Anschluss was the 1938 incorporation of Austria in "Greater Germany"
under the Nazi regime. The events of March 12, 1938 were the first
major step in Adolf Hitler's long-desired expansion of the Third
Reich, preceding the inclusion of the Sudentenland later in 1938 and
the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939, and finally leading to World
War II with the assault on Poland. Although the Wehrmacht entered into
Austria to enforce the Anschluss, no fighting took place, in part
because of prior political pressure exerted by Germany, but primarily
because of the well-planned internal overthrow by the Austrian Nazi
Party of Austria's state institutions in Vienna on March 11, the day
before German troops marched across the border. The international
response to the Anschluss was moderate: the United Kingdom held to its
policy of appeasement and did not enforce the Treaty of Versailles,
which ended World War I and specifically prohibited any attachment of
Germany and Austria. Austria ceased to exist as an independent nation
until a preliminary Austrian government was finally reinstated on
April 27, 1945, and was legally recognized by the Allies in the
following months.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anschluss
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1680:
Pueblo Indians captured Santa Fe from the Spanish.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pueblo_people)
1772:
A coup led by Gustav III was completed by adopting a new Instrument of
Government, ending the Age of Liberty in Sweden.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_III_of_Sweden)
1831:
Nat Turner led a slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Turner)
1959:
Hawaii was admitted as the 50th U.S. state.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii)
1986:
Toxic gas erupted from volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon, killing over
1700 people.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Nyos_tragedy)
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Wikiquote of the day:
If you want the world to knowWe won't let hatred growPut a little love
in your heart. -- Jackie DeShannon --
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jackie_DeShannon)