Austria In 1919: A Nation's Post-War Struggles And Resilience

In 1919, Austria was in a state of flux. The year marked the end of World War I, the fall of the Habsburg monarchy, and the birth of the First Austrian Republic. The country was facing food scarcity, an energy crisis, and economic chaos. The Austrian currency was in freefall, and the country was in the grip of violent political strife. The Social Democrats, who enjoyed popular support in Vienna, clashed with right-wing paramilitary groups, and the country was divided between the conservative countryside and the socialist-controlled capital. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, signed on September 10, 1919, officially ended the Habsburg rump state of German-Austria and created the Republic of Austria. The Treaty reduced Austria's borders, ceded German-populated regions to neighbouring countries, and forbade union with Germany without the consent of the League of Nations.

The First Austrian Republic

The new state was difficult to control, as much of the former empire's important economic regions had been taken away with the foundation of new nation-states. The matter was further complicated by the fact that a number of these new nation-states were still dependent on Vienna's banks, but business was hampered by the newly erected borders and tariffs. The landlocked Austria was barely able to support itself with food and lacked a developed industrial basis. In addition, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Italy had imposed a trade blockade and refused to sell food and coal to Austria, which was eventually saved by aid and support from the Western Allies.

The new constitution created a bicameral legislature, with the upper house formed by representatives from federal states and the lower house to which deputies were elected in universal elections. The Federal President was elected for a four-year term in a full session of both houses, while the Chancellor was elected by the National Council. As no political party ever gained a parliamentary majority, Austria was governed by coalitions of the conservative Christian Social Party and the right-wing Greater German People's Party or Landbund. The Christian Social Party retained close ties to the Roman Catholic Church and attempted to forge a political alliance between wealthy industrialists and the Church.

The politics of the nation were fractious and violent, with both Social Democrat and right-wing political paramilitary forces clashing with each other. The country was divided between the conservative countryside population and Red Vienna, which was controlled by the Social Democrats. Political violence escalated into the Austrian Civil War of February 1934, between Social Democrats and government forces. On 1 May 1934, Dollfuss created a one-party state, to be led by the Fatherland Front, with the proclamation of the authoritarian "May Constitution". The name of the country was changed from the "Republic of Austria" to the "Federal State of Austria".

The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye

The treaty officially registered the breakup of the Habsburg Empire, recognising the independence of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) and ceding eastern Galicia, Trento, southern Tirol, Trieste, and Istria. Plebiscites eventually determined the disposition of southern Carinthia (which went to Austria) and the town of Sopron (which went to Hungary). The treaty included 'war reparations' of large sums of money, directed towards the Allies (however, the exact amount was never defined and collected from Austria), as well as provisions for the liquidation of the Austro-Hungarian Bank.

The Allies had explicitly committed themselves to the cause of the minority peoples of Austria-Hungary late in the war. The Allies not only allowed the minority peoples to help create new states (Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia), recreate former states (Poland), or join their ethnic brethren in existing nation-states (Romania, Italy), but also allowed the successor states to absorb significant blocks of German-inhabited territory. The Allies' promise of self-determination, however, ran up against the reality that no convenient line could be drawn to separate intermingled nationalities.

Article 88 of the treaty required Austria to refrain from directly or indirectly compromising its independence, which meant that Austria could not enter into political or economic union with the Weimar Republic without the agreement of the council of the League of Nations. Accordingly, the new republic's initial self-chosen name of German-Austria (German: Deutschösterreich) had to be changed to Austria.

The Republic's constitution

In 1919, Austria was in a state of transition, having recently become a republic following the end of World War I. The country was facing several challenges, including economic exhaustion, social unrest, and bolshevism. The Austrian Social Democrats played a crucial role in resisting bolshevism and maintaining order. They organised the Volkswehr (People's Guard), which successfully suppressed two communist coup attempts in April and June 1919.

The constitution-making process involved concessions to federalism to appease the states, which had been reluctant to send food supplies to Vienna and had sought to break away or claim independence. Vienna was elevated to the status of a state, allowing it to pursue an autonomous policy despite being controlled by conservative parties.

The new constitution also addressed foreign policy matters. While there was strong support for Anschluss ("union") with Germany, this was prohibited by the Treaty of Saint-Germain, which Austria signed with the Allied Powers in 1919. The treaty also stipulated that Austria could no longer call itself "German-Austria" and must become the "Republic of Austria".

