title: Barbie

text: The first Barbie doll wore a black-and-white zebra striped swimsuit and signature topknot ponytail, and was available as either a blonde or brunette. The doll was marketed as a "Teen-age Fashion Model", with her clothes created by Mattel fashion designer Charlotte Johnson. The first Barbie dolls were manufactured in Japan, with their clothes hand-stitched by Japanese homeworkers. Around 350,000 Barbie dolls were sold during the first year of production.


title: Barbie

text: Louis Marx and Company sued Mattel in March 1961. After licensing Lilli, they claimed that Mattel had "infringed on Greiner & Hausser's patent for Bild-Lilli's hip joint", and also claimed that Barbie was "a direct take-off and copy" of Bild-Lilli. The company additionally claimed that Mattel "falsely and misleadingly represented itself as having originated the design". Mattel counter-claimed and the case was settled out of court in 1963. In 1964, Mattel bought Greiner & Hausser's copyright and patent rights for the Bild-Lilli doll for $21,600.


title: Barbie

text: Ruth Handler believed that it was important for Barbie to have an adult appearance, and early market research showed that some parents were unhappy about the doll's chest, which had distinct breasts. Barbie's appearance has been changed many times, most notably in 1971 when the doll's eyes were adjusted to look forwards rather than having the demure sideways glance of the original model. This would be the last adjustment Ruth would make to her own creation as, three years later, she and her husband Elliot were removed from their posts at Mattel after an investigation found them guilty of issuing false and misleading financial reports.


title: Barbie

text: Barbie was one of the first toys to have a marketing strategy based extensively on television advertising, which has been copied widely by other toys. In 2006, it was estimated that over a billion Barbie dolls had been sold worldwide in over 150 countries, with Mattel claiming that three Barbie dolls are sold every second.


title: Barbie

text: The standard range of Barbie dolls and related accessories are manufactured to approximately 1/6 scale, which is also known as "playscale". The standard dolls are approximately 11½ inches (29 cm) tall.


title: Barbie

text: Since the mid-to-late 1980s, Barbie-branded products included not only the range of dolls with their clothes and accessories, but also a large range of branded goods such as books, apparel, cosmetics, and audiovisual content. Barbie is well-known for her appearance as a virtual actress in a series of computer-animated feature films starting with "Barbie in the Nutcracker" in 2001, which were distributed on home video formats and broadcast on Nickelodeon in the United States (and globally) until 2017. Since 2017, they have been revamped as streaming television films, branded as animated "specials" and released through streaming services, primarily on Netflix.


title: Barbie

text: As at the release of the film "Barbie in the Pink Shoes" on February 26, 2013, the film series have sold over 110 million units globally. Before the films, the brand had two television specials released in 1987 in response to the rise of digital media at that time; "" and . Since 2012, she has appeared in several television and web series; including "", "Barbie: Dreamtopia", "Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures" and "" and as a supporting character in Pixar's "Toy Story" films and the "My Scene" media franchise. In 2015, Barbie began appearing as a vlogger on YouTube called "Barbie Vlogger" where she talks about her fictional life, fashion, friends and family, and even charged topics such as mental health and racism. She was portrayed by Australian actress Margot Robbie in a live-action film adaptation which is scheduled to be released on 21 July 2023 by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States.


title: Barbie

text: Barbie's full name is "Barbara Millicent Roberts". In a series of novels published by Random House in the 1960s, her parents' names are given as George and Margaret Roberts from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin. In the Random House novels, Barbie attended Willows High School; while in the "Generation Girl" books, published by Golden Books in 1999, she attended the fictional Manhattan International High School in New York City (based on the real-life Stuyvesant High School).


title: Barbie

text: She has an on-off romantic relationship with her then-boyfriend Ken (full name "Kenneth Carson"), who first appeared in 1961. A news release from Mattel in February 2004 announced that Barbie and Ken had decided to split up, but in February 2006, they were hoping to rekindle their relationship after Ken had a makeover. In 2011, Mattel launched a campaign for Ken to win Barbie's affections back. The pair officially reunited in Valentine's Day 2011. At the release of "Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures" in 2018, the pair are seen as just friends or next-door neighbors.


title: Barbie

text: Mattel has created a range of companions and relatives for Barbie. She has three younger sisters: Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea (named Kelly until 2011). Her sisters have co-starred in many entries of the "Barbie" film series, starting with "Barbie & Her Sisters in A Pony Tale" from 2013. Retired members of Barbie's family included Todd (twin brother to Stacie), Krissy (a baby sister), and Francie (cousin). Barbie's friends include Hispanic Teresa, Midge, African American Christie, and Steven (Christie's boyfriend). Barbie was also friendly with Blaine, an Australian surfer, during her split with Ken in 2004.


title: Barbie

text: Barbie has had over 40 pets including cats and dogs, horses, a panda, a lion cub, and a zebra. She has owned a wide range of vehicles, including pink Beetle and Corvette convertibles, trailers, and Jeeps. She also holds a pilot's license, and operates commercial airliners in addition to serving as a flight attendant. Barbie's careers are designed to show that women can take on a variety of roles in life, and the doll has been sold with a wide range of titles including "Miss Astronaut Barbie" (1965), "Doctor Barbie" (1988), and "Nascar Barbie" (1998).


title: Barbie

text: Barbie has become a cultural icon and has been given honors that are rare in the toy world. In 1974, a section of Times Square in New York City was renamed Barbie Boulevard for a week. The Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris at the Louvre held a Barbie exhibit in 2016. The exhibit featured 700 Barbie dolls over two floors as well as works by contemporary artists and documents (newspapers, photos, video) that contextualize Barbie.


title: Barbie

text: In 1986, the artist Andy Warhol created a painting of Barbie. The painting sold at auction at Christie's, London for $1.1million. In 2015, The Andy Warhol Foundation then teamed up with Mattel to create an Andy Warhol Barbie.


title: Barbie

text: Outsider artist Al Carbee took thousands of photographs of Barbie and created countless collages and dioramas featuring Barbie in various settings. Carbee was the subject of the feature-length documentary Magical Universe. Carbee's collage art was presented in the 2016 Barbie exhibit at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris in the section about visuals artists who have been inspired by Barbie.


title: Barbie

text: In 2013, in Taiwan, the first Barbie-themed restaurant called "Barbie Café" opened under the Sinlaku group.


title: Barbie

text: On September 7, 2021, following the debut of the streaming television film "" on Netflix, Barbie joined forces with Grammy Award-nominated music producer, songwriter, singer and actress Ester Dean and Girls Make Beats – an organization dedicated to expanding the female presence of music producers, DJs and audio engineers – to inspire more girls to explore a future in music production.


title: Barbie

text: In 2009, Barbie celebrated her 50th birthday. The celebrations included a runway show in New York for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. The event showcased fashions contributed by fifty well-known haute couturiers including Diane von Fürstenberg, Vera Wang, Calvin Klein, Bob Mackie, and Christian Louboutin.


title: Barbie

text: In 2019, Mattel launched the "Barbie Dream Gap Project" to raise awareness of the phenomenon known as the "Dream Gap": beginning at the age of five, girls begin to doubt their own intelligence, where boys do not. This leads to boys pursuing careers requiring a higher intelligence, and girls being underrepresented in those careers. As an example, in the U.S., 33% of sitting judges are female. This statistic inspired the release of Judge Barbie in four different skin tones and hairstyles with judge robes and a gavel accessory.


title: Barbie

text: In May 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mattel announced a new line of career dolls modeled after the first responders and essential workers of 2020. For every doll purchased, Mattel donated a doll to the First Responders Children's Foundation.


title: Barbie

text: In February 2022, Mattel celebrated its 60-year anniversary of the Barbie Dreamhouse by partnering with Habitat for Humanity International. Mattel committed to taking on 60 projects, including new construction, home preservation, and neighborhood revitalization.


title: Barbie

text: From the start, some have complained that "the blonde, plastic doll conveyed an unrealistic body image to girls."


title: Barbie

text: Criticisms of Barbie are often centered around concerns that children consider Barbie a role model and will attempt to emulate her. One of the most common criticisms of Barbie is that she promotes an unrealistic idea of body image for a young woman, leading to a risk that girls who attempt to emulate her will become anorexic. Unrealistic body proportions in Barbie dolls have been connected to some eating disorders in children.


title: Barbie

text: A standard Barbie doll is tall, giving a height of at 1/6 scale. Barbie's vital statistics have been estimated at 36 inches (chest), 18 inches (waist) and 33 inches (hips). According to research by the University Central Hospital in Helsinki, Finland, she would lack the 17 to 22 percent body fat required for a woman to menstruate. In 1963, the outfit "Barbie Baby-Sits" came with a book titled "How to Lose Weight" which advised: "Don't eat!". The same book was included in another ensemble called "Slumber Party" in 1965 along with a pink bathroom scale permanently set at 110 lbs. (50 kg), which would be around 35 lbs. (16 kg) underweight for a woman tall. Mattel said that the waist of the Barbie doll was made small because the waistbands of her clothes, along with their seams, snaps, and zippers, added bulk to her figure. In 1997, Barbie's body mold was redesigned and given a wider waist, with Mattel saying that this would make the doll better suited to contemporary fashion designs.


title: Barbie

text: In 2016, Mattel introduced a range of new body types: 'tall', 'petite', and 'curvy', releasing them exclusively as part of the Barbie Fashionistas line. 'Curvy Barbie' received a great deal of media attention and even made the cover of "Time" magazine with the headline "Now Can We Stop Talking About My Body?". Despite the curvy doll's body shape being equivalent to a US size 4 in clothing, some children reportedly regarded her as "fat".


title: Barbie

text: Although Barbie had been criticized for its unrealistic-looking "tall and petite" dolls, the company has been offering more dolls set to more realistic standards in order to help promote a positive body image.


