Suddenly, Nazi dictatorship over other countries broke out when Austrian Nazis assassinated Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dolfos on July 25, 1934. 10 Austrian Nazis invaded the Chancellery, eliminated the unarmed guards, and assassinated Dolfos. During the occupation of the Chancellery, Dolfos was shot twice at point-blank range, the first bullet through the abdomen and into the lumbar spinal cord, and the second through the neck and throat, killing him.
Throughout the 1930s, Nazi Germany was enthusiastic in its welcome for the Anschluss, the annexation of Germany and Austria. However, Engelbert Dollfuss, who became Chancellor of Austria on May 20, 1932, was only about 6 feet tall, but was enthusiastic about Austria's tyrannical dictatorship. On May 20, 1933, he formed Austrofascism, which organized Italian fascism in Austria against Hitler, who became chancellor on January 30, 1933. However, one sultry afternoon on July 25, 1934, armed Austro-Nazis attacked Chancellor Dollfuss in the Austrian capital, Vienna. The assassination of the brave little chancellor by Nazi Germany shocked the world. Nazi Germany failed to seize control of the Austrian government due to Italian intervention. Kurt von Schuschnick, who had put down the coup by assassination, took over the chancellorship from Dolfus.
Eventually, Schuschnick announced the holding of a referendum on March 13, 1938 to determine the future of Austria. Hitler did not want the result of the referendum and attacked Austria soon after. on March 12, 1938, Nazi Germany crossed the Austrian border. The next day, March 13, German tanks occupied Vienna and wandered along the Ringstrasse. A new referendum was held on April 10, and Austria was officially annexed by Nazi Germany. The new government was headed by the Nazi Party member Artur Seiss-Inquart, a puppet of Nazi Germany in Austria. The Rothschild mansion became the headquarters of the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. Hitler made his first armed conquests in other countries. Vienna, the glittering jewel of the Habsburg Empire, was occupied and became nothing more than a provincial town in Nazi Germany. For Austria, Nazi Germany's tyrannical dictatorship came early.
