Anschluss, political union of Austria with Germany, achieved through annexation by Adolf Hitler in 1938. Mooted in 1919 by Austria, Anschluss with Germany remained a hope (chiefly with Austrian Social Democrats) during 1919–33, after which Hitler’s rise to power made it less attractive.
On March 11–13, 1938, Nazi Germany annexed the neighboring country of Austria. This event is known as the Anschluss. The Anschluss was the Nazi German regime’s first act of territorial aggression and expansion. The Anschluss was widely popular in both Germany and Austria.
The Anschluss ('fusion') of 12 March 1938 was the annexation and formal union of Austria with Germany. Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), the Nazi leader of Germany, dreamed of an empire which enclosed all German speakers, his 'Greater Germany'.
The annexation of Austria, known as the Anschluss, had remained a long-standing goal for both Hitler and many German nationalists who had been agitating for unification since the end of the First World War.
Anschluss, the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938, was a significant event that shaped history. It was a crucial step towards Adolf Hitler’s ambitions of uniting all German-speaking people under one nation.
German word meaning connection or annexation that is used to refer to the takeover of Austria by Germany in March 1938. In German political jargon, the term Anschluss came into use at the end of World War I to denote the desire to include Austria in a united Greater Germany.
The Anschluss refers to the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in March 1938, driven by Adolf Hitler's ambition to unify all German-speaking peoples under one regime.