History of Austria
Austria was dominated by the House of Habsburg and House of Habsburg-Lorraine ("Haus Österreich") from 1273 to 1918. In 1808, when Emperor Francis II of Austria dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, Austria became the Austrian Empire, and was also part of the German Confederation until the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. In 1867, Austria formed a dual monarchy with Hungary: the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867–1918). When this empire collapsed after the end of World War I in 1918, Austria was reduced to the main, mostly German-speaking areas of the empire (its current frontiers), and adopted the name The Republic of German-Austria. However the union and name were forbidden by the Allies at the Treaty of Versailles. This led to the creation of the First Austrian Republic (1918-1933).
Austria under National Socialism
In 1918, at the end of World War I, with the breakup of the multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire, and with the abolition of the Habsburg monarchy, there were three major political groups competing with one another in the young republic of Austria: the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SDAP), Christian Social Party (CS), and the nationalist Great German Union ("Großdeutsche Vereinigung"), which became the Greater German People's Party ("Großdeutsche Volkspartei", or GVP) in 1920. At the time, smaller parties such as the Communist Party of Austria ("Kommunistische Partei Österreichs", or KPÖ) and the Austrian National Socialists ("Deutsche Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei", or DNSAP) were neither present in the Reichsrat (Imperial Council) nor the Nationalrat (National Council).