By that time the Austrian authorities were more supportive for Habsburgs than in the 1920s and did not demand renunciation from them. Wilhelm Habsburg finally was able to receive official Austrian citizenship and passport with his real name. For sometime Wilhelm considered himself a supporter of Austrian and Italian fascists, but by end of 1930s became more sympathetic towards German Nazis, which most of Habsburgs did not support and feelings were mutual. It seemed that the new war in Europe was imminent and it could give Ukrainians a chance to restore its sovereignty and also seemed that only Germany was interested in that to happen. Wilhelm Habsburg greeted the 1938 Anschluss of Austria and officially recognized himself belonging to the German nation. Soon however, Wilhelm realized that the Hitlerites would not allow for creation of independent Ukraine even as a puppet state similar to Slovakia and Croatia. After he and his brother Karl Albrecht were arrested and interrogated by Gestapo, Wilhelm changed his political views and soon joined the local anti-Nazi resistance in Vienna.