title: Barbie

text: Complaints also point to a lack of diversity in the line. Mattel responded to these criticisms. Starting in 1980, it produced Hispanic dolls, and later came models from across the globe. For example, in 2007, it introduced "Cinco de Mayo Barbie" wearing a ruffled red, white, and green dress (echoing the Mexican flag). "Hispanic" magazine reports that:


title: Barbie

text: "Colored Francie" made her debut in 1967, and she is sometimes described as the first African-American Barbie doll. However, she was produced using the existing head molds for the white Francie doll and lacked distinct African characteristics other than dark skin. The first African-American doll in the Barbie range is usually regarded as Christie, who made her debut in 1968. Black Barbie was launched in 1980 but still had Caucasian features. In 1990, Mattel created a focus group with African-American children and parents, early childhood specialists, and clinical psychologist, Darlene Powell Hudson. Instead of using the same molds for the Caucasian Barbies, new ones were created. In addition, facial features, skin tones, hair texture, and names were all altered. The body shapes looked different, but the proportions were the same to ensure clothing and accessories were interchangeable. In September 2009, Mattel introduced the So In Style range, which was intended to create a more realistic depiction of African-American people than previous dolls. In 2016, Mattel expanded this line to include seven skin tones, twenty-two eye colors, and twenty-four hairstyles. Part of the reason for this change was due to declining sales. The brand now offers over 22 skin tones, 94 hair colors, 13 eye colors and five body types.


title: Barbie

text: Mattel teamed up with Nabisco to launch a cross-promotion Barbie doll with Oreo cookies in 1997 and 2001. While the 1997 release of the doll was only released in a white version, for the 2001 release Mattel manufactured both a white and a black version. The 2001 release "Barbie Oreo School Time Fun" was marketed as someone with whom young girls could play after class and share "America's favorite cookie". Critics argued that in the African American community, "Oreo" is a derogatory term meaning that the person is "black on the outside and white on the inside", like the chocolate sandwich cookie itself. The doll was unsuccessful and Mattel recalled the unsold stock, making it sought after by collectors.


title: Barbie

text: In May 1997, Mattel introduced "Share a Smile Becky", a doll in a pink wheelchair. Kjersti Johnson, a 17-year-old high school student in Tacoma, Washington with cerebral palsy, pointed out that the doll would not fit into the elevator of Barbie's $100 Dream House. Mattel announced that it would redesign the house in the future to accommodate the doll.


title: Barbie

text: In July 1992, Mattel released "Teen Talk Barbie", which spoke a number of phrases including "Will we ever have enough clothes?", "I love shopping!", and "Wanna have a pizza party?" Each doll was programmed to say four out of 270 possible phrases, so that no two given dolls were likely to be the same (the number of possible combinations is 270!/(266!4!) = 216,546,345). One of these 270 phrases was "Math class is tough!", which led to criticism from the American Association of University Women; about 1.5% of all the dolls sold said the phrase. The doll was often erroneously misattributed in the media as having said "Math is hard!". In October 1992, Mattel announced that "Teen Talk Barbie" would no longer say "Math class is tough!", and offered a swap to anyone who owned a doll that did.


title: Barbie

text: In 2002, Mattel introduced a line of pregnant Midge (and baby) dolls, but this "Happy Family" line was quickly pulled from the market due to complaints that she promoted teen pregnancy, though by that time, Barbie's friend Midge was supposed to be a married adult.


title: Barbie

text: In September 2003, the Middle Eastern country of Saudi Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbie dolls and franchises, stating that they did not conform to the ideals of Islam. The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice warned, "Jewish Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful." The 2003 Saudi ban was temporary. In Muslim-majority nations, there is an alternative doll called Fulla, which was introduced in November 2003 and is equivalent to Barbie, but is designed specifically to represent traditional Islamic values. Fulla is not manufactured by Mattel (although Mattel still licenses Fulla dolls and franchises for sale in certain markets), and (as of January 2021) the "Jewish" Barbie brand is still available in other Muslim-majority countries including Egypt and Indonesia. In Iran, the Sara and Dara dolls, which were introduced in March 2002, are available as an alternative to Barbie, even though they have not been as successful.


title: Barbie

text: In November 2014, Mattel received criticism over the book "I Can Be a Computer Engineer", which depicted Barbie as being inept at computers and requiring that her two male friends complete all of the necessary tasks to restore two laptops after she accidentally infects her and her sister's laptop with a malware-laced USB flash drive. Critics complained that the book was sexist, as other books in the "I Can Be..." series depicted Barbie as someone who was competent in those jobs and did not require outside assistance from others. Mattel later removed the book from sale on Amazon in response to the criticism, and the company released a "Computer Engineer Barbie" doll who was a game programmer rather than designer.


title: Barbie

text: In March 2018, in time for International Women's Day, Mattel unveiled the "Barbie Celebrates Role Models" campaign with a line of 17 dolls, informally known as "sheroes", from diverse backgrounds "to showcase examples of extraordinary women". Mattel developed this collection in response to mothers concerned about their daughters having positive female role models. Dolls in this collection include Frida Kahlo, Patti Jenkins, Chloe Kim, Nicola Adams, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Bindi Irwin, Amelia Earhart, Misty Copeland, Helene Darroze, Katherine Johnson, Sara Gama, Martyna Wojciechowska, Gabby Douglas, Guan Xiaotong, Ava Duvernay, Yuan Yuan Tan, Iris Apfel, Ashley Graham and Leyla Piedayesh. In 2020, the company announced a new release of "shero" dolls, including Paralympic champion Madison de Rozario. In July 2021, Mattel released a Naomi Osaka Barbie doll as a part of the 'Barbie Role Model' series. Osaka originally partnered with Barbie two years earlier. A month earlier, a Julie Bishop doll was released to acknowledge the former Australian politician, as was one for general practitioner Kirby White for her work during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.


title: Barbie

text: Mattel estimates that there are well over 100,000 avid Barbie collectors. Ninety percent are women, at an average age of 40, purchasing more than twenty Barbie dolls each year. Forty-five percent of them spend upwards of $1000 a year.


title: Barbie

text: Vintage Barbie dolls from the early years are the most valuable at auction, and while the original Barbie was sold for $3.00 in 1959, a mint boxed Barbie from 1959 sold for $3552.50 on eBay in October 2004. On September 26, 2006, a Barbie doll set a world record at auction of £9,000 sterling (US$17,000) at Christie's in London. The doll was a Barbie in Midnight Red from 1965 and was part of a private collection of 4,000 Barbie dolls being sold by two Dutch women, Ietje Raebel and her daughter Marina.


title: Barbie

text: In recent years, Mattel has sold a wide range of Barbie dolls aimed specifically at collectors, including porcelain versions, vintage reproductions, and depictions of Barbie as a range of characters from film and television series such as "The Munsters" and "". There are also collector's edition dolls depicting Barbie dolls with a range of different ethnic identities. In 2004, Mattel introduced the Color Tier system for its collector's edition Barbie dolls including pink, silver, gold, and platinum, depending on how many of the dolls are produced. In 2020, Mattel introduced the Dia De Los Muertos collectible Barbie doll, the second collectible released as part of the company's La Catrina line which was launched in 2019.


title: Barbie

text: In May 2001, MGA Entertainment launched the "Bratz" series of dolls, a move that gave Barbie her first serious competition in the fashion doll market. In 2004, sales figures showed that Bratz dolls were outselling Barbie dolls in the United Kingdom, although Mattel maintained that in terms of the number of dolls, clothes, and accessories sold, Barbie remained the leading brand. In 2005, figures showed that sales of Barbie dolls had fallen by 30% in the United States, and by 18% worldwide, with much of the drop being attributed to the popularity of Bratz dolls.


title: Barbie

text: In December 2006, Mattel sued MGA Entertainment for $1 billion, alleging that Bratz creator Carter Bryant was working for Mattel when he developed the idea for "Bratz". On July 17, 2008, a federal jury agreed that the Bratz line was created by Carter Bryant while he was working for Mattel and that MGA and its chief executive officer Isaac Larian were liable for converting Mattel property for their own use and intentionally interfering with the contractual duties owed by Bryant to Mattel. On August 26, the jury found that Mattel would have to be paid $100 million in damages. On December 3, 2008, U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson banned MGA from selling Bratz. He allowed the company to continue selling the dolls until the winter holiday season ended. On appeal, a stay was granted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; the Court also overturned the District Court's original ruling for Mattel, where MGA Entertainment was ordered to forfeit the entire "Bratz" brand.


title: Barbie

text: Mattel Inc. and MGA Entertainment Inc. returned to court on January 18, 2011, to renew their battle over who owns "Bratz", which this time included accusations from both companies that the other side stole trade secrets. On April 21, 2011, a federal jury returned a verdict supporting MGA. On August 5, 2011, Mattel was also ordered to pay MGA $310 million for attorney fees, stealing trade secrets, and false claims rather than the $88.5 million issued in April.


title: Barbie

text: In August 2009, MGA introduced a range of dolls called Moxie Girlz, intended as a replacement for Bratz dolls.


title: Barbie

text: "Barbie syndrome" is a term that has been used to depict the desire to have a physical appearance and lifestyle representative of the Barbie doll. It is most often associated with pre-teenage and adolescent females but is applicable to any age group or gender. A person with Barbie syndrome attempts to emulate the doll's physical appearance, even though the doll has unattainable body proportions. This syndrome is seen as a form of body dysmorphic disorder and results in various eating disorders as well as an obsession with cosmetic surgery.


title: Barbie

text: Ukrainian model Valeria Lukyanova has received attention from the press, due in part to her appearance having been modified based on the physique of Barbie. She stated that she has only had breast implants and relies heavily on make up and contacts to alter her appearance. Similarly, Lacey Wildd, an American reality television personality frequently referred to as "Million Dollar Barbie" has also undergone 12 breast augmentation surgeries to become "the extreme Barbie".


title: Barbie

text: Jessica Alves, prior to coming out as transgender, underwent over £373,000 worth of cosmetic procedures to match the appearance of Barbie's male counterpart, garnering her the nickname the "Human Ken Doll". These procedures have included multiple nose jobs, six pack ab implants, a buttock lift, and hair and chest implants. Sporting the same nickname, Justin Jedlica, the American businessman, has also received multiple cosmetic surgeries to enhance his Ken-like appearance.


title: Barbie

text: In 2006, researchers Helga Dittmar, Emma Halliwell, and Suzanne Ive conducted an experiment testing how dolls, including Barbie, affect self-image in young girls. Dittmar, Halliwell, and Ive gave picture books to girls age 5–8, one with photos of Barbie and the other with photos of Emme, a doll with more realistic physical features. The girls were then asked about their ideal body size. Their research found that the girls who were exposed to the images of Barbie had significantly lower self-esteem than the girls who had photos of Emme.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Eucalyptus () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including "Corymbia", they are commonly known as eucalypts. Plants in the genus "Eucalyptus" have bark that is either smooth, fibrous, hard or stringy, leaves with oil glands, and sepals and petals that are fused to form a "cap" or operculum over the stamens. The fruit is a woody capsule commonly referred to as a "gumnut".


