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The Unloved Democracy of the Inter-War Period |
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Page 2 of 11
Years of Relative Stability
While after the catastrophe of the First World War the political forces in the country had co-operated closely with one another and the most important decisions had been made by a coalition of Social Democrats and Christian Socialists, their fundamental ideological differences now resulted in increasing political cleavage. In June 1920, a relatively small incident in Parliament led to the break-up of the coalition. Strangely enough, this suited both parties; the Social Democrats had already decided to step down, which in the end did not benefit the country's political climate. The ensuing heads of government came from the ranks of the Christian Socialists or in coalition with the German Nationalists. The new leading light among the Christian Socialists was Ignaz Seipel, who-with short interruptions-headed the government until 1929.
Both politically and economically, a short period of stabilization ensued. In 1925 Austria issued a new currency in the form of the schilling and the rigid control exercised by the League of Nations was withdrawn. However, the employment situation and the still excessive number of civil servants continued to pose problems. The parties were obliged to formulate their positions more clearly in new party programs, although the verbal radicalism of the Social Democrats' "Linz Program" gave rise to several misunderstandings and wrong interpretations.
Furthermore, the rivalry between the classical mass parties grew in the form of the paramilitary organizations that had existed since 1918. The right-wing Heimwehr (Home Defense Force) and the left-wing Republikanischer Schutzbund (Republican Defense League) regarded themselves as more effective representatives of the respective ideological positions. The martialisation of daily life became a ruinous process for the Austrian Republic.
Just how dangerous this situation had become was demonstrated by the events of July 1927. In January of that same year during one of their regular military parades in Burgenland right-wing militia had killed a war veteran and a child. The three men responsible for this act were, how-ever, acquitted by a Vienna jury. The numerous followers of the Social Democratic movement were enraged but the party leaders were undecided in their reaction, which meant that spontaneous and leaderless mass demonstrations came and went without any political consequences. Acts of violence by the incensed masses were counter-acted by an order for the police to open fire. The results were disastrous: 89 deaths and several hundred injured persons.
The Social Democrats launched a general strike, which, however, was largely ignored. The political power within the country had clearly shifted towards the right. All bridges to the political opponents were broken and the intellectual party leaders-Ignaz Seipel for the Christian Socialists and Otto Bauer for the Social Democrats-opposed each other implacably. Much to the detriment of the Republic, the adherents of the parties took up these inexorable attitudes without restriction.
In 1930 the Heimwehr launched an anti-Marxist program in the form of the "Korneuburg Vow", which showed clear fascist traits. Much to the displeasure of the Christian Socialists, at the next elections the Heimwehr stood as a political party.
The cabinet installed as an interim solution and headed by chief of police Johann Schober managed to achieve the necessary consensus for implementing constitutional reforms and also succeeded in securing the abolition at the International Court in The Hague of the "law of liens and pledges" that had been imposed on Austria in connection with the loan taken from the League of Nations. It was unfortunate that, as Minister of Foreign Affairs serving the government led by Otto Ender, Schober had launched a project for a customs union with Germany from which Austria now had to back down. Another decision taken by the Cabinet-that of forcing the country's most influential banking house, Credit-Anstalt, to take over the insolvent Bodencreditanstalt-also proved to be a mistake. This led to the collapse of the Credit-Anstalt and Austria could only survive this disaster with the help of a further loan from the League of Nations.
In the 1930s Austria drifted into a precarious situation, both politically and economically. The Pan-Germanists, who had proved their worth as coalition partners, left the government in 1932. This prominent party now only consisted of officials, since its followers had long since migrated to the ranks of the radical National Socialists.
The parliamentary elections of April 1932 showed the Christian Socialists only too clearly which way the wind was blowing. When the government was re-formed in May 1932 a newcomer, the former Minister of Agriculture Engelbert Dollfuss, took over as head of the Cabinet. He formed his government with the help of the Heimwehr and the Landbund, a party formed of members of the agrarian classes. By a majority of just one vote in Parliament, the resolution to take another loan from the League of Nations was adopted. This did not produce any immediate consequences since the unemployment figures of 600,000 were too high.
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