GroBdeutschland

[Wernazuma III]

Technically, Austria was incorporated democratically though one could reasonably
object to allowing German soldiers to vote to end Austrian independence since they were not Austrian citizens.

Democratically. Here a picture of the plebiscite. Note the size of the circles. Also note that people had to make their cross in public.

[Drake Tungsten]

Austria was an all-too-willing member of the Nazi Reich.

[MikeH]

Did Oerdin start this thread purely so we could laugh at his mistakes?

[Wernazuma III]

Austria was an all-too-willing member of the Nazi Reich.

I never claimed it wasn't. Still, Hitler must have found it risky to make a true plebiscite. Most probably not because he feared he would lose it, but because a result of 60%, or even 80% would not sit well.
And technically speaking: not Austria, but the Ostmark was a willing member.

[BeBMan]

I think the Anschluss was similar to the democratic process that brought native Americans to join Greater America

[C0ckney]

[Heraclitus]

The Nazis had already taken over and the vote was obviously fraudulent. It passed with 99.1%.

Most historians agree the vote would have passed even without bullying. Even the Slovenian minority in Austria mostly voted for annexation.

[Heraclitus]

I think the Anschluss was similar to the democratic process that brought native Americans to join Greater America

Bull.

[Wernazuma III]

I already knew a bunch about Austria-Hungary but I found this to be interesting since I knew there was an internal division but I never knew the exact lines. Orange is the Empire of Austria, the whitish color was the Kingdom of Hungary (which had a right to fly its own flag), while Bosnia was neither but administered by the imperial authorities.

Yes, a reality conveniently forgotten by many who claim that German Austrians kept Hungary and Eastern Europe under its boot. Actually, Hungarians kept them under their boot, while German Austrians controlled the western parts. They had their own parliament, their own administration, etc. - it was only the personal union of the Emperor/King which made Austria-Hungary a unity...
Hungary, as Austria, was considered a loser power of WWI (in contrast to the other nations emerging from the dust). That's also the only reason why German-West-Hungary eventually was passed over to Austria as a new province (Burgenland) while all other ethnically German territories became part of the new nation states.

[Heraclitus]

Well Austrians didn't exactly mind keeping minority nationalities in their half of the empire under their boot.

[Dinner]

I think the Anschluss was similar to the democratic process that brought native Americans to join Greater America

You mean there was no one left to object?

Of course, there was no democratic process which signed off on the subjugation of most native tribes in America. They were simply told to obey or die. At the end of the day they had no choice in the matter. It was virtually impossible for hunter-gatherers to fight off a full time western Army supported via taxation and supplied by a modern military-industrial complex.

My point, however, is that even without Hitler's shenanigans the majority of Austrians would have likely voted for union albeit not enough for Hitler's propaganda machine. Just as a majority of Sudetenland Germans probably would have voted for union with their fellow Germans even though Hitler definitely rigged the vote. The question is what would have been just? Would it have been just to allow ethnic Germans to redraw the map of Europe using Wilsonian principles or would it have not been?

[Wernazuma III]

Well Austrians didn't exactly mind keeping minority nationalities in their half of the empire under their boot.

Why do people keep reading things into my posts which aren't there. Stop making assumptions.
Plus, in comparison to Hungarian boots, Austrian boots were padded with cotton.
As if your freaky nationalists (Maister) had treated the German/Austrian minority with silk gloves after 1918.
We should admit that all nationalist ideologies of 19th and 20th centuries did bring little but hate and injustice - some more brutal, some more subtle, some with more power and some with less.

[Dinner]

Austria was an all-too-willing member of the Nazi Reich.

Indeed. Austria provided more SS agents then Germany despite the fact that Germany's population was several times Austria's.

[Wernazuma III]

Would it have been just to allow ethnic Germans to redraw the map of Europe using Wilsonian principles or would it have not been?

To answer your original question: I'm convinced it would have been just, and might have helped to prevent the excess of Nazihood. But it was not politically opportune because by allowing it, they would still have created a rabid nationalist monster in central Europe.

[Dinner]

Most historians agree the vote would have passed even without bullying. Even the Slovenian minority in Austria mostly voted for annexation.

That's the question, isn't it? Would anchluss have passed even without Hitler's tricks. Most historians, I think, would say, yes, though Hitler wanted an overwhelming victory so, of course, he rigged things. He wanted 100% victory while a true democratic vote would have delivered more then 50% but less then Hitler's 99%. How much exactly? No one can say but it is clear a majority was in the offering.