title: Eucalyptus

text: Most species of "Eucalyptus" are native to Australia, and every state and territory has representative species. About three-quarters of Australian forests are eucalypt forests. Wildfire is a feature of the Australian landscape and many eucalypt species are adapted to fire, and resprout after fire or have seeds which survive fire.


title: Eucalyptus

text: A few species are native to islands north of Australia and a smaller number are only found outside the continent. Eucalypts have been grown in plantations in many other countries because they are fast growing and have valuable timber, or can be used for pulpwood, for honey production or essential oils. In some countries, however, they have been removed because of the danger of forest fires due to their high inflammability.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Eucalypts vary in size and habit from shrubs to tall trees. Trees usually have a single main stem or trunk but many eucalypts are mallees that are multistemmed from ground level and rarely taller than . There is no clear distinction between a mallee and a shrub but in eucalypts, a shrub is a mature plant less than tall and growing in an extreme environment. "E. vernicosa" in the Tasmanian highlands, "E. yalatensis" on the Nullarbor and "E. surgens" growing on coastal cliffs in Western Australia are examples of eucalypt shrubs.


title: Eucalyptus

text: The terms "mallet" and "marlock" are only applied to Western Australian eucalypts. A mallet is a tree with a single thin trunk with a steeply branching habit but lacks both a lignotuber and epicormic buds. "E. astringens" is an example of a mallet. A marlock is a shrub or small tree with a single, short trunk, that lacks a lignotuber and has spreading, densely leafy branches that often reach almost to the ground. "E. platypus" is an example of a marlock.


title: Eucalyptus

text: "Eucalyptus" trees, including mallets and marlocks, are single-stemmed and include "Eucalyptus regnans", the tallest known flowering plant on Earth.


title: Eucalyptus

text: All eucalypts add a layer of bark every year and the outermost layer dies. In about half of the species, the dead bark is shed exposing a new layer of fresh, living bark. The dead bark may be shed in large slabs, in ribbons or in small flakes. These species are known as "smooth barks" and include "E. sheathiana", "E. diversicolor", "E. cosmophylla" and "E. cladocalyx". The remaining species retain the dead bark which dries out and accumulates. In some of these species, the fibres in the bark are loosely intertwined (in stringybarks such as "E. macrorhyncha" or peppermints such as "E. radiata") or more tightly adherent (as in the "boxes" such as "E. leptophleba"). In some species (the "ironbarks" such as "E. crebra" and "E. jensenii") the rough bark is infused with gum resin.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Many species are ‘half-barks’ or ‘blackbutts’ in which the dead bark is retained in the lower half of the trunks or stems—for example, "E. brachycalyx", "E. ochrophloia", and "E. occidentalis"—or only in a thick, black accumulation at the base, as in "E. clelandii". In some species in this category, for example "E. youngiana" and "E. viminalis", the rough basal bark is very ribbony at the top, where it gives way to the smooth upper stems. The smooth upper bark of the half-barks and that of the completely smooth-barked trees and mallees can produce remarkable colour and interest, for example "E. deglupta".


title: Eucalyptus

text: "E. globulus" bark cells are able to photosynthesize in the absence of foliage, conferring an "increased capacity to re-fix internal CO following partial defoliation". This allows the tree to grow in less-than-ideal climates, in addition to providing a better chance of recovery from damage sustained to its leaves in an event such as a fire.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Nearly all "Eucalyptus" are evergreen, but some tropical species lose their leaves at the end of the dry season. As in other members of the myrtle family, "Eucalyptus" leaves are covered with oil glands. The copious oils produced are an important feature of the genus. Although mature "Eucalyptus" trees may be towering and fully leafed, their shade is characteristically patchy because the leaves usually hang downwards.


title: Eucalyptus

text: The leaves on a mature "Eucalyptus" plant are commonly lanceolate, petiolate, apparently alternate and waxy or glossy green. In contrast, the leaves of seedlings are often opposite, sessile and glaucous, but many exceptions to this pattern exist. Many species such as "E. melanophloia" and "E. setosa" retain the juvenile leaf form even when the plant is reproductively mature. Some species, such as "E. macrocarpa", "E. rhodantha", and "E. crucis", are sought-after ornamentals due to this lifelong juvenile leaf form. A few species, such as "E. petraea", "E. dundasii", and "E. lansdowneana", have shiny green leaves throughout their life cycle. "E. caesia" exhibits the opposite pattern of leaf development to most "Eucalyptus", with shiny green leaves in the seedling stage and dull, glaucous leaves in mature crowns. The contrast between juvenile and adult leaf phases is valuable in field identification.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Four leaf phases are recognised in the development of a "Eucalyptus" plant: the ‘seedling’, ‘juvenile’, ‘intermediate’, and ‘adult’ phases. However, no definite transitional point occurs between the phases. The intermediate phase, when the largest leaves are often formed, links the juvenile and adult phases.


title: Eucalyptus

text: In all except a few species, the leaves form in pairs on opposite sides of a square stem, consecutive pairs being at right angles to each other (decussate). In some narrow-leaved species, for example "E. oleosa", the seedling leaves after the second leaf pair are often clustered in a detectable spiral arrangement about a five-sided stem. After the spiral phase, which may last from several to many nodes, the arrangement reverts to decussate by the absorption of some of the leaf-bearing faces of the stem. In those species with opposite adult foliage the leaf pairs, which have been formed opposite at the stem apex, become separated at their bases by unequal elongation of the stem to produce the apparently alternate adult leaves.


title: Eucalyptus

text: The most readily recognisable characteristics of "Eucalyptus" species are the distinctive flowers and fruit (capsules or "gumnuts"). Flowers have numerous fluffy stamens which may be white, cream, yellow, pink, or red; in bud, the stamens are enclosed in a cap known as an operculum which is composed of the fused sepals or petals, or both. Thus, flowers have no petals, but instead decorate themselves with the many showy stamens. As the stamens expand, the operculum is forced off, splitting away from the cup-like base of the flower; this is one of the features that unites the genus. The woody fruits or capsules are roughly cone-shaped and have valves at the end which open to release the seeds, which are waxy, rod-shaped, about 1 mm in length, and yellow-brown in colour. Most species do not flower until adult foliage starts to appear; "E. cinerea" and "E. perriniana" are notable exceptions.


title: Eucalyptus

text: The genus "Eucalyptus" was first formally described in 1789 by Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle who published the description in his book "Sertum Anglicum, seu, Plantae rariores quae in hortis juxta Londinum" along with a description of the type species, "Eucalyptus obliqua". The name "Eucalyptus" is derived from the Ancient Greek words meaning 'good, well, true, beautiful, very' and meaning '(I) cover, conceal, hide' referring to the operculum covering the flower buds.


title: Eucalyptus

text: The type specimen was collected in 1777 by David Nelson, the gardener-botanist on Cook's third voyage. He collected the specimen on Bruny Island and sent it to de Brutelle who was working in London at that time.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Although eucalypts must have been seen by the very early European explorers and collectors, no botanical collections of them are known to have been made until 1770 when Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander arrived at Botany Bay with Captain James Cook. There they collected specimens of "E. gummifera" and later, near the Endeavour River in northern "Queensland", "E. platyphylla"; neither of these species was named as such at the time.


title: Eucalyptus

text: In 1777, on Cook's third expedition, David Nelson collected a eucalypt on Bruny Island in southern Tasmania. This specimen was taken to the British Museum in London, and was named "Eucalyptus obliqua" by the French botanist L'Héritier, who was working in London at the time. He coined the generic name from the Greek roots "eu" and "calyptos", meaning "well" and "covered" in reference to the operculum of the flower bud which protects the developing flower parts as the flower develops and is shed by the pressure of the emerging stamens at flowering. It was most likely an accident that L'Héritier chose a feature common to all eucalypts.


title: Eucalyptus

text: The name "obliqua" was derived from the Latin "obliquus", meaning "oblique", which is the botanical term describing a leaf base where the two sides of the leaf blade are of unequal length and do not meet the petiole at the same place.


title: Eucalyptus

text: "E. obliqua" was published in 1788–89, which coincided with the first official European settlement of Australia. Between then and the turn of the 19th century, several more species of "Eucalyptus" were named and published. Most of these were by the English botanist James Edward Smith and most were, as might be expected, trees of the Sydney region. These include the economically valuable "E. pilularis", "E. saligna" and "E. tereticornis".


title: Eucalyptus

text: The first endemic Western Australian "Eucalyptus" to be collected and subsequently named was the Yate ("E. cornuta") by the French botanist Jacques Labillardière, who collected in what is now the Esperance area in 1792.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Several Australian botanists were active during the 19th century, particularly Ferdinand von Mueller, whose work on "eucalypts" contributed greatly to the first comprehensive account of the genus in George Bentham's "Flora Australiensis" in 1867. The account is the most important early systematic treatment of the genus. Bentham divided it into five series whose distinctions were based on characteristics of the stamens, particularly the anthers (Mueller, 1879–84), work elaborated by Joseph Henry Maiden (1903–33) and still further by William Faris Blakely (1934). The anther system became too complex to be workable and more recent systematic work has concentrated on the characteristics of buds, fruits, leaves and bark.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Over 700 species of "Eucalyptus" are known. Some have diverged from the mainstream of the genus to the extent that they are quite isolated genetically and are able to be recognised by only a few relatively invariant characteristics. Most, however, may be regarded as belonging to large or small groups of related species, which are often in geographical contact with each other and between which gene exchange still occurs. In these situations, many species appear to grade into one another, and intermediate forms are common. In other words, some species are relatively fixed genetically, as expressed in their morphology, while others have not diverged completely from their nearest relatives.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Hybrid individuals have not always been recognised as such on first collection and some have been named as new species, such as "E. chrysantha" ("E. preissiana" × "E. sepulcralis") and "E." "rivalis" ("E. marginata" × "E. megacarpa"). Hybrid combinations are not particularly common in the field, but some other published species frequently seen in Australia have been suggested to be hybrid combinations. For example, "Eucalyptus × erythrandra" is believed to be "E. angulosa" × "E. teraptera" and due to its wide distribution is often referred to in texts.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Renantherin, a phenolic compound present in the leaves of some "Eucalyptus" species, allows chemotaxonomic discrimination in the sections renantheroideae and renantherae and the ratio of the amount of leucoanthocyanins varies considerably in certain species.


