Austrians
Historically, Austrians were regarded as ethnic Germans and viewed themselves as such. Austria was part of the Holy Roman Empire and the German Confederation until the Austro-Prussian war in 1866 which resulted in Prussia expelling Austria from the Confederation. Thus, when Germany was founded as a nation-state in 1871, Austria was not a part of it. In 1867, Austria was reformed into the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918 at the end of World War I, Austria was reduced to a rump state and adopted and briefly used the name the Republic of German-Austria ("Republik Deutschösterreich") in an attempt for union with the Republic of Germany, but was forbidden due to the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919). The First Austrian Republic was founded in 1919. The Third Reich annexed Austria with the "Anschluss" in 1938.
States of the Weimar Republic
After the "Anschluss" ("union") with Germany, Austria , renamed Ostmark, became the first of a new type of administrative subdivision called a "Reichsgau" (not to be confused with Nazi Party "Gaue"). Austria's last pre-war chancellor Arthur Seyss-Inquart became its first "Reichsstatthalter". However, with the promulgation of the "Ostmarkgesetz" on 1 May 1939, the former States of Austria were reorganized into seven new "Reichsgaue", each under the rule of a government official holding the dual offices of "Reichsstatthalter" (governor) and "Gauleiter" (Nazi Party leader). Generally, these positions were occupied by the last state premier.