Anschluss
The Anschluss (German: [ˈʔanʃlʊs] , or Anschluß, lit. 'joining' or 'connection'), also known as the Anschluß Österreichs (, English: Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an Anschluss (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Greater Germany") arose after the 1871 unification of Germany excluded Austria and the German Austrians from the Prussian-dominated German Empire.