More on the Austrian civil war of 1934

One of the most important effects of the four-day civil war of 1934 was to make a united national resistance to Nazi Germany much more difficult. Austrofascist dictator Kurt von Schuschnigg seems to have wanted to preserve an independent Austria. But the compromises he made with Germany after assuming the Chancellorship in 1934 after the murder of Engelbert Dollfuss by Nazi putschists would have made such a resistance difficult even with a united public behind him.

But the intensification of the hostility between the social democrats and the Christian Social Party of Dollfuss and Schuschnigg as a result of the civil war made the support of the social democrats, who were the biggest force opposed to the Nazis, for the Schuschnigg regime near-impossible to accept.

1934 Hungarian postcard honoring four Austrian Social Democrats killed in the Austrian civil war Karl Münichreiter, Georg Weissel, Emil Swoboda und Koloman Wallisch (Source: DÖW)

After the civil war, there were a significant number of social-democratic militants from the paramilitary