title: Eucalyptus

text: "Eucalyptus" is one of three similar genera that are commonly referred to as "eucalypts", the others being "Corymbia" and "Angophora". Many species, though by no means all, are known as gum trees because they exude copious kino from any break in the bark (e.g., scribbly gum). The generic name is derived from the Greek words ευ ("eu") "well" and καλύπτω ("kalýpto") "to cover", referring to the operculum on the calyx that initially conceals the flower.


title: Eucalyptus

text: There are more than 700 species of "Eucalyptus" and most are native to Australia; a very small number are found in adjacent areas of New Guinea and Indonesia. One species, "Eucalyptus deglupta," ranges as far north as the Philippines. Of the 15 species found outside Australia, just nine are exclusively non-Australian. Species of "Eucalyptus" are cultivated widely in the tropical and temperate world, including the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East, China, and the Indian subcontinent. However, the range over which many eucalypts can be planted in the temperate zone is constrained by their limited cold tolerance.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Australia is covered by of eucalypt forest, comprising three quarters of the area covered by native forest. The Blue Mountains of southeastern Australia have been a centre of eucalypt diversification; their name is in reference to the blue haze prevalent in the area, believed derived from the volatile terpenoids emitted by these trees.


title: Eucalyptus

text: The oldest definitive "Eucalyptus" fossils are from Patagonia in South America, where eucalypts are no longer native, though they have been introduced from Australia. The fossils are from the early Eocene (51.9 Mya), and were found in the Laguna del Hunco Formation in Chubut Province in Argentina. This shows that the genus had a Gondwanan distribution. Fossil leaves also occur in the Miocene of New Zealand, where the genus is not native today, but again have been introduced from Australia.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Despite the prominence of "Eucalyptus" in modern Australia, estimated to contribute some 75% of the modern vegetation, the fossil record is very scarce throughout much of the Cenozoic, and suggests that this rise to dominance is a geologically more recent phenomenon. The oldest reliably dated macrofossil of "Eucalyptus" is a 21-million-year-old tree-stump encased in basalt in the upper Lachlan Valley in New South Wales. Other fossils have been found, but many are either unreliably dated or else unreliably identified.


title: Eucalyptus

text: It is useful to consider where "Eucalyptus" fossils have not been found. Extensive research has gone into the fossil floras of the Paleocene to Oligocene of South-Eastern Australia, and has failed to uncover a single "Eucalyptus" specimen. Although the evidence is sparse, the best hypothesis is that in the mid-Tertiary, the continental margins of Australia only supported more mesic noneucalypt vegetation, and that eucalypts probably contributed to the drier vegetation of the arid continental interior. With the progressive drying out of the continent since the Miocene, eucalypts were displaced to the continental margins, and much of the mesic and rainforest vegetation that was once there was eliminated entirely.


title: Eucalyptus

text: The current superdominance of "Eucalyptus" in Australia may be an artefact of human influence on its ecology. In more recent sediments, numerous findings of a dramatic increase in the abundance of "Eucalyptus" pollen are associated with increased charcoal levels. Though this occurs at different rates throughout Australia, it is compelling evidence for a relationship between the artificial increase of fire frequency with the arrival of Aboriginals and increased prevalence of this exceptionally fire-tolerant genus.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Several eucalypt species are among the tallest trees in the world. "Eucalyptus regnans", the Australian 'mountain ash', is the tallest of all flowering plants (angiosperms); today, the tallest measured specimen named Centurion is tall. Coast Douglas-fir is about the same height; only coast redwood is taller, and they are conifers (gymnosperms). Six other eucalypt species exceed 80 metres in height: "Eucalyptus obliqua", "Eucalyptus delegatensis", "Eucalyptus diversicolor", "Eucalyptus nitens", "Eucalyptus globulus" and "Eucalyptus viminalis".


title: Eucalyptus

text: Most eucalypts are not tolerant of severe cold. Eucalypts do well in a range of climates but are usually damaged by anything beyond a light frost of ; the hardiest are the snow gums, such as "Eucalyptus pauciflora", which is capable of withstanding cold and frost down to about . Two subspecies, "E. pauciflora subsp. niphophila" and "E. pauciflora subsp. debeuzevillei" in particular are even hardier and can tolerate even quite severe winters. Several other species, especially from the high plateau and mountains of central Tasmania such as "Eucalyptus coccifera", "Eucalyptus subcrenulata" and "Eucalyptus gunnii", have also produced extreme cold-hardy forms and it is seed procured from these genetically hardy strains that are planted for ornament in colder parts of the world.


title: Eucalyptus

text: An essential oil extracted from "Eucalyptus" leaves contains compounds that are powerful natural disinfectants and can be toxic in large quantities. Several marsupial herbivores, notably koalas and some possums, are relatively tolerant of it. The close correlation of these oils with other more potent toxins called formylated phloroglucinol compounds (euglobals, macrocarpals and sideroxylonals) allows koalas and other marsupial species to make food choices based on the smell of the leaves. For koalas, these compounds are the most important factor in leaf choice.


title: Eucalyptus

text: "Eucalyptus" flowers produce a great abundance of nectar, providing food for many pollinators including insects, birds, bats and possums. Many lizard species in Australia feed on "Eucalyptus" sap as well, famously in the case of the Dubious dtella. Although "Eucalyptus" trees are seemingly well-defended from herbivores by the oils and phenolic compounds, they have insect pests. These include the eucalyptus longhorn borer "Phoracantha semipunctata" and the aphid-like psyllids that create "bell lerps", both of which have become established as pests throughout the world wherever eucalypts are cultivated.


title: Eucalyptus

text: The eusocial beetle "Austroplatypus incompertus" makes and defends its galleries exclusively inside "Eucalyptus" plants.


title: Eucalyptus

text: The trunks and branches of the "Eucalyptus" tree allow the largest known moth, "Zelotypia stacyi" (the bentwing ghost moth, having a wingspan up to 250 mm) to feed and protect their larva and pupa, respectively.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Eucalypts originated between 35 and 50 million years ago, not long after Australia-New Guinea separated from Gondwana, their rise coinciding with an increase in fossil charcoal deposits (suggesting that fire was a factor even then), but they remained a minor component of the Tertiary rainforest until about 20 million years ago, when the gradual drying of the continent and depletion of soil nutrients led to the development of a more open forest type, predominantly "Casuarina" and "Acacia" species.


title: Eucalyptus

text: The two valuable timber trees, alpine ash "E. delegatensis" and Australian mountain ash "E. regnans", are killed by fire and only regenerate from seed. The same 2003 bushfire that had little impact on forests around Canberra resulted in thousands of hectares of dead ash forests. However, a small amount of ash survived and put out new ash trees as well.


title: Eucalyptus

text: "Eucalyptus" oil is highly flammable; ignited trees have been known to explode. Bushfires can travel easily through the oil-rich air of the tree crowns. Eucalypts obtain long-term fire survivability from their ability to regenerate from epicormic buds situated deep within their thick bark, or from lignotubers, or by producing serotinous fruits.


title: Eucalyptus

text: In seasonally dry climates oaks are often fire-resistant, particularly in open grasslands, as a grass fire is insufficient to ignite the scattered trees. In contrast, a "Eucalyptus" forest tends to promote fire because of the volatile and highly combustible oils produced by the leaves, as well as the production of large amounts of litter high in phenolics, preventing its breakdown by fungi and thus accumulating as large amounts of dry, combustible fuel. Consequently, dense eucalypt plantings may be subject to catastrophic firestorms. In fact, almost thirty years before the Oakland firestorm of 1991, a study of "Eucalyptus" in the area warned that the litter beneath the trees builds up very rapidly and should be regularly monitored and removed. It has been estimated that 70% of the energy released through the combustion of vegetation in the Oakland fire was due to "Eucalyptus". In a National Park Service study, it was found that the fuel load (in tons per acre) of non-native "Eucalyptus" woods is almost three times as great as native oak woodland.


title: Eucalyptus

text: During World War II, one California town cut down their "Eucalyptus" trees to “about a third of their height in the vicinity of anti-aircraft guns” because of the known fire-fueling qualities of the trees, with the mayor telling a newspaper reporter, “If a shell so much as hits a leaf, it’s supposed to explode.”


title: Eucalyptus

text: Some species of "Eucalyptus" drop branches unexpectedly. In Australia, Parks Victoria warns campers not to camp under river red gums. Some councils in Australia such as Gosnells, Western Australia, have removed eucalypts after reports of damage from dropped branches, even in the face of lengthy, well publicised protests to protect particular trees. A former Australian National Botanic Gardens director and consulting arborist, Robert Boden, has been quoted referring to "summer branch drop". Dropping of branches is recognised in Australia literature through the fictional death of Judy in Seven Little Australians. Although all large trees can drop branches, the density of "Eucalyptus" wood is high due to its high resin content, increasing the hazard.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Eucalypts were introduced from Australia to the rest of the world following the Cook expedition in 1770. Collected by Sir Joseph Banks, botanist on the expedition, they were subsequently introduced to many parts of the world, notably California, southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and South America. About 250 species are under cultivation in California. In Portugal and also Spain, "eucalypts" have been grown in plantations for the production of pulpwood. "Eucalyptus" are the basis for several industries, such as sawmilling, pulp, charcoal and others. Several species have become invasive and are causing major problems for local ecosystems, mainly due to the absence of wildlife corridors and rotations management.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Eucalypts have many uses which have made them economically important trees, and they have become a cash crop in poor areas such as Timbuktu, Mali and the Peruvian Andes, despite concerns that the trees are invasive in some environments like those of South Africa. Best-known are perhaps the varieties karri and yellow box. Due to their fast growth, the foremost benefit of these trees is their wood. They can be chopped off at the root and grow back again. They provide many desirable characteristics for use as ornament, timber, firewood and pulpwood. Eucaplytus wood is also used in a number of industries, from fence posts (where the oil-rich wood's high resistance to decay is valued) and charcoal to cellulose extraction for biofuels. Fast growth also makes eucalypts suitable as windbreaks and to reduce erosion.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Some "Eucalyptus" species have attracted attention from horticulturists, global development researchers, and environmentalists because of desirable traits such as being fast-growing sources of wood, producing oil that can be used for cleaning and as a natural insecticide, or an ability to be used to drain swamps and thereby reduce the risk of malaria. Eucalyptus oil finds many uses like in fuels, fragrances, insect repellence and antimicrobial activity. "Eucalyptus" trees show allelopathic effects; they release compounds which inhibit other plant species from growing nearby. Outside their natural ranges, eucalypts are both lauded for their beneficial economic impact on poor populations and criticised for being "water-guzzling" aliens, leading to controversy over their total impact.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Eucalypts draw a tremendous amount of water from the soil through the process of transpiration. They have been planted (or re-planted) in some places to lower the water table and reduce soil salination. Eucalypts have also been used as a way of reducing malaria by draining the soil in Algeria, Lebanon, Sicily, elsewhere in Europe, in the Caucasus (Western Georgia), and California. Drainage removes swamps which provide a habitat for mosquito larvae, but can also destroy ecologically productive areas. This drainage is not limited to the soil surface, because the "Eucalyptus" roots are up to in length and can, depending on the location, even reach the phreatic zone.


