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
Government of Austria Government of Austria The Government of Austria () is the executive cabinet of the Republic of Austria. It is composed of the Chancellor, who is head of government, the Vice-Chancellor, and the ministers. Since the 1929 reform of the Austrian Constitution, all members of the Federal Government are appointed by the Austrian Federal President. As the Federal Government must maintain the confidence of parliament, the President must generally abide by the will of that body in his or her appointments. In practice, the leader of the strongest political party, who ran as a "chancellor candidate" in a parliamentary election, is