Diplomatic History Commons^™

The American Reaction To Germany's Annexation Of Austria, Mark A. Tarner

Masters Theses

Germany's annexation of Austria in March 1938 was the cumulation of almost twenty years of Austrian dissatisfaction with the Treaty of Saint Germain, the lack of consistent political and economic support by the western democracies and the international instability of the 1930s. All these factors worked in favor of pro-Anschluss Germans and Austrians and to the handicap of the allies. Once Adolf Hitler came to power, he drastically changed German policy toward Austria. Anschluss had special significance for Hitler and his decision to abandon an evolutionary revision of Austria's political status to one of radical expansionism and annexation proved fatal …