title: Eucalyptus

text: "Eucalyptus" is the most common short fibre source for pulpwood to make pulp. The types most often used in papermaking are "Eucalyptus globulus" (in temperate areas) and the "Eucalyptus urophylla" x "Eucalyptus grandis" hybrid (in the tropics). The fibre length of "Eucalyptus" is relatively short and uniform with low coarseness compared with other hardwoods commonly used as pulpwood. The fibres are slender, yet relatively thick walled. This gives uniform paper formation and high opacity that are important for all types of fine papers. The low coarseness is important for high quality coated papers. "Eucalyptus" is suitable for many tissue papers as the short and slender fibres gives a high number of fibres per gram and low coarseness contributes to softness.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Eucalyptus oil is readily steam distilled from the leaves and can be used for cleaning and as an industrial solvent, as an antiseptic, for deodorising, and in very small quantities in food supplements, especially sweets, cough drops, toothpaste and decongestants. It has insect-repellent properties, and serves as an active ingredient in some commercial mosquito-repellents. Aromatherapists have adopted "Eucalyptus" oils for a wide range of purposes. "Eucalyptus globulus" is the principal source of "Eucalyptus" oil worldwide.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Eucalypt wood is also commonly used to make didgeridoos, a traditional Australian Aboriginal wind instrument. The trunk of the tree is hollowed out by termites, and then cut down if the bore is of the correct size and shape.


title: Eucalyptus

text: All parts of "Eucalyptus" may be used to make dyes that are substantive on protein fibres (such as silk and wool), simply by processing the plant part with water. Colours to be achieved range from yellow and orange through green, tan, chocolate and deep rust red. The material remaining after processing can be safely used as mulch or fertiliser.


title: Eucalyptus

text: "Eucalyptus" trees in the Australian outback draw up gold from tens of metres underground through their root system and deposit it as particles in their leaves and branches. A Maia detector for x-ray elemental imaging at the Australian Synchrotron clearly showed deposits of gold and other metals in the structure of "Eucalyptus" leaves from the Kalgoorlie region of Western Australia that would have been untraceable using other methods. The microscopic leaf-bound "nuggets", about 8 micrometres wide on average, are not worth collecting themselves, but may provide an environmentally benign way of locating subsurface mineral deposits.


title: Eucalyptus

text: In the 20th century, scientists around the world experimented with "Eucalyptus" species. They hoped to grow them in the tropics, but most experimental results failed until breakthroughs in the 1960s-1980s in species selection, silviculture, and breeding programs "unlocked" the potential of eucalypts in the tropics. Prior to then, as Brett Bennett noted in a 2010 article, eucalypts were something of the "El Dorado" of forestry. Today, "Eucalyptus" is the most widely planted type of tree in plantations around the world, in South America (mainly in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay), South Africa, Australia, India, Galicia, Portugal and many more.


title: Eucalyptus

text: In the 1850s, "Eucalyptus" trees were introduced to California by Australians during the California Gold Rush. Much of California is similar in climate to parts of Australia. By the early 1900s, thousands of acres of eucalypts were planted with the encouragement of the state government. It was hoped that they would provide a renewable source of timber for construction, furniture making and railway sleepers. It was soon found that for the latter purpose "Eucalyptus" was particularly unsuitable, as the ties made from "Eucalyptus" had a tendency to twist while drying, and the dried ties were so tough that it was nearly impossible to hammer rail spikes into them.


title: Eucalyptus

text: It was introduced in Argentina around 1870 by President Domingo F. Sarmiento, who had brought the seeds from Australia and it quickly became very popular. The most widely planted species were "E. globulus", "E. viminalis" and "E. rostrata". Currently, the Humid Pampas region has small forests and "Eucalyptus" barriers, some up to 80 years old, about 50 meters high and a maximum of one meter in diameter.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Antonio Lussich introduced "Eucalyptus" into Uruguay in approximately 1896, throughout what is now Maldonado Department, and it has spread all over the south-eastern and eastern coast. There had been no trees in the area because it consisted of dry sand dunes and stones. Lussich also introduced many other trees, particularly "Acacia" and pines, but they have not expanded so extensively.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Eucalypts were introduced to Brazil in 1910, for timber substitution and the charcoal industry. It has thrived in the local environment, and today there are around 7 million hectares planted. The wood is highly valued by the charcoal and pulp and paper industries. The short rotation allows a larger wood production and supplies wood for several other activities, helping to preserve the native forests from logging. When well managed, the plantation soils can sustain endless replanting. "Eucalyptus" plantings are also used as wind breaks. Brazil's plantations have world-record rates of growth, typically over 40 cubic metres per hectare per year, and commercial harvesting occurs after years 5. Due to continual development and governmental funding, year-on-year growth is consistently being improved. "Eucalyptus" can produce up to 100 cubic metres per hectare per year. Brazil has become the top exporter and producer of "Eucalyptus" round wood and pulp, and has played an important role in developing the Australian market through the country's committed research in this area. The local iron producers in Brazil rely heavily on sustainably grown "Eucalyptus" for charcoal; this has greatly pushed up the price of charcoal in recent years. The plantations are generally owned and operated for national and international industry by timber asset companies such as Thomson Forestry, Greenwood Management or cellulose producers such as Aracruz Cellulose and Stora Enso.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Overall, South America was expected to produce 55% of the world's "Eucalyptus" round-wood by 2010. Many environmental NGOs have criticised the use of exotic tree species for forestry in Latin America.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Eucalypts were introduced to Ethiopia in either 1894 or 1895, either by Emperor Menelik II's French advisor Mondon-Vidailhet or by the Englishman Captain O'Brian. Menelik II endorsed its planting around his new capital city of Addis Ababa because of the massive deforestation around the city for firewood. According to Richard R.K. Pankhurst, "The great advantage of the eucalypts was that they were fast growing, required little attention and when cut down grew up again from the roots; it could be harvested every ten years. The tree proved successful from the onset". Plantations of eucalypts spread from the capital to other growing urban centres such as Debre Marqos. Pankhurst reports that the most common species found in Addis Ababa in the mid-1960s was "E. globulus", although he also found "E. melliodora" and "E. rostrata" in significant numbers. David Buxton, writing of central Ethiopia in the mid-1940s, observed that eucalyptus trees "have become an integral -- and a pleasing -- element in the Shoan landscape and has largely displaced the slow-growing native 'cedar' ("Juniperus procera")."


title: Eucalyptus

text: Much of Madagascar's original native forest has been replaced with "Eucalyptus", threatening biodiversity by isolating remaining natural areas such as Andasibe-Mantadia National Park.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Numerous "Eucalyptus" species have been introduced into South Africa, mainly for timber and firewood but also for ornamental purposes. They are popular with beekeepers for the honey they provide. However, in South Africa they are considered invasive, with their water-sucking capabilities threatening water supplies. They also release a chemical into the surrounding soil which kills native competitors.


title: Eucalyptus

text: As in South Africa, many "Eucalyptus" species have been introduced into Zimbabwe, mainly for timber and firewood, and "E. robusta" and "E. tereticornis" have been recorded as having become naturalised there.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Eucalypts have been grown in Portugal since the mid 19th century, the first thought to be a specimen of "E. obliqua" introduced to Vila Nova de Gaia in 1829. First as an ornamental but soon after in plantations, these eucalypts are prized due to their long and upright trunks, rapid growth and the ability to regrow after cutting. These plantations now occupy around 800,000 hectares, 10% of the country's total land area, 90% of the trees being "E. globulus". As of the late 20th century, there were an estimated 120 species of "Eucalyptus" in Portugal. The genus has also been subject to various controversies. Despite representing a large part of the agricultural economy, eucalypt plantations have a negative impact on soil destruction, inducing resistance to water infiltration and increasing the risks of erosion and soil loss, they are highly inflamable, aggravating the risk for wildfires. Various Portuguese laws on eucalypt plantations have been formed and reformed to better suit both sides.


title: Eucalyptus

text: There are various "Eucalyptus" species of public interest in Portugal, namely a Karri in Coimbra's Mata Nacional de Vale de Canas, considered to be Europe's tallest tree at high.


title: Eucalyptus

text: In Italy, the "Eucalyptus" only arrived at the turn of the 19th century and large scale plantations were started at the beginning of the 20th century with the aim of drying up swampy ground to defeat malaria. During the 1930s, Benito Mussolini had thousands of "Eucalyptus" planted in the marshes around Rome. This, their rapid growth in the Italian climate and excellent function as windbreaks, has made them a common sight in the south of the country, including the islands of Sardinia and Sicily. They are also valued for the characteristic smelling and tasting honey that is produced from them. The variety of "Eucalyptus" most commonly found in Italy is "E. camaldulensis".


title: Eucalyptus

text: In Greece, eucalypts are widely found, especially in southern Greece and Crete. They are cultivated and used for various purposes, including as an ingredient in pharmaceutical products (e.g., creams, elixirs and sprays) and for leather production. They were imported in 1862 by botanist Theodoros Georgios Orphanides. The principal species is "Eucalyptus globulus".


