Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Grossdeutschland
For information on the military unit see Grossdeutschland Division
Grossdeutschland (from the German Großdeutschland, literally Greater Germany) is a term that has been used in two separate contexts over history.
German Unification
Grossdeutschland was a 19th century political idea postulating the (never realized) idea of a unified Germany, led by Habsburg Austria and with Vienna as its capital, as opposed to the Prussian-led alternative, known as Kleindeutschland (Small Germany). With the foundation of the German Empire in 1871, which did not include Austria, the Kleindeutschland solution was put into practice.
The Third Reich
In a reference to the earlier concept of Grossdeutschland, after the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria to the Deutsches Reich (German Empire) in 1938, the state was informally renamed to Grossdeutsches Reich.
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