1938

1938 Austrian Anschluss referendum

Nazi-controlled plebiscite reports 99.73% Austrian approval of the Anschluss

The ballot asked Austrians to approve an annexation it stated had already been accomplished — and the printed “yes” circle was visibly larger than the “no.”

A vote on something already done

The plebiscite was held on 10 April 1938, in an Austria that German troops had occupied on 12 March and that annexation laws of 13 March had already declared part of the German Reich.

One mark on the ballot answered two questions at once: approval of the completed annexation and approval of Hitler's Reichstag list. The annexation law provided no mechanism by which a 'no' result could have reversed anything.

The manufactured electorate

Roughly 300,000 to 400,000 people were barred from voting — Jewish Austrians, Roma and Sinti, and known political opponents. The voting followed a month of propaganda, intimidation and terror.

For many participants the ballot was effectively public rather than secret: entering the booth looked suspicious, so voters often marked 'yes' outside it.

What 99.73 percent means

The regime announced 4,453,912 valid 'yes' votes against 11,929 'no' — 99.73 percent of valid votes, not of all Austrians. Official turnout was 4,471,618 of 4,484,617 listed electors, with 5,777 ballots invalid or disregarded. A separate vote in the pre-Anschluss German Reich the same day returned an official 99.01 percent.

Austrian historians differ over how much of the margin came from genuine enthusiasm, from intimidation, exclusion, public voting or falsification. The Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance holds that wholesale direct falsification was not necessary to manufacture the appearance of unanimity.

The claim that the result personally astonished Hitler is not established by the sources consulted; a scholarly account says only that it exceeded Nazi leaders' expectations.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 8 sources not yet audited Date corrected

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet and rewritten from that sheet. This article has not yet had an independent model audit. How the pipeline works →

Date corrected. The research places this at 1938-04-10.

What the sources leave uncertain

The date and official tabulation are well documented; what cannot be inferred from them is the result of a free vote.
Austrian historians differ over how much of the official margin came from genuine enthusiasm, intimidation, exclusion, propaganda, public voting, or direct falsification. The Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance says wholesale direct falsification was not necessary to manufacture the appearance of unanimity.
A scholarly account says the result exceeded Nazi leaders' expectations, but the specific claim that it personally 'astonished Hitler' is not established by the consulted sources.