title: Eucalyptus

text: "Eucalyptus" has been grown in Ireland since trials in the 1930s and now grows wild in South Western Ireland in the mild climate.


title: Eucalyptus

text: "Eucalyptus" seeds of the species "E. globulus" were imported into Palestine in the 1860s, but did not acclimatise well. Later, "E. camaldulensis" was introduced more successfully and it is still a very common tree in Israel. The use of "Eucalyptus" trees to drain swampy land was a common practice in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The German Templer colony of Sarona had begun planting "Eucalyptus" for this purpose by 1874, though it is not known where the seeds came from. Many Zionist colonies also adopted the practice in the following years under the guidance of the Mikveh Israel Agricultural School. "Eucalyptus" trees are now considered an invasive species in the region.


title: Eucalyptus

text: In India, the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Coimbatore started a "Eucalyptus" breeding program in the 1990s. The organisation released four varieties of conventionally bred, high yielding and genetically improved clones for commercial and research interests in 2010.


title: Eucalyptus

text: "Eucalyptus" trees were introduced to Sri Lanka in the late 19th century by tea and coffee planters, for wind protection, shade and fuel. Forestry replanting of "Eucalyptus" began in the 1930s in deforested mountain areas, and currently there are about 10 species present in the island. They account for 20% of major reforestation plantings. They provide railway sleepers, utility poles, sawn timber and fuelwood, but are controversial because of their adverse effect on biodiversity, hydrology and soil fertility. They are associated with another invasive species, the eucalyptus gall wasp, "Leptocybe invasa".


title: Eucalyptus

text: In Hawaii, some 90 species of "Eucalyptus" have been introduced to the islands, where they have displaced some native species due to their higher maximum height, fast growth and lower water needs. Particularly noticeable is the rainbow eucalyptus ("Eucalyptus deglupta"), native to Indonesia and the Philippines, whose bark falls off to reveal a trunk that can be green, red, orange, yellow, pink and purple.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Due to similar favourable climatic conditions, "Eucalyptus" plantations have often replaced oak woodlands, for example in California, Spain and Portugal. The resulting monocultures have raised concerns about loss of biological diversity, through loss of acorns that mammals and birds feed on, absence of hollows that in oak trees provide shelter and nesting sites for birds and small mammals and for bee colonies, as well as lack of downed trees in managed plantations. A study of the relationship between birds and "Eucalyptus" in the San Francisco Bay Area found that bird diversity was similar in native forest versus "Eucalyptus" forest, but the species were different. One way in which the avifauna (local assortment of bird species) changes is that cavity-nesting birds including woodpeckers, owls, chickadees, wood ducks, etc. are depauperate in "Eucalyptus" groves because the decay-resistant wood of these trees prevents cavity formation by decay or excavation. Also, those bird species that glean insects from foliage, such as warblers and vireos, experience population declines when "Eucalyptus" groves replace oak forest.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Birds that thrive in "Eucalyptus" groves in California tend to prefer tall vertical habitat. These avian species include herons and egrets, which also nest in redwoods. The Point Reyes Bird Observatory observes that sometimes short-billed birds like the ruby-crowned kinglet are found dead beneath "Eucalyptus" trees with their nostrils clogged with pitch.


title: Eucalyptus

text: Monarch butterflies use "Eucalyptus" in California for over-wintering, but in some locations have a preference for Monterey pines.


title: Anschluss

text: The ' (, or ', ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.


title: Anschluss

text: The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Greater Germany") began after the unification of Germany excluded Austria and the German Austrians from the Prussian-dominated German Empire in 1871. Following the end of World War I with the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1918, the newly formed Republic of German-Austria attempted to form a union with Germany, but the Treaty of Saint Germain (10 September 1919) and the Treaty of Versailles (28 June 1919) forbade both the union and the continued use of the name "German-Austria" (); and stripped Austria of some of its territories, such as the Sudetenland.


title: Anschluss

text: Prior to the , there had been strong support in both Austria and Germany for unification of the two countries. In the immediate aftermath of the dissolution of the Habsburg monarchy—with Austria left as a broken remnant, deprived of most of the territories it had ruled for centuries and undergoing a severe economic crisis—the idea of unity with Germany seemed attractive also to many citizens of the political left and center. Support for unification with Germany was not political, but mainly came from the belief that Austria, stripped of its imperial land, was not viable economically. However, popular support for the unification gradually faded with time, although it remained as a concept in the contemporary Austrian political discourse.


title: Anschluss

text: But after 1933, when Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany, desire for unification could be identified with the Nazis, for whom it was an integral part of the Nazi "" concept, which sought to incorporate as many (ethnic Germans outside Germany) as possible into a "Greater Germany". Nazi Germany's agents cultivated pro-unification tendencies in Austria, and sought to undermine the Austrian government, which was controlled by the Austrofascist Fatherland Front. During an attempted coup in 1934, Austrian chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss was assassinated by Austrian Nazis. The defeat of the coup prompted many leading Austrian Nazis to go into exile in Germany, where they continued their efforts for unification of the two countries.


title: Anschluss

text: In early 1938, under increasing pressure from pro-unification activists, Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg announced that there would be a referendum on a possible union with Germany versus maintaining Austria's sovereignty to be held on 13 March. Portraying this as defying the popular will in Austria and Germany, Hitler threatened an invasion and secretly pressured Schuschnigg to resign. A day before the planned referendum, on 12 March, the German crossed the border into Austria, unopposed by the Austrian military. A plebiscite was held on 10 April, in which the ballot was not secret, and threats and coercion were employed to manipulate the vote, resulting in 99.7% approval for the Anschluss.


title: Anschluss

text: The idea of grouping all Germans into one nation-state had been the subject of debate in the 19th century from the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 until the break-up of the German Confederation in 1866. Austria had wanted a "Großdeutsche Lösung" (greater Germany solution), whereby the German states would unite under the leadership of German Austrians (Habsburgs). This solution would have included all the German states (including the non-German regions of Austria), but Prussia would have had to accept a secondary role. This controversy, called dualism, dominated Prusso-Austrian diplomacy and the politics of the German states in the mid-nineteenth century.


title: Anschluss

text: In 1866 the feud finally came to an end during the Austro-Prussian War in which the Prussians defeated the Austrians and thereby excluded the Austrian Empire and German Austrians from Germany. The Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck formed the North German Confederation, which included most of the remaining German states, aside from a few in the southwestern region of the German-inhabited lands, and further expanded the power of the Kingdom of Prussia. Bismarck used the Franco-Prussian war (1870-1871) as a way to convince southwestern German states, including the Kingdom of Bavaria, to side with Prussia against the Second French Empire. Due to Prussia's quick victory, the debate was settled and in 1871 the ""Kleindeutsch"" German Empire based on the leadership of Bismarck and Prussia formed – this excluded Austria. Besides ensuring Prussian domination of a united Germany, the exclusion of Austria also ensured that Germany would have a substantial Protestant majority.


title: Anschluss

text: The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the "Ausgleich", provided for a dual sovereignty, the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, under Franz Joseph I. The Austrian-Hungarian rule of this diverse empire included various different ethnic groups including Hungarians, Slavic ethnic groups such as Croats, Czechs, Poles, Rusyns, Serbs, Slovaks, Slovenes, and Ukrainians, as well as Italians and Romanians ruled by a German minority. The empire caused tensions between the various ethnic groups. Many Austrian pan-Germans showed loyalty to Bismarck and only to Germany, wore symbols that were temporarily banned in Austrian schools and advocated the dissolution of the empire to allow Austria to rejoin Germany, as it had been during the German Confederation of 1815-1866. Although many Austrians supported pan-Germanism, many others still showed allegiance to the Habsburg monarchy and wished for Austria to remain an independent country.


title: Anschluss

text: Erich Ludendorff wrote to the Federal Foreign Office on 14 October 1918 about the possibility of conducting an Anschluss with the German areas of Austria-Hungary as its dissolution removed the problem of the country's numerous ethnic groups. Secretary Wilhelm Solf opposed the proposal, stating that it "would provide the Entente with justification for demanding territorial compensations". During the Paris Peace Conference the French sought to forbid a union between Austria and Germany, with French Minister of Foreign Affairs Stephen Pichon stating that they "must see that Germany is not given an opportunity to rebuild her strength by utilizing the Austrian populations which remain outside of Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Jugoslavia". A compromise was reached and Article Eighty of the Treaty of Versailles stated that "Germany acknowledges and will respect strictly the independence of Austria, within the frontiers which may be fixed in a Treaty between that State and the Principal Allied and Associated Powers; she agrees that this independence shall be inalienable, except with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations."


title: Anschluss

text: Elite and popular opinion in the rump Republic of German-Austria after 1918 largely favored some sort of union with Germany. An Austrian provisional national assembly drafted a provisional constitution that stated that "German Austria is a democratic republic" (Article 1) and "German Austria is a component of the German Republic" (Article 2). Later plebiscites in the German border provinces of Tyrol and Salzburg yielded majorities of 98% and 99% in favor of a unification with the Democratic German Republic. Further plebiscites were then forbidden. However, Erich Bielka notes that the plebiscites were marred by electoral fraud and voter manipulation, and therefore do not reflect what the general Austrian opinion was at that time:


title: Anschluss

text: In the aftermath of a prohibition of an Anschluss, Germans in both Austria and Germany pointed to a contradiction in the national self-determination principle because the treaties failed to grant self-determination to the ethnic Germans (such as German Austrians and Sudeten Germans) outside of the German Reich. Hugo Preuss, the drafter of the German Weimar Constitution, criticized efforts to prevent an Anschluss; he saw the prohibition as a contradiction of the Wilsonian principle of self-determination of peoples.


