A referendum on the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

with

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

was held in German-occupied

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

on 10 April 1938, Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p176 alongside one in Germany. German troops had already occupied Austria one month earlier, on 12 March 1938. The official result was reported as 99.73% in favour,Austria, 10 April 1938: Anschluss with Germany, Reichstag list
Direct Democracy with a 99.71% turnout. The Austrian government had planned a referendum to assert its sovereignty for 13 March 1938, but Germany invaded Austria the day before in order to prevent the vote taking place. Political enemies (communists, socialists, etc.) and Austrian citizens of Roma or Jewish origin—roughly 360,000 people or 8% of the Austrian population—were not allowed to vote in the

plebiscite A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...

Background

After the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the newly founded

claimed sovereignty over the majority German-speaking territory of the former Habsburg empire. According to its provisional constitution it declared to be part of the also newly founded German Republic. Later plebiscites in

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

and

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

in 1921, where majorities of 98.77% and 99.11% voted for a unification with Germany, showed that it was also backed by the population. In September 1919 Austria had to sign the Treaty of Saint Germain, which not only meant significant losses of territory, but also a forced change of name from "German Austria" to "Austria". Furthermore, Article 88 of the treaty stated that "the independence of Austria is inalienable otherwise than with the consent of the Council of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

", to prevent any attempt to unite with Germany.

Campaign

The referendum was supported by the Social Democratic Party of Austria, whose leader

Karl Renner Karl Renner (14 December 1870 – 31 December 1950) was an Austrian politician and jurist of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria. He is often referred to as the "Father of the Republic" because he led the first government of German ...

endorsed Hitler on 3 April and Cardinal

Theodor Innitzer Theodor Innitzer (25 December 1875 – 9 October 1955) was Archbishop of Vienna and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. Early life Innitzer was born in Neugeschrei (Nové Zvolání), part of the town Weipert (Vejprty) in Bohemia, at that time ...

, the highest representative of the

Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Austria, which meant that about two-thirds of Austrians could be counted on to vote for the Anschluss. However, Innitzer was intimidated into endorsing Anschluss and was assaulted by Nazi supporters, and the Vatican condemned Nazism and forbade Catholics from supporting the Anschluss.

Conduct

The ballots featured a large circle for 'yes' votes and a small one for 'no' votes. This was described as a

nudge Nudge or Nudging may refer to: Arts * Nudge (band), an American electronic rock band * Nudge, a character from the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson * "Nudge Nudge", a sketch from the third ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' * Gerald "Nudge" N ...

. Several other claims were made that the vote was rigged. The result was "... the outcome of opportunism, ideological conviction, massive pressure, occasional vote rigging, and a propaganda machine that Austria's political culture had never before experienced." The massive pressure to which people were exposed came from the fact that many were marking the ballot paper in front of the campaign workers in order not to be suspected of voting against the Anschluss.Wilhelm J. Wagner: ''Der große Bildatlas zur Geschichte Österreichs''. Kremayr & Scheriau, 1995, (chapter „Heim ins Reich“). The secrecy of the ballot was in practice non-existent.Sandra Paweronschitz. 2006. Zwischen Anspruch und Anpassung. Journalisten und der Presseclub Concordia im Dritten Reich. Wien. p.21 However, ''

LIFE Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' in 1938 claimed that the results of the referendum and its German counterpart were "largely honest". However, according to the estimates of the Austrian government, with the

voting age A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain before they become eligible to vote in a public election. The most common voting age is 18 years; however, voting ages as low as 16 and as high as 25 currently exist ( ...

of 24, about 70 % of Austrians would have voted to preserve the Austrian independence. In case of a fair plebiscite, the Anschluss would have been supported only by 20 % of the Austrian population. According to some

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

reports, only a quarter to a third of Austrian voters in Vienna were in favour of the ''Anschluss'', while in most rural areas, especially in Tyrol, the support for the Anschluss was even lower.

Results

The referendum question was: After the referendum's approval, Austria was integrated as several

administrative divisions Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

into Nazi Germany.

References

Citations Bibliography * * * {{Austrian elections 1938 elections in Austria Referendums in Austria 1938 referendums April 1938 events Austria under National Socialism