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The Anschluss (the annexation of Austria into NS Germany in March 1938) is highly regarded by historians as a crucial turning point where the frantic, overwhelming reaction of the public altered the course of history surprising even Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring. The joyful smiles on the faces of Hitler and Göring on the balcony of the Old Reich Chancellery in Berlin reflect this exact wave of triumph. They went into the week expecting a complex, tense geopolitical chess match and emerged days later having absorbed an entire sovereign nation overnight purely on the momentum of public fervor and military strength.

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