title: Anschluss

text: The constitutions of the Weimar Republic and the First Austrian Republic both included the political goal of unification, which parties widely supported. In the early 1930s, the Austrian government looked to a possible customs union with the German Republic in 1931. However, ultimately regional patriotism was stronger than pan-German sentiment. In the Austrian Empire, each Kronland had its own functional government and enjoyed a fair amount of autonomy from Vienna, with "each looking to their own capital" instead. According to Jody Manning, the idea of unification with Germany was not overwhelmingly popular among the Austrian population in 1919, which is one of the reasons why no nationwide referendum was held, even before it was forbidden by the Entente:


title: Anschluss

text: The French attempted to prevent an Anschhluss by incorporating Austria into a Danubian Confederation in 1927. German Minister of Foreign Affairs Gustav Stresemann opposed it, as he saw it as an attempt to re-form the Austro-Hungarian Empire and offered to form a customs union with Austria. However, Austrian Chancellor Ignaz Seipel, an Anschluss opponent, rejected the offer. Seipel was replaced in 1929 by Johannes Schober, who pursued a pro-Germany policy and attempted to form a customs union. However, a political crisis led to Schober losing power and Seipel returning to the government as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Negotiations were restarted after Otto Ender became chancellor and were finalized with German Foreign Affairs Minister Julius Curtius on 5 March 1931, before being approved by Germany on 18 March. France opposed the customs union, stating that it was in violation of Article Eighty-Eight of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.


title: Anschluss

text: When the Nazis, led by Adolf Hitler, rose to power in the Weimar Republic, the Austrian government withdrew from economic ties. Like Germany, Austria experienced the economic turbulence which was a result of the Great Depression, with a high unemployment rate, and unstable commerce and industry. During the 1920s it was a target for German investment capital. By 1937, rapid German rearmament increased Berlin's interest in annexing Austria, rich in raw materials and labour. It supplied Germany with magnesium and the products of the iron, textile and machine industries. It had gold and foreign currency reserves, many unemployed skilled workers, hundreds of idle factories, and large potential hydroelectric resources.


title: Anschluss

text: Hitler, an Austrian German by birth, picked up his German nationalist ideas at a young age. Whilst infiltrating the German Workers' Party (DAP), Hitler became involved in a heated political argument with a visitor, a Professor Baumann, who proposed that Bavaria should break away from Prussia and found a new South German nation with Austria. In vehemently attacking the man's arguments he made an impression on the other party members with his oratory skills and, according to Hitler, the "professor" left the hall acknowledging unequivocal defeat. Impressed with Hitler, Anton Drexler invited him to join the DAP. Hitler accepted on 12 September 1919, becoming the party's 55th member. After becoming leader of the DAP, Hitler addressed a crowd on 24 February 1920, and in an effort to appeal to wider parts of the German population, the DAP was renamed the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP).


title: Anschluss

text: As its first point, the 1920 National Socialist Program stated, "We demand the unification of all Germans in the Greater Germany on the basis of the people's right to self-determination." Hitler argued in a 1921 essay that the German Reich had a single task of, "incorporating the ten million German-Austrians in the Empire and dethroning the Habsburgs, the most miserable dynasty ever ruling." The Nazis aimed to re-unite all Germans who were either born in the "Reich" or living outside it in order to create an "all-German "Reich"". Hitler wrote in "Mein Kampf" (1925) that he would create a union between his birth country Austria and Germany by any means possible.


title: Anschluss

text: The First Austrian Republic was dominated from the late 1920s by the Christian Social Party (CS), whose economic policies were based on the papal encyclical "Rerum novarum"). The First Republic gradually disintegrated in 1933, when parliament was dissolved and power was centralized in the office of the chancellor, who was empowered to rule by decree. Rival parties, including the Austrian National Socialists, were banned, and government evolved into a corporatist, one-party government that combined the CS and the paramilitary "Heimwehr". It controlled labor relations and the press. ("See Austrofascism and Patriotic Front"). The new regime emphasized the Catholic elements of Austria's national identity and staunchly opposed union with Nazi Germany.


title: Anschluss

text: Engelbert Dollfuss and his successor, Kurt Schuschnigg, turned to Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy for inspiration and support. Mussolini supported the independence of Austria, largely due to his concern that Hitler would eventually press for the return of Italian territories which had once been ruled by Austria. However, Mussolini needed German support in Ethiopia ("see Second Italo-Abyssinian War"). After receiving Hitler's personal assurance that Germany would not seek territorial concessions from Italy, Mussolini entered into a client relationship with Berlin that began with the formation of the Berlin–Rome Axis in 1937.


title: Anschluss

text: The Austrian Nazi Party failed to win any seats in the November 1930 general election, but its popularity grew in Austria after Hitler came to power in Germany. The idea of the country joining Germany also grew in popularity, thanks in part to a Nazi propaganda campaign which used slogans such as "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer" ("One People, One Empire, One Leader") to try to convince Austrians to advocate for an "Anschluss" to the German Reich. "Anschluss" might have occurred by democratic process had Austrian Nazis not begun a terrorism campaign. According to John Gunther in 1936, "In 1932 Austria was probably eighty percent pro-"Anschluss"".


title: Anschluss

text: When Germany permitted residents of Austria to vote on 5 March 1933, three special trains, boats and trucks brought such masses to Passau that the SS staged a ceremonial welcome. Gunther wrote that by the end of 1933 Austrian public opinion about German annexation was at least 60% against. On 25 July 1934, Dollfuss was assassinated by Austrian Nazis in a failed coup. Afterwards, leading Austrian Nazis fled to Germany but they continued to push for unification from there. The remaining Austrian Nazis continued terrorist attacks against Austrian governmental institutions, causing a death toll of more than 800 between 1934 and 1938.


title: Anschluss

text: Dollfuss's successor was Kurt Schuschnigg, who followed a political course similar to his predecessor. In 1935 Schuschnigg used the police to suppress Nazi supporters. Police actions under Schuschnigg included gathering Nazis (and Social Democrats) and holding them in internment camps. The Austrofascism of Austria between 1934–1938 focused on the history of Austria and opposed the absorption of Austria into Nazi Germany (according to the philosophy Austrians were "superior Germans"). Schuschnigg called Austria the "better German state" but struggled to keep Austria independent.


title: Anschluss

text: In an attempt to put Schuschnigg's mind at rest, Hitler delivered a speech at the Reichstag and said, "Germany neither intends nor wishes to interfere in the internal affairs of Austria, to annex Austria or to conclude an Anschluss."


title: Anschluss

text: By 1936 the damage to Austria from the German boycott was too great. That summer Schuschnigg told Mussolini that his country had to come to an agreement with Germany. On 11 July 1936 he signed an agreement with German ambassador Franz von Papen, in which Schuschnigg agreed to the release of Nazis imprisoned in Austria and Germany promised to respect Austrian sovereignty. Under the terms of the Austro-German treaty, Austria declared itself a "German state" that would always follow Germany's lead in foreign policy, and members of the "National Opposition" were allowed to enter the cabinet, in exchange for which the Austrian Nazis promised to cease their terrorist attacks against the government. This did not satisfy Hitler and the pro-German Austrian Nazis grew in strength.


title: Anschluss

text: In September 1936, Hitler launched the Four-Year Plan that called for a dramatic increase in military spending and to make Germany as autarkic as possible with the aim of having the "Reich" ready to fight a world war by 1940. The Four Year Plan required huge investments in the "Reichswerke" steel works, a programme for developing synthetic oil that soon went wildly over budget, and programmes for producing more chemicals and aluminium; the plan called for a policy of substituting imports and rationalizing industry to achieve its goals that failed completely. As the Four Year Plan fell further and further behind its targets, Hermann Göring, the chief of the Four Year Plan office, began to press for an "Anschluss" as a way of securing Austria's iron and other raw materials as a solution to the problems with the Four Year Plan. The British historian Sir Ian Kershaw wrote: ...above all, it was Hermann Göring, at this time close to the pinnacle of his power, who far more than Hitler, throughout 1937 made the running and pushed the hardest for an early and radical solution to the 'Austrian Question'. Göring was not simply operating as Hitler's agent in matters relating to the 'Austrian Question'. His approach differed in emphasis in significant respects...But Göring's broad notions of foreign policy, which he pushed to a great extent on his own initiative in the mid-1930s drew more on traditional pan-German concepts of nationalist power-politics to attain hegemony in Europe than on the racial dogmatism central to Hitler's ideology. Göring was far more interested in the return of the former German colonies in Africa than was Hitler, believed up to 1939 in the possibility of an Anglo-German alliance (an idea that Hitler had abandoned by late 1937), and wanted all Eastern Europe in the German economic sphere of influence. Göring did not share Hitler's interest in "Lebensraum" ("living space") as for him, merely having Eastern Europe in the German economic sphere of influence was sufficient. In this context, having Austria annexed to Germany was the key towards bringing Eastern Europe into Göring's desired "Grossraumwirtschaft" ("greater economic space").


title: Anschluss

text: Faced with problems in the Four Year Plan, Göring had become the loudest voice in Germany, calling for an "Anschluss", even at the risk of losing an alliance with Italy. In April 1937, in a secret speech before a group of German industrialists, Göring stated that the only solution to the problems with meeting the steel production targets laid out by the Four Year Plan was to annex Austria, which Göring noted was rich in iron. Göring did not give a date for the "Anschluss", but given that Four Year Plan's targets all had to be met by September 1940, and the current problems with meeting the steel production targets, suggested that he wanted an "Anschluss" in the very near-future.


title: Anschluss

text: Hitler told Goebbels in the late summer of 1937 that eventually Austria would have to be taken "by force". On 5 November 1937, Hitler called a meeting with the Foreign Minister Konstantin von Neurath, the War Minister Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg, the Army commander General Werner von Fritsch, the Kriegsmarine commander Admiral Erich Raeder and the Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring recorded in the Hossbach Memorandum. At the conference, Hitler stated that economic problems were causing Germany to fall behind in the arms race with Britain and France, and that the only solution was to launch in the near-future a series of wars to seize Austria and Czechoslovakia, whose economies would be plundered to give Germany the lead in the arms race. In early 1938, Hitler was seriously considering replacing Papen as ambassador to Austria with either Colonel Hermann Kriebel, the German consul in Shanghai or Albert Forster, the "Gauleiter" of Danzig. Significantly, neither Kriebel nor Forster were professional diplomats with Kriebel being one of the leaders of the 1923 Munich Beerhall "putsch" who had been appointed consul in Shanghai to facilitate his work as an arms dealer in China while Forster was a "Gauleiter" who had proven he could get along with the Poles in his position in the Free City of Danzig; both men were Nazis who had shown some diplomatic skill. On 25 January 1938, the Austrian police raided the Vienna headquarters of the Austrian Nazi Party, arresting "Gauleiter" Leopold Tavs, the deputy to Captain Josef Leopold, discovered a cache of arms and plans for a "putsch".


