History of Austria wanting to annex the country to the German Third Reich, resulting in the assassination of Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss. While the coup failed, Adolf Hitler succeeded in annexing Austria on 12 March 1938 as "Ostmark", until 1945. Austria was partitioned after the Second World War and then in 1955 became the independent sovereign state (Second Republic) that has existed to the present day. In 1995, Austria joined the European Union. The modern state of Austria is considered to have three geographic zones. The biggest third consists of the Alps, which covers 62.8% of the country's landmass. In the north, across the
Christian Social Party (Austria) the run-up to the 1891 Imperial Council ("Reichsrat") elections under the populist Vienna politician Karl Lueger (1844–1910). Referring to ideas developed by the Christian Social movement under Karl von Vogelsang (1818–1890) and the Christian Social Club of Workers, it was oriented towards the petit bourgeoisie and clerical-Catholic; there were many priests in the party, including the later Austrian chancellor Ignaz Seipel, which attracted many votes from the tradition-bound rural population. As a social conservative counterweight to the "godless" Social Democrats, the party gained mass support through Luegers anti-liberal and antisemite slogans. Its support of the Austro-Hungarian cohesion and the ruling