How did Hitler achieve Anschluss with Austria?
A sequencing task and analysis questions to recap the Anschluss of Austria by Adolf Hitler. It can be used to help students to prepare for the GCSE AQA unit on Conflict and Tension: Interwar Years.
Students use previous learning and/or internet research to put the events leading up to the start of World War II into chronological order, going from the Austrian Chancellor’s crackdown on Socialists and Nazis in July 1934 to the annexation of Austria in March 1938. The jumbled text includes the murder of Engelbert Dollfuss, the protection provided to Austria by fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini, the referendum planned by Kurt von Schuschnigg and the eventual invasion of Austria by Nazi Germany.
Student then answer the following questions:
- What stood in the way of Hitler’s original plans to unite with Austria?
- How would you describe Hitler’s strategy for uniting with Austria?
An 8-mark question in the style of the AQA exam is suggested in the teaching notes.
Answers to the sequencing task are provided.
An extract from the sequencing task:
|
j. |
Italy had an agreement with Austria that it would protect Austria from outside aggression. The Italian dictator (Mussolini) honoured the agreement and moved Italian troops to the Austrian border to deter Hitler from invading. |
|
k. |
German troops marched into Austria unopposed. Hitler now had control of Austria. |
|
l. |
Hitler ordered Austrian Nazis to cause as much trouble as possible in order to put pressure on Schuschnigg. Hitler hoped to prove that law and order had broken down in Austria, which would justify him sending in troops to Vienna to restore peace. |
