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
Archduke Carl Christian of Austria Archduke Carl Christian of Austria Archduke Carl Christian of Austria (; born 26 August 1954 at Château de Belœil in Belœil, Belgium) is a Belgian aristocrat and a member of the formerly ruling Austro-Hungarian House of Habsburg-Lorraine. He is the third child of Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria and his wife, Princess Yolande de Ligne. In 1983, Carl Christian, along with his children, were incorporated by King Baudouin into the Belgian nobility with the title and style of "HSH Prince/sse de Habsbourg-Lorraine". To this day, they are considered, together with his cousin Archduke Lorenz and his brother Archduke Rudolf, the