German Chancellor Adolf Hitler summoned his Austrian counterpart, Kurt Schuschnigg, to Hitler's mountain retreat at Berchtesgaden. There, Hitler berated the Austrian and demanded that Austria install a Nazi-friendly government. Schuschnigg refused, and Hitler in turn would not let him leave. As no communication came from their leader, Austrian officers of the 8th Infantry Brigade headquartered a few kilometers away in Salzburg became concerned. Maj. Gen. Kurt Zborzil, appointed to the post just two weeks before, called his senior officers together. If no word came soon of Schuschnigg's fate, his brigade would storm the Eagle's Nest, free their chancellor and "kill the little (expletive)."

A coward in his heart, Hitler would undoubtedly have fled the field and left his fanatic bodyguards to die in his place. Losing the Eagle's Nest to the Austrian Army - and fleeing into the night to avoid them - would have been a political catastrophe. But in reality Schuschnigg returned before Zborzil led his troops over the border. The chancellor was physically unharmed but spiritually broken. Forty years later, 8th Brigade officers still spoke wistfully of the lost opportunity to destroy Hitler before he unleashed his madness. However, if unsuccessful it would have plunged Austria into an utterly hopeless war.