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 Party of Austria Christian Party of Austria The Christian Party of Austria (, CPÖ; formerly the Christians – ) is a minor political party in Austria, founded on October 15, 2005. It changed its name under its new chairman Rudolf Gehring in late 2009, partially due to concerns by the Catholic Church over the use of the term "Christians" to mean only the party. The party was registered on January 23, 2006, and presented to the public on September 27, 2007, when it announced a popular initiative ("Volksbegehren") on the topic of children and families and that it would contest the 2008 election