Anschluss means joining and it refers to an attempt to make a Greater German Reich.
Anschluss ( [ ˈʔanʃlʊs ] , `` connection '' or `` joining '' ) is the term used to describe the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938 . The idea of an Anschluss ( Austria and Germany united to form a `` Greater Germany '' ) began after the Unification of Germany excluded Austria and the Austrian Germans from the Prussian-dominated German nation-state in 1871 .