Anschluss ([ˈʔanʃlʊs], German: Annexation or Connection) was the Nazi propaganda term for the invasion and incorporation of Austria into Nazi Germany in March 1938. German spelling, until the German orthography reform of 1996, was Anschluß and it was also known as the Anschluss Österreichs (  pronunciation , German: Austrian Annexation).

The 1938 Anschluss stands in contrast to the Anschluss movement (Austria and Germany united as one country), initially attempted in 1918, when the Republic of German-Austria attempted union with Germany, but the Treaty of Saint Germain (10 September 1919) and the Treaty of Versailles (28 June 1919) forbade both the union and the continued use of the name "German-Austria" (Deutschösterreich). Previously, the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 had resulted in the dissolution of the 19th-century German Confederation, a loose association which had included Austria as well as the various independent German monarchies, such as Prussia and Bavaria.

The Anschluss