Austria says no to the Anschluss

[SealTheRealDeal]

Does that paper account for loyalty issues among the Austrian army? It may not matter if they have the theoretical strength to stop the Germans. If the soldiers support the Anschluss, they might not fight.

Jansa's plans involved the extensive utilization of the Fatherland Front's affiliated militias (which had been merged into a single command in 1936). These would have served both on the front lines and domestically (against pro-German segments of the Austrian population). The paper makes no mention of such, but I imagine blocking detachments could be easily set up if the Austrian army's moral and loyalty was an issue*.

*and on that note, I wouldn't be so quick to assume that it would be, as the paper notes:
"Moreover, the fall manoeuvres and trial of the "Jansa Plan" in the forest area of Lower and Upper Austria (Waldviertel) depicted a skilled army full of enthusiasm and spirit. 221"
Doesn't sound like a force eager to help destroy its own country.

 

[SealTheRealDeal]

Nevertheless to put the paper in perspective, what it says is that Jansa's plans (which were the product of years of planning, unlike Hitler's makeshift invasion plan) would have allowed Austria to "defend Austria's borders for a minimum of two or three days."

Indeed, munition stocks being the main limiting factor iirc. Never though "WI: Austria buys more bullets" would potentially be an interesting PoD.

would that have been enough to deter him, or to induce Mussolini to intervene?

Support from Italy is a dead letter. Though there would certainly be other actors watching Germany get a black eye in the first week. The Czechs in particular need only look at a map to see what Austria's annexation would mean for their survivability.