ON THIS DAY ·
Anschluss
12–13 Mar 1938 — German troops cross into Austria, where crowds cheer their arrival. Within days, Vienna’s Jews are forced to scrub pavements. Austria has disappeared from the map without a shot being fired.
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The moment in context
German troops crossed into Austria on 12 March 1938, and Germany annexed the country. Many Austrians celebrated, while Jews faced immediate persecution. The union changed the position of another state: Czechoslovakia, which France had promised to defend, now had German territory on three sides.
From Anschluss and the Munich Agreement, chapter 7 of The Road to War, 1931–1941 (1938).
The place: Anschluss — map and full story →
Teach this in 5 minutes
- Why it happened — The memory of war and fear of bombing. A generation after the trenches, British leaders had reason to dread another European war. Air power added a fear of cities being devastated at…
- The turn — Munich, 29–30 September 1938. Munich was the last opportunity to resist Hitler with Czechoslovakia’s army and border fortifications intact as an ally. The Soviet Union’s…
- What it changed — Czech arms in German hands. The loss of Czech defenses and industry changed the forces available for a later war. Germany acquired further military resources when it occupied…
Then ask the room: Was Munich a betrayal, a blunder, or the best of the bad options available to Chamberlain in September 1938? The argued answer is on the chapter page →
The atlas that shows it
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