[Aptrgangr]

Austrians are Germans, they are of the same tribe like the Bavarians (Bajuvarian) with exceptions in the very west, those are of Alamanni origin, and there is a significant Slavic minority too.
The fact they themselves do not consider themselves as German in many, if not most cases, has to do with serious brainwashing and re-education.
Both, in the FRG and the Republic Austria the ruling classes do their best to make alternative history and one political view obligatory. In Austria e.g. all documents and movies showing the re-union in 1938 was frenetically celebrated were destroyed, one copy showing Hitler being acclaimed in Vienna survived that action. But actually Austrians themselves wanted to join the "Deutsches Reich" after the Habsburg Empire collapsed in 1918, the Entente powers did not allow this, today's claim Austria was annexed and the first vitim of Hitlers imperialist policy is ridiculous. I have a banknote originating from 1918/19, it states "Deutsch-Österreich" - German-Austria, to make sure it is not valid in countries of the former Imperium Austriacum.To go back further in history, in 1848 there were attempts to found a German national state including Austria, it failed because of the dynasties, the ruling Princes, and not because people would not have wanted it.
I have family in Austria, anytime anyone of them or one of their friends claim they were not Germans I reply they were indeed Balcanics - due to a an unknown reason they do not like this... in fact denying the own heritage caused an identity crisis.