Austria's Fascist Past: A Historical Overview

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, saw the country governed by an authoritarian regime influenced by Italian Fascism and conservative Catholic ideals. The Fatherland Front, established by Engelbert Dollfuss, advocated Austrian nationalism and independence from Germany, seeking to protect Austria's Catholic identity from what they perceived as a Protestant-dominated German state. However, despite its fascist characteristics, the Federal State of Austria never achieved broad support among Austrians, and its economic and social policies more closely resembled those of Salazar's Portugal.

The Fatherland Front

The role of the Fatherland Front has been a contentious point in post-war Austrian historiography. While many historians consider it to be a variant of fascism, dubbed "Austrofascism", and blame it for the failure of liberal democracy in Austria, conservative authors emphasise its defence of the country's independence and opposition to Nazism.

The Federal State of Austria

Engelbert Dollfuss ruled as Chancellor of Austria until his assassination on July 25, 1934, during the Nazi July Putsch. He was succeeded by Kurt Schuschnigg, who became the new leader of the Fatherland Front and Chancellor of Austria. Schuschnigg's government faced increasing pressure from Nazi Germany and was ultimately unable to prevent the annexation of Austria in 1938.

Whether the Federal State of Austria can be definitively characterised as fascist is a matter of debate. While it exhibited authoritarian tendencies and employed fascist-like symbols, it lacked broad support among Austrians. Its most defining characteristic was its embrace of Catholicism, and its economic and social policies bore a closer resemblance to those of Salazar's Portugal than Fascist Italy or Nazi Germany.

Engelbert Dollfuss

During World War I, Dollfuss was initially rejected by the military in Vienna due to his height but was eventually accepted in St. Pölten. He served for 37 months at the Italian Front, south of Tyrol, and was promoted to lieutenant in 1916. After the war, he returned to Vienna and became secretary of the Lower Austrian Peasants' Union, where he gained his first political experience. He then devoted himself to consolidating the agriculture industry and was instrumental in the founding of the regional Chamber of Agriculture of Lower Austria, becoming its secretary and a director. In 1930, he was appointed president of the Federal Railways, the largest industrial corporation in Austria. In March 1931, he became the Federal Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.

On 10 May 1932, Dollfuss was offered the office of Chancellor by President Wilhelm Miklas, which he accepted after spending a night praying. He was sworn in on 20 May 1932 as the head of a coalition government between the Christian-Social Party, the Landbund (a right-wing agrarian party), and the Heimatblock, the parliamentary wing of the Heimwehr (a paramilitary ultra-nationalist group). Dollfuss's government faced a severe economic crisis caused by the Great Depression and growing political threats from the left and right, including the Austrian Nazis and Communists.

In March 1933, a constitutional crisis arose in the Austrian parliament, which Dollfuss used as a pretext to declare the National Council unworkable and advised President Miklas to adjourn it indefinitely. He assumed emergency powers and began ruling by emergency decree, effectively seizing dictatorial powers. Dollfuss banned the Communist Party of Austria in May 1933 and the Austrian Nazi 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, the Austrian Civil War broke out, sparked by the armed resistance of the Linz branch of the Social Democrats to the government's search for weapons. The rebellion was crushed within a few days, and the Social Democrats were outlawed. In April 1934, Dollfuss staged a parliamentary session with only Fatherland Front members present to approve a new constitution, which officially turned Austria into a one-party authoritarian state.

Dollfuss consistently opposed Nazi demands and worked to prevent Austria's incorporation into Nazi Germany. However, his efforts ultimately led to his assassination on 25 July 1934 by a group of Austrian Nazis who entered the Chancellery building and shot him during an attempted coup. His successor, Kurt Schuschnigg, maintained the regime until Adolf Hitler's Anschluss in 1938.

Austrian Civil War

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 in the First Austrian Republic 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 was sparked by the government's attempts to enforce the ban of the Schutzbund at the Hotel Schiff in Linz on 12 February 1934. Members of the Schutzbund opened fire on the Austrian police, who were attempting to enter the Social Democrats' party headquarters to search for weapons. The fighting quickly spread to other industrial centres in eastern and central Austria, including Vienna, Steyr, Sankt Pölten, Weiz, Eggenberg (Graz), Kapfenberg, Bruck an der Mur, Graz, Ebensee, and Wörgl.

The Austrian police and Federal Army, supported by right-wing Heimwehr troops, quickly suppressed the revolt. The overall death toll is estimated at 350, with around 1,000 members of the Schutzbund killed in Vienna alone. The fighting ended in Vienna and Upper Austria by 13 February, but continued in Styrian cities until 14 February. By 15 February 1934, the Austrian Civil War had concluded.

The defeat of the socialists led to arrests, executions, and the banning of the Social Democratic Party. In May 1934, Austria's democratic constitution was replaced by an Austrofascist constitution, with the Fatherland Front as the only legal party. The Fatherland Front, established by Dollfuss in 1933, was a right-wing conservative, authoritarian, nationalist, and corporatist organisation modelled on Italian Fascism and fully aligned with the Catholic Church.

The Anschluss

The Road to the Anschluss

The idea of a union between Austria and Germany (a "Greater Germany") had been proposed after the unification of Germany in 1871, which excluded Austria and left it without the territories it had ruled for centuries. The proposal gained support after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, and the subsequent Treaty of Saint Germain and Treaty of Versailles, which stripped Austria of more of its territories and forbade unification with Germany. By the 1920s, the proposal had strong support in both countries, particularly from Austrian citizens of the political left and centre. However, support for unification began to wane over time, and it became associated with the Nazis, who saw it as an integral part of their ideology.

In the early 1930s, the Austrian government was led by the Austrofascist Fatherland Front, which opposed unification. During this time, Austrian politics was characterised by infighting and violence, and the rise of the Austrian Nazi Party further destabilised the country. In 1933, Engelbert Dollfuss, an opponent of unification, established an authoritarian right-wing government, the Federal State of Austria, which was aligned with Fascist Italy and authoritarian Hungary. In response, Austrian Nazis, with encouragement and funding from Germany, waged a propaganda and terror campaign, culminating in a failed coup in July 1934, during which Dollfuss was assassinated.

Dollfuss was succeeded by Kurt Schuschnigg, who continued his predecessor's authoritarian policies. However, by 1937-1938, Austria found itself diplomatically isolated and facing an increasingly aggressive Nazi Germany. Schuschnigg, in a final attempt to assert Austrian independence, called for a plebiscite (referendum) on March 9, 1938. This angered Hitler, who issued a series of ultimatums on March 11: Schuschnigg must cancel the plebiscite, resign as chancellor, and appoint the Austrian Nazi Arthur Seyss-Inquart as the new chancellor. Faced with the threat of a German military invasion, Schuschnigg complied, announcing his resignation on the radio and instructing Austrians and the military not to resist.

The Annexation

On March 12, 1938, German troops crossed the Austrian border, unopposed and greeted by cheering Austrians. Later that day, Seyss-Inquart was appointed chancellor of Austria and announced a new cabinet filled with Austrian Nazis. On March 13, Seyss-Inquart signed the "Reunification of Austria with Germany" law, formally incorporating Austria into Nazi Germany and demoting it from an empire to a province. Austria was now referred to as the Ostmark, and subsequent administrative changes resulted in further name and border alterations.

The annexation was met with little resistance from other European powers, who had accepted the Anschluss as a significant act of appeasement. This allowed Hitler to continue his expansionary policies unchecked, setting the stage for further aggression in Czechoslovakia and Poland, and ultimately, the start of World War II.

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