Was Germany part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire?
Austria used to be the leading German state. Otto von Bismarck wanted that distinction for Prussia, so he engineered a war between Prussia and Austria. This was part of his plan to unify Germany – once a loose confederation of German states and principalities – into a single nation under Prussian control. All this happened in the mid 1800’s. After the Prusso-Austrian War Austria was kicked out of Germany altogether. This left Prussia in firm control. It was only then that Austria formed the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. When Hitler was born in 1889 it was firmly in Austria. He moved to Germany in WW1 to fight in the German Army. He didn’t become a German citizen until 1932 – less than a year before coming to power.
