Anschluss
German troops enter Austria during the Anschluss
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗German troops crossed the frontier around 5 a.m. — after Austria had already surrendered to every demand in Hitler's ultimatum.
12 March 1938: the border at 5 a.m.
German troops crossed into Austria at approximately 5 a.m. on 12 March 1938, without armed resistance.
The demands had already been met. Kurt Schuschnigg had cancelled his plebiscite on Austrian independence and resigned on 11 March under threat of invasion, ordering Austria's military not to resist.
Shortly after midnight, President Wilhelm Miklas yielded to Hitler's ultimatum and appointed the Austrian Nazi Arthur Seyss-Inquart chancellor; Seyss-Inquart formed a Nazi-dominated cabinet.
Cheers, flowers and immediate terror
Many Austrians greeted German forces with cheers and flowers as Hitler travelled through Braunau and Linz toward Vienna.
Anti-Jewish and political terror began immediately. Austrian Nazis forced Jews to scrub the pro-independence referendum slogans from the streets while crowds jeered.
The cheering crowds were real, but they cannot establish unanimous Austrian consent: opponents were threatened, arrested or excluded.
The law on the 13th, the vote in April
On 13 March, Seyss-Inquart's government enacted the law formally incorporating Austria into Germany. The vote Schuschnigg had cancelled was designed to affirm an independent Austria, not to approve union with Germany.
A plebiscite held on 10 April returned an official result of 99.73% in favour.
That vote came after Austria had already been occupied and legally incorporated, under coercive conditions, with Jews and other regime opponents excluded.
Sources
Researched 23 Aug 2026 5 sources 2 audit passes
How this was checked
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What the sources leave uncertain
- The invasion date and sequence are well documented.
- The cheering crowds were real but cannot establish unanimous Austrian consent; opponents were threatened, arrested or excluded from the later plebiscite.
- The April result was an official Nazi figure from a vote held after annexation, under coercive conditions and with Jews and other regime opponents excluded.