title: Anschluss

text: Following increasing violence and demands from Hitler that Austria agree to a union, Schuschnigg met Hitler at Berchtesgaden on 12 February 1938, in an attempt to avoid the takeover of Austria. Hitler presented Schuschnigg with a set of demands that included appointing Nazi sympathizers to positions of power in the government. The key appointment was that of Arthur Seyss-Inquart as Minister of Public Security, with full, unlimited control of the police. In return Hitler would publicly reaffirm the treaty of 11 July 1936 and reaffirm his support for Austria's national sovereignty. Browbeaten and threatened by Hitler, Schuschnigg agreed to these demands and put them into effect.


title: Anschluss

text: Seyss-Inquart was a long-time supporter of the Nazis who sought the union of all Germans in one state. Leopold argues he was a moderate who favoured an evolutionary approach to union. He opposed the violent tactics of the Austrian Nazis, cooperated with Catholic groups, and wanted to preserve a measure of Austrian identity within Nazi Germany.


title: Anschluss

text: On 20 February, Hitler made a speech before the Reichstag which was broadcast live and which for the first time was relayed also by the Austrian radio network. A key phrase in the speech which was aimed at the Germans living in Austria and Czechoslovakia was: "The German Reich is no longer willing to tolerate the suppression of ten million Germans across its borders."


title: Anschluss

text: On 3 March 1938, Austrian Socialists offered to back Schuschnigg's government in exchange for political concessions, such as legalising socialist press, returning confiscated funds and "the lifting of the ban on the wearing of Social Democrat badges, show Social Democrat flags and standards and singing Social Democrat songs." Schuschnigg agreed to these demands and was supported by the united front of socialists and communists, as well as the Heimwehr, monarchist groups and the majority of the Austrian police. The Social Democrats also declared their readiness to support Schuschnigg in the event of a plebiscite under the conditions that immediately after such a plebiscite a definite negotiation be begun to include them in the Government. This support led Schuschnigg to announce the referendum.


title: Anschluss

text: On 9 March 1938, in the face of rioting by the small, but virulent, Austrian Nazi Party and ever-expanding German demands on Austria, Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg called a referendum (plebiscite) on the issue, to be held on 13 March. Infuriated, on 11 March, Adolf Hitler threatened invasion of Austria, and demanded Chancellor von Schuschnigg's resignation and the appointment of the Nazi Arthur Seyss-Inquart as his replacement. Hitler's plan was for Seyss-Inquart to call immediately for German troops to rush to Austria's aid, restoring order and giving the invasion an air of legitimacy. In the face of this threat, Schuschnigg informed Seyss-Inquart that the plebiscite would be cancelled.


title: Anschluss

text: To secure a large majority in the referendum, Schuschnigg dismantled the one-party state. He agreed to legalize the Social Democrats and their trade unions in return for their support in the referendum. He also set the minimum voting age at 24 to exclude younger voters because the Nazi movement was most popular among the young. In contrast, Hitler had lowered the voting age for German elections held under Nazi rule, largely to compensate for the removal of Jews and other ethnic minorities from the German electorate following enactment of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935.


title: Anschluss

text: The plan went awry when it became apparent that Hitler would not stand by while Austria declared its independence by public vote. Hitler declared that the referendum would be subject to major fraud and that Germany would never accept it. In addition, the German ministry of propaganda issued press reports that riots had broken out in Austria and that large parts of the Austrian population were calling for German troops to restore order. Schuschnigg immediately responded that reports of riots were false.


title: Anschluss

text: Hitler sent an ultimatum to Schuschnigg on 11 March, demanding that he hand over all power to the Austrian Nazis or face an invasion. The ultimatum was set to expire at noon, but was extended by two hours. Without waiting for an answer, Hitler had already signed the order to send troops into Austria at one o'clock.


title: Anschluss

text: As Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Edgar Ansel Mowrer, reporting from Paris for CBS News, observed: "There is no one in all France who does not believe that Hitler invaded Austria not to hold a genuine plebiscite, but to prevent the plebiscite planned by Schuschnigg from demonstrating to the entire world just how little hold National Socialism really had on that tiny country."


title: Anschluss

text: Schuschnigg desperately sought support for Austrian independence in the hours following the ultimatum. Realizing that neither France nor Britain was willing to offer assistance, Schuschnigg resigned on the evening of 11 March, but President Wilhelm Miklas refused to appoint Seyss-Inquart as Chancellor. At 8:45 pm, Hitler, tired of waiting, ordered the invasion to commence at dawn on 12 March regardless. Around 10 pm, a forged telegram was sent in Seyss-Inquart's name asking for German troops, since he was not yet Chancellor and was unable to do so himself. Seyss-Inquart was not installed as Chancellor until after midnight, when Miklas resigned himself to the inevitable. In the radio broadcast in which Schuschnigg announced his resignation, he argued that he accepted the changes and allowed the Nazis to take over the government 'to avoid the shedding of fraternal blood ["Bruderblut"]'. Seyss-Inquart was appointed chancellor after midnight on 12 March.


title: Anschluss

text: It is said that after listening to Bruckner's Seventh Symphony, Hitler cried: "How can anyone say that Austria is not German! Is there anything more German than our old pure Austrianness?"


title: Anschluss

text: On the morning of 12 March 1938, the 8th Army of the German "Wehrmacht" crossed the border into Austria. The troops were greeted by cheering Austrians with Nazi salutes, Nazi flags, and flowers. For the "Wehrmacht", the invasion was the first big test of its machinery. Although the invading forces were badly organized and coordination among the units was poor, it mattered little because the Austrian government had ordered the Austrian Bundesheer not to resist.


title: Anschluss

text: That afternoon, Hitler, riding in a car, crossed the border at his birthplace, Braunau am Inn, with a 4,000 man bodyguard. In the evening, he arrived at Linz and was given an enthusiastic welcome. The enthusiasm displayed toward Hitler and the Germans surprised both Nazis and non-Nazis, as most people had believed that a majority of Austrians opposed "Anschluss". Many Germans from both Austria and Germany welcomed the "Anschluss" as they saw it as completing the complex and long overdue unification of all Germans into one state. Hitler had originally intended to leave Austria as a satellite state with Seyss-Inquart as head of a pro-Nazi government. However, the overwhelming reception caused him to change course and absorb Austria directly into the Reich. On 13 March Seyss-Inquart announced the abrogation of Article 88 of the Treaty of Saint-Germain, which prohibited the unification of Austria and Germany, and approved the replacement of the Austrian states with "Reichsgaue". The seizure of Austria demonstrated once again Hitler's aggressive territorial ambitions, and, once again, the failure of the British and the French to take action against him for violating the Versailles Treaty. Their lack of will emboldened him toward further aggression.


title: Anschluss

text: Hitler's journey through Austria became a triumphal tour that climaxed in Vienna on 15 March 1938, when around 200,000 cheering German Austrians gathered around the "Heldenplatz" (Square of Heroes) to hear Hitler say that "The oldest eastern province of the German people shall be, from this point on, the newest bastion of the German Reich" followed by his "greatest accomplishment" (completing the annexing of Austria to form a Greater German Reich) by saying "As leader and chancellor of the German nation and Reich I announce to German history now the entry of my homeland into the German Reich." Hitler later commented: "Certain foreign newspapers have said that we fell on Austria with brutal methods. I can only say: even in death they cannot stop lying. I have in the course of my political struggle won much love from my people, but when I crossed the former frontier (into Austria) there met me such a stream of love as I have never experienced. Not as tyrants have we come, but as liberators."


title: Anschluss

text: Hitler said as a personal note to the "Anschluss": "I, myself, as Führer and Chancellor, will be happy to walk on the soil of the country that is my home as a free German citizen."


title: Anschluss

text: Hitler's popularity reached an unprecedented peak after he fulfilled the "Anschluss" because he had completed the long-awaited idea of a Greater Germany. Bismarck had not chosen to include Austria in his 1871 reunification of Germany, and there was genuine support from Germans in both Austria and Germany for an "Anschluss".


title: Anschluss

text: Hitler's forces suppressed all opposition. Before the first German soldier crossed the border, Heinrich Himmler and a few Schutzstaffel (SS) officers landed in Vienna to arrest prominent representatives of the First Republic, such as Richard Schmitz, Leopold Figl, Friedrich Hillegeist, and Franz Olah. During the few weeks between the "Anschluss" and the plebiscite, authorities rounded up Social Democrats, Communists, other potential political dissenters, and Austrian Jews, and imprisoned them or sent them to concentration camps. Within a few days of 12 March, 70,000 people had been arrested. The disused northwest railway station in Vienna was converted into a makeshift concentration camp. American historian Evan Burr Bukey warned that the plebiscite result needs to be taken with "great caution". The plebiscite was subject to large-scale Nazi propaganda and to the abrogation of the voting rights of around 360,000 people (8% of the eligible voting population), mainly political enemies such as former members of left-wing parties and Austrian citizens of Jewish or Gypsy origin.


title: Anschluss

text: The Austrians' support for the "Anschluss" was ambivalent; but, since the Social Democratic Party of Austria leader Karl Renner and the highest representative of the Roman Catholic church in Austria Cardinal Theodor Innitzer both endorsed the "Anschluss", approximately two-thirds of Austrians could be counted on to vote for it. What the result of the plebiscite meant for the Austrians will always be a matter of speculation. Nevertheless, historians generally agree that it cannot be explained exclusively by simply either opportunism or the desire of socioeconomics and represented the genuine German nationalist feeling in Austria during the interwar period. Also, the general anti-Semitic consensus in Austria meant that a substantial amount of Austrians were more than ready to "fulfill their duty" in the "Greater German Reich". How many Austrians behind closed doors were against the "Anschluss" remains unknown, but only one "unhappy face" of an Austrian in public when the Germans marched into Austria has ever been produced. According to some Gestapo reports, only a quarter to a third of Austrian voters in Vienna were in favour of the "Anschluss". In most rural areas, especially in Tyrol, the support for the Anschluss was even lower. According to Evan Burr Bukey, no more than one-third of Austrians ever fully supported Nazism during the existence of Nazi Germany. According to the estimates of the Austrian government, with the voting age of 24, about 70 % of Austrians would have voted to preserve the Austrian independence. About quarter of the Austrian population was estimated to be supportive of the NSDAP.