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After Englebert Dolfus's assassination, the Nazis attempted a coup to overthrow the Austrofascist regime that ruled the country back then. Mussolini - Fascist Austria's ally - positioned troops along the border and threatened military intervention should the Nazis attempt to make Austria part of the German Reich. The coup failed, and Hitler denied having anything to do with it. After the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935/36, Italy drifted closer to Germany and let the Anschluss go quietly.
Is it possible that, if the July Coup is successful, that a war over Austria between the two fascist powers starts? Is Mussolini really just making noises, or is he seriously willing to go to war with Germany? Will Hitler allow a war to start with Italy and its Duce, whom he admired? With Germany not yet ready for war and Italy completely incompetent, how would this war go? Or, rather, a better question is: What if the Nazi coup in 1934 succeeded?
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