A Brief History
On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria and the absorption of Austria into Germany became a fact. Other countries have either merged or absorbed independent lands, either voluntarily or involuntarily, and today we look at some of those mergers.
Digging Deeper
A long lasting, but tenuous merger is the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This union was a work in progress from 1535 to 1801, until most of Ireland became independent in 1922.
The USSR, which resulted from Russia transforming into a giant communist state in 1922, incorporated 21 “republics” and later also Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia being annexed during World War II. Soviet dissolution in 1991 resulted in 15 independent states.
The United Arab Republic was an attempt to unite Egypt and Syria in 1958, that lasted until Syria seceded in 1961. Other attempts to unite Arab countries also failed.
Tanganyika merged with the Zanzibar Archipelago in 1964 after both countries achieved independence to form Tanzania.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Charles River Editors. The Soviet Union: The History and Legacy of the USSR from World War I to the End of the Cold War. Independently published, 2019.
Gehl, Jurgen. Austria, Germany, and the Anschluss, 1931-1938. Praeger, 1979.
The featured image in this article, a screenshot of a clip from UFA newsreel “German Entry into Austria,” is considered public domain in the United States because its copyright was owned or administered by the Alien Property Custodian and the copyright in the source country is or was owned by a government or instrumentality thereof. The above provision is contained in 17 U.S.C. § 104A(a)(2).
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