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
German nationalism in Austria Following the "Anschluss", the historical aim of the German nationalists who supported the union between Austria and Germany was completed. The pan-Germanists were then fully absorbed into the Nazi Party (NSDAP). After the end of the Second World War, when Austria was re-established as an independent state, the German nationalist movement was discredited because of its links to the former Nazi regime. The dominant parties of the new republic were the Christian conservative Austrian People's Party and the Socialist Party. Both promoted Austrian independence, and considered the idea of a "Greater Germany" an anachronism. All former members of the Nazi