position was Seys-Inquart. Austria recovered its independence in 1945after the German defeat in World War II.
- Can serve you: Munich pact
The Austrian protagonists of Anschluss
Engelbert Dollfuss (1892-1934)
Engelbert Dollfuss was Austrian Chancellor from 1932 to 1934time in which he established an authoritarian regime based on the conservative principles of the Catholic Church and Italian fascism. He was a member of the Christian Social Party and the Peasant Federation, and served as Minister of Agriculture before being appointed Austrian Chancellor in 1932.
Contrary to union with Germanyit was harshly criticized by both social democracy and by the nationalists (supporters of a union of all German -speaking populations). Dollfuss He relied on the alliance with Mussolini’s Italy to avoid incorporation into Nazi Germany.
In the internal field established in 1933 an authoritarian regime of the single partythe Patriotic Front. In February 1934, paramilitary forces faithful to his government repressed an insurrection of social democratic workers in Vienna.
His profascist policy did not prevent the Austrian Nazi opposition, favorable to union with Germany, to maintain its enmity with the regime. In July 1934, Dollfuss He was killed in an attempted coup d’etat of Austrian Nazism.
Kurt von Schuschnigg (1897-1977)
Kurt von Schuschnigg was a Austrian statesman and chancellor, known for his struggle to prevent the Nazi annexation of Austria In March 1938.
As a lawyer with sympathies for the missing monarchy of the Habsburg, he entered the Christian Social Party and was Minister of Justice and Minister of Education in the Engelbert Dollfuss cabinet (1932-1934). After Dollfuss’s murder in 1934, Schuschnigg was appointed Austrian Chancellor.
Schuschnigg He was unable to stop Nazi aspirations about Austria. After an interview with Hitler in his refuge in Berchtesgaden in February 1938, he tried to reaffirm the Austrian national identity through the call for a plebiscite about the Anschluss with Germany.
However, in March 1938 Austria was invaded by the German army and annexed to the third Reich. Schuschnigg was taken prisoner from the Nazis And he had to wait for 1945 to achieve his release. Subsequently, he emigrated to the United States.
Arthur Seys-Inquart (1892-1946)
Arthur Seys-Inquart was an Austrian military and political, Austrian political union defender with Germany. He was one of the leaders of Austrian Nazism, although he was not a member of the Austrian Nationalist Party.
Due to the German pressure on the Austrian government, Seys-Inquart was appointed Minister of the Interior in February 1938. When Foreign Minister Kurt von Schuschnigg tried to convene a plebiscite on the union with Germany, the German army prepared to invade Austria and the chancellor renounced.
Seys-Inquart He was appointed Chancellor on March 11, 1938 and sent a message to Berlin in which invited the German army to enter Austria.
The invasion began on March 12 and annexation was proclaimed on March 13. Seys-Inquart became governor of Austria, which had become a third Reich province called Ostmark. In October 1939 he was appointed Vice Governor of the occupied Poland and in May 1940 he was in charge of the Netherlands.
When World War II, Seys-Inquart ended He was tried for war crimes in Nuremberg’s processes. He was sentenced to death in the gallows and was executed on October 16, 1946.
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References
- Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2023). Anschluss. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
- Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2022). Arthur Seys-Inquart. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
- Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2022). Kurt von Schuschnigg. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
- Evans, RJ (2007). THE THIRD REICH IN POWER. Peninsula.
- Sevillano Calero, F. (2020). The Europe of award. The disrupted order. Synthesis.