The Austrofascist Federal State of Austria

The Federal State of Austria, also known as Austrofascism, was a continuation of the First Austrian Republic between 1934 and 1938. It was a one-party state led by the conservative, nationalist, corporatist and clerical fascist Fatherland Front. The Fatherland Front was established on 20 May 1933 by Engelbert Dollfuss as the only legally permitted party in the country. It was organised along the lines of Italian Fascism, was fully aligned with the Catholic Church, and did not advocate any racial ideology. It advocated Austrian nationalism and independence from Germany on the basis of protecting Austria's Catholic religious identity from what they considered a Protestant-dominated German state.

Engelbert Dollfuss, who was appointed Chancellor of Austria in 1932, seized dictatorial powers in 1933. He banned the Communist Party, the Social Democratic Republikanischer Schutzbund paramilitary organisation, and the Austrian branch of the Nazi Party. He then established the Fatherland's Front as a unity party of "an autonomous, Christian, German, corporative Federal State of Austria". The path to dictatorship was completed on 1 May 1934, when the Constitution of Austria was recast into a severely authoritarian and corporatist document. Direct parliamentary elections were abolished. Instead, deputies were nominated by four non-elective, corporatist-styled councils. In practice, however, all governing power was now in Dollfuss' hands.

Dollfuss continued to rule under what amounted to martial law until his assassination on 25 July 1934 during the Nazi July Putsch. Although the coup d'état was quickly suppressed, Dollfuss' education minister, Kurt Schuschnigg, succeeded him. Hitler officially denied any involvement in the failed coup, but he continued to destabilise the Austrian state by secretly supporting Nazi sympathisers. In turn, Austria under Schuschnigg sought the backing of its southern neighbour, the fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

The Federal State of Austria glorified the history of Austria. The Habsburg Monarchy was elevated as a time of greatness in Austrian history. The Catholic Church played a large role in the nation's definition of Austrian history and identity, alienating German culture. Unlike Hitler's comparatively secular regime, the Catholic Church was given a prominent voice in a variety of issues. The state de-secularised schools in education, requiring religious education to complete the Matura graduation exams. According to this ideology, Austrians were "better Germans". In keeping with the regime's Catholicism, the regime elevated the non-communist and non-capitalist teachings of Papal Encyclicals, most prominently Quadragesimo anno of Pope Pius XI.

Whether the Federal State could be considered genuinely fascist is debatable. Although it was authoritarian and used fascist-like symbols, it never achieved broad support among Austrians. Its most prominent policy was an embrace of Catholicism, and its economic and social policies bear only a passing resemblance to those of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany and more of a resemblance to Portugal under Salazar.

The July Revolt of 1927

On 30 January 1927, a Republikanischer Schutzbund group held a demonstration in the town of Schattendorf, in Burgenland. After the demonstration had ended, the nationalist Frontkämpfervereinigung Deutsch-Österreichs attacked the Schutzbund members heading back to the train station, injuring several and killing Matthias Csmarits, a World War I veteran, and Josef Grössing, an eight-year-old boy. The funeral of the two victims on 2 February was attended by thousands, and trade unions declared a 15-minute general strike throughout Austria.

On 5 July, the trial of three Frontkämpfervereinigung members accused of the shooting began in Vienna. During the trial, the three, defended by the lawyer Walter Riehl, pleaded self-defence. After nine days, on 14 July, the jury acquitted them. This "Schattendorf Verdict" led to a general strike, which had the aim of bringing down the government headed by Christian Social Party Chancellor Ignaz Seipel.

Massive protests began on the morning of 15 July, when a furious crowd tried to storm the main building of the University of Vienna on the Ringstrasse. The protesters attacked and damaged a nearby police station and a newspaper building before they proceeded to the Austrian Parliament Building. Forced back by police, they arrived in the square in front of the Palace of Justice. Around noon, protesters entered the building by smashing the windows and then demolished the furnishings and began setting fire to files. Soon afterward, the building was ablaze. The fire spread quickly, as the Vienna fire brigade was attacked by several demonstrators, who cut the hoses and so prevented its being brought under control until the early morning.

The former (and later) Austrian Chancellor Johann Schober, who was then Vienna chief of police, suppressed the protests with force. He attempted to get the Austrian Armed Forces involved, but this was rejected by Social Democratic Mayor Karl Seitz. Schober then supplied the police troops with army rifles and publicly announced that the premises would be cleared by force if the fire brigades could not work unhindered. The police opened fire and left 5 police officers and 89 demonstrators dead.

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