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Austria was part of Nazi Germany from 13 March 1938 (an event known as the Anschluss) until 27 April 1945, when Allied-occupied Austria declared independence from Nazi Germany. Nazi Germany's troops entering Austria in 1938 received the enthusiastic support of most of the population. [1]
Anti-Semitism, which had been widespread in Vienna for many centuries and had become more prevalent since the turn of the century, eventually combined with the Nazi policy of what ultimately proved to be Jewish extermination.
During an attempted coup in 1934, Austrian chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss was assassinated by Austrian Nazis. The defeat of the coup prompted many leading Austrian Nazis to go into exile in Germany, where they continued their efforts to unify the two countries.
Nazi Germany annexed Austria in March 1938. Learn about Austria’s capital, Vienna, which at the time was home to a large and vibrant Jewish community.
As in other major cities of Nazi Germany, large flak towers were constructed in Vienna as defensive structures against these bombers. These structures remain in place today, as they are so thick and their foundations so deep that to destroy them would damage surrounding buildings.
After a prolonged period of economic stagnation, political dictatorship, and intense Nazi propaganda inside Austria, German troops entered the country on March 12, 1938. They received the enthusiastic support of most of the population. Austria was incorporated into Germany the next day.
A wave of street violence against Jewish persons and property followed in Vienna and other cities throughout the so-called Greater German Reich during the spring, summer, and autumn of 1938, culminating in the Kristallnacht riots and violence of November 9-10.
