Austria: Dictatorship Or Democracy?

Austria was a dictatorship between 1933 and 1938 under the leadership of Engelbert Dollfuss, who was Chancellor and Dictator of Austria between 1932 and 1934. Dollfuss seized dictatorial powers in March 1933, suspending parliament and establishing an authoritarian government. He banned all opposing parties and established a one-party dictatorship, the Fatherland Front, which was largely modelled on Italian fascism. Dollfuss was assassinated in 1934 by Austrian Nazis, and his successor, Kurt Schuschnigg, maintained the regime until the Anschluss in 1938.

Engelbert Dollfuss's dictatorship

Engelbert Dollfuss was an Austrian politician who served as Chancellor and Dictator of Austria between 1932 and 1934. He was born into a poor, peasant family in the hamlet of Great Maierhof in the commune of St. Gotthard near Texingtal in Lower Austria. After graduating from high school, Dollfuss intended to become a priest and enrolled at the University of Vienna to study theology. However, after a few months, he changed his course of study to law in 1912.

Dollfuss's political career began in 1927 when he was appointed director of the Lower Austrian chamber of agriculture. He was a member of the conservative and clerically oriented Christian Social Party, whose core constituency was composed of Austria's conservative peasantry. In 1930, he was appointed president of the Federal Railways, the largest industrial corporation in Austria. The following year, he became the Federal Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.

On May 20, 1932, Dollfuss became the Chancellor of Austria, leading a conservative coalition government. His support in Parliament was marginal, with only a one-vote majority. In March 1933, he suspended the parliament, declaring that it had become unworkable due to a constitutional impasse over voting irregularities. This allowed him to establish an authoritarian government without a parliament, effectively seizing dictatorial powers.

Dollfuss banned the Communist Party of Austria in May 1933 and the Austrian National Socialist Party in June 1933. He established a one-party dictatorship under the banner of the Fatherland Front, modelled after Italian fascism and Catholic corporatist ideals. In February 1934, his regime crushed the Social Democrats in bloody encounters, and with the new constitution of May 1934, his dictatorship became complete.

Dollfuss's authoritarian regime was marked by his opposition to the Anschluss, the union of Austria with Germany. He tied Austrian identity to the Roman Catholic Church and stressed the similarities between the regimes of Hitler and Stalin, believing that Austrofascism could counter totalitarian national socialism and communism in Europe. However, his consistent opposition to Nazi demands made him a target, and he was assassinated by a group of Austrian Nazis on July 25, 1934.

Austrofascism

Between 1934 and 1938, Austria was a one-party state led by the conservative, nationalist, corporatist, and clerical fascist Fatherland Front. This period, known as the Federal State of Austria, was a continuation of the First Austrian Republic and is often referred to as Austrofascism.

The Fatherland Front was established on May 20, 1933, by Engelbert Dollfuss, a Christian Social Chancellor. It was the only legally permitted party in the country, and it modelled itself on Italian Fascism, aligning closely with the Catholic Church. The Front aimed to unite all Austrians and protect Austria's Catholic religious identity from what they saw as a Protestant-dominated German state.

Dollfuss seized dictatorial powers on March 4, 1933, after the resignation of Social Democrat Karl Renner. He then banned the Communist Party, the Social Democratic paramilitary organisation, and the Austrian branch of the Nazi Party. On May 20, 1933, he established the Fatherland Front as a unity party of an "autonomous, Christian, German, corporative Federal State of Austria".

The path to dictatorship was completed on May 1, 1934, when the Constitution of Austria was recast into an authoritarian and corporatist document. Direct parliamentary elections were abolished, and governing power was consolidated in Dollfuss' hands. This marked the end of democratic parliamentarianism and party pluralism in Austria.

The Austrofascist period ended in March 1938 with the Anschluss, the German annexation of Austria. Kurt Schuschnigg, who succeeded Dollfuss after his assassination in 1934, was forced to resign on March 11, 1938, and Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany the next day.

Austrian Civil War

Austria was a dictatorship under the leadership of Engelbert Dollfuss, who seized dictatorial powers in 1933. Dollfuss was the chancellor of the First Austrian Republic and the leader of the conservative-clerical Christian Social Party (CS). He suspended parliament and established an authoritarian government, banning opposition parties and imposing a new constitution. This eventually led to the Austrian Civil War in 1934.

The Austrian Civil War, also known as the February Uprising or the February Fights, took place from 12 to 15 February 1934. It was a series of clashes between the forces of the authoritarian right-wing government of Engelbert Dollfuss and the Republican Protection League (also known as the Socialist Schutzbund), the banned paramilitary arm of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria.

The conflict began when members of the Schutzbund fired on Austrian police who were attempting to enter the Social Democrats' party headquarters in Linz to search for weapons. The fighting quickly spread to other cities, including Vienna, Steyr, Sankt Pölten, Weiz, Graz, and Bruck an der Mur. The Austrian government forces, including the police, army, and paramilitary units, had superior numbers and firepower, and they quickly suppressed the uprising.

