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
Socialist Students of Austria Socialist Students of Austria The Socialist Students of Austria (, VSStÖ) is a socialist and social democratic student organization at Austrian universities. The preliminary organization of the VSStÖ was formed in 1893 in Vienna. In the beginning, it was more a student debate club that was sympathetic to young workers and the union movement. It fought for general elections in which both men and women could vote, free access to universities, and against bourgeoisie science. The resistance to nationalist and anti-semitic movements at universities led to discrimination and attacks against members of the Socialist Students and led finally to the