As we all know, on September 1, 1939, marked by the "lightning attack" of Poland by Germany with 58 divisions, 2800 tanks, 2000 aircraft and 6000 cannons, The Second World War broke out.
In fact, before this, Germany had already invaded Austria and Czechoslovakia. The occupation of these two countries is "effortless" for Germany. Especially when invading Austria, Germany did not fire a single shot, the knife did not blood, so that Austria, with a land area of more than 80,000 square kilometers, became a german province.
What's going on?
One
On the map, Germany and Austria are "neighbours". From an ethnic point of view, both countries are countries with the German nation as the main body. Historically, Prussia, the predecessor of Germany, and the Austrian Empire, the predecessor of Austria, fought fiercely for supremacy in The German region for a long time.
Later, Prussia unified Germany, and Germany became a European power; the Austrian Empire (Austria-Hungary) was torn apart after the end of World War I, and Austria became a small European state.
Around the time of World War I, Germany and Austria had intentions of merging. However, once Germany and Austria are merged, they will inevitably become the hearts and minds of the European countries. Thus, in the Treaty of Versailles signed on 28 June 1919, it was clearly stipulated that Germany recognized Austria's independence and could never merge with it.
In the eyes of the British, French, American and other powers, this clause could prevent the merger of Germany and Austria once and for all.
However, it turned out that the entire Treaty of Versailles was nothing more than a few pages of waste paper in the eyes of Germany, let alone one of the conventions.
Two
After the end of the First World War, European countries entered a brief period of peaceful development, and their economies gradually recovered. Germany is no exception. Germany has adopted a series of measures to stimulate economic development, promoting the development of industry, agriculture and foreign trade, and the country's strength has been greatly improved, surpassing that of the pre-war period. At this time, Germany again germinated the idea of foreign expansion.
It was imperative to annex Austria, which was strategically important in the heart of Europe.
Initially, Germany adopted the method of supporting the Austrian Nazis and allowing them to carry out subversive activities within Austria in order to achieve the goal of the merger of Germany and Austria. On July 25, 1934, a group of Austrian Nazis shot and killed Austrian leader Taulpheus, occupied the radio station, and declared Lintrun prime minister. However, Austria quickly quelled the operation, and Italy announced its support for Austria, sending 4 divisions to deploy in the Italian-Austrian border area, so the German plan was unsuccessful.
On 11 July 1936, the German Minister to Austria, Franz von Baben, signed a secret agreement with the new Austrian leader Schuschnigg and a public communiqué to control Austria's internal and foreign affairs.
On March 13, 1938, under German coercion, Austria was forced to sign the Law on the Reunification of Austria and Germany, which formally annexed Austria and Austria became Germany's Orientale Province. A day later, German troops marched into Austria and occupied the country.
Three
Germany was able to easily occupy Austria for two reasons.
On the one hand, these two countries have the same roots and the same species, and they are originally one family. The language, culture and customs of their border provinces are almost identical. During World War I, Germany and Austria (Austria-Hungary) were the main forces of the Allied Powers, fighting side by side. For this reason, when Germany annexed Austria, most Austrians were not psychologically resentful. They welcomed the arrival of the German army. In World War II, Austria, with a total population of just over 7 million, had more than 1 million people joined the German army.
On the other hand, it is related to the "appeasement policy" adopted by Britain and France. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Britain and France repeatedly tolerated in the face of aggressive Germany. Although Austria was an ally of Britain and France, both Britain and France stood idly by when Austria was threatened by Germany.
In February 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain publicly declared that when Germany occupied Austria, Austria could not count on the assistance of other powers. France has also indicated that it has no intention of interfering in Austrian affairs. U.S. Ambassador to France Bullitt informed Germany that Washington "fully understands" Germany's plan to change the map of Europe.
When Germany annexed Austria, Britain and France symbolically submitted protest notes, but within a month Britain, France, and the United States recognized Germany's occupation of Austria.
The aforementioned Italy was once a staunch supporter of Austria. However, before Italy had sent troops to invade Ethiopia and intervene in the Spanish Civil War, it had consumed a large number of troops, and it was already powerless to help Austria militarily. Moreover, after Germany and Italy formed the Roman-Berlin Axis, Italy had no need to support Austria.