The overall death toll is estimated at 350, with around 1,000 members of the Schutzbund killed in Vienna alone. The defeated Schutzbund leaders were executed, and thousands of their supporters were arrested and imprisoned. The Social Democratic Party and its affiliated trade unions were banned, and Austria's democratic constitution was replaced by an Austrofascist constitution, with the Fatherland Front as the only legal party.

The Austrian Civil War was a significant event in the country's history, marking a turning point towards authoritarian rule and the suppression of democratic forces. The consequences of the conflict weakened Austria's ability to resist the rise of National Socialism and the eventual annexation of the country by Nazi Germany in 1938.

Austrian Nazi Party

The Austrian Nazi Party, also known as the Austrian National Socialists (DNSAP), was a pan-German movement that took shape in the early 20th century. The party's origins can be traced back to 1903 with the establishment of the German Worker's Party (DAP) in Austria. The DAP later changed its name to the Deutsche Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei (DNSAP) in 1918 and adopted a National Socialist Program that is believed to have influenced the German Nazi manifesto.

The Austrian Nazi Party faced suppression under the leadership of Engelbert Dollfuss, who served as Chancellor of Austria from 1932 to 1934. Dollfuss banned the DNSAP in early 1933, but it was revived and incorporated into the German Nazi Party after the German annexation of Austria in 1938. The Austrian branch of the Nazi Party was banned again in June 1933 following a hand grenade attack in Krems. Despite this, the party continued to gain support, particularly in the Tyrol region bordering Nazi Germany.

The Austrian Nazi Party played a significant role in the country's politics and attempted to overthrow the government in the July Putsch of 1934. They assassinated Engelbert Dollfuss, but the coup was ultimately unsuccessful due to Italian intervention. Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy, threatened Hitler with war if Germany invaded Austria.

In the following years, the Austrian Nazi Party continued to gain support, especially as the economic crisis deepened. They used slogans such as "500,000 Unemployed – 400,000 Jews – Simple way out; vote National Socialist" to appeal to the Austrian people. By 1938, the party had become a significant force, and they played a key role in the pro-Nazi coup that brought about the annexation of Austria with Germany, known as the Anschluss.

After the annexation, many Austrians actively participated in the Nazi regime, with 950,000 Austrians fighting for the Nazi German armed forces during World War II. Austrians also held prominent positions within the Nazi administration, including in the implementation of the Final Solution. However, it is important to note that a small minority of Austrians actively resisted Nazism, with an estimated 100,000 opponents convicted and imprisoned.

Post-WWII Austrian politics

After World War II, Austria was divided into four occupation zones, jointly occupied by the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the United States, and France. Vienna, too, was subdivided, with the central district being collectively administered by the Allied Control Council.

Austria was declared independent from Nazi Germany on 27 April 1945, and the occupation ended when the Austrian State Treaty came into force on 27 July 1955. However, the country remained under joint occupation by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union until it was granted full independence on 15 May 1955, following Austrian promises of perpetual neutrality.

The first legislative election was held on 25 November 1945, resulting in a victory for the coalition of Christian Democrats (ÖVP) and Social Democrats (SPÖ). The Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) received a little over 5% of the vote.

In the immediate post-war years, Austria faced significant economic challenges. The country was one of the poorest in Europe, with much of its infrastructure damaged or destroyed. Food shortages were a persistent problem, and the country survived on a "near-starvation diet" with daily rations remaining below 2000 calories until the end of 1947. The Austrian economy, including USIA enterprises, reached 61% of pre-war levels by 1947 but struggled with disproportionately low consumer goods production, which stood at only 42% of pre-war output.

The Marshall Plan, which Austria joined in 1947, played a crucial role in addressing these economic challenges. By the end of the plan's second stage in 1950, it had contributed to improving factory-level productivity, labour-management relations, and the introduction of modern business practices.

In terms of foreign relations, Austria's declaration of neutrality in 1955 set the tone for its post-war international stance. The country committed to not joining any military alliances, such as NATO or the Warsaw Pact, and to not allowing foreign troops to be based within its territory.

The post-war political landscape in Austria was also influenced by the process of denazification. While the Nazi Party was promptly banned, Austria did not undergo the same thorough denazification as post-war Germany. This allowed factions of Austrian society to promote the view that the Anschluss was an imposition of rule by Nazi Germany, rather than a result of widespread Austrian support for Nazism.

It was not until the 1980s and 1990s that Austrians began to collectively reckon with their nation's role in Nazi crimes. The election of Kurt Waldheim, a former Wehrmacht intelligence officer, as federal president in 1986 sparked international controversy and prompted a national discussion about Austria's past. By the mid-2000s, the nation had officially abandoned the "victim theory" and acknowledged its collective responsibility for Nazi crimes.

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