State of Austria (1938–1940) Land Österreich Reichsgaue of the Ostmark (1940–1942) Reichsgaue der Ostmark Alpine and Danube Reichsgaue (1942–1945) Alpen- und Donau-Reichsgaue | |||||||||
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1938–1945 | |||||||||
Anthem: Deutschlandlied ("Song of Germany") Horst-Wessel-Lied ("The Horst Wessel Song") Proposed: German Rise. A festive song ("Deutsche Auferstehung. Ein festliches Lied") | |||||||||
Status | Administrative division of Nazi Germany | ||||||||
Capital | Greater Vienna (de facto) | ||||||||
Common languages | German | ||||||||
Demonym(s) | Austrian | ||||||||
Reichskommissar | |||||||||
• 1938–1940 | Josef Bürckel | ||||||||
Reichsstatthalter | |||||||||
• 1938–1939 | Arthur Seyss-Inquart | ||||||||
• 1939–1940 | Josef Bürckel | ||||||||
• 1940–1945 | Baldur von Schirach | ||||||||
Historical era | |||||||||
13 March 1938 | |||||||||
15 March 1938 | |||||||||
10 April 1938 | |||||||||
• Ostmark law | 14 April 1939 | ||||||||
13 April 1945 | |||||||||
• Declaration of Independence | 27 April 1945 | ||||||||
• Independence from Germany | 8 May 1945 | ||||||||
Currency | Reichsmark (ℛℳ) | ||||||||
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History of Austria |
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Austria portal |
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] Throughout World War II, 950,000 Austrians fought for the Nazi German armed forces. Other Austrians participated in the Nazi administration, from Nazi death camp personnel to senior Nazi leadership; the majority of the bureaucrats who implemented the Final Solution were Austrian.[2][3]
After World War II, many Austrians sought comfort in the myth of Austria as being the first victim of the Nazis.[4] Although the Nazi Party was promptly banned, Austria did not have the same thorough process of denazification that was imposed on post-war Germany. Lacking outside pressure for political reform, factions of Austrian society tried for a long time to advance the view that the Anschluss was only an imposition of rule by Nazi Germany.[5] By 1992, the subject of the small minority who formed an Austrian resistance, versus the vast majority of Austrians who participated in the Nazi war machine, had become a prominent matter of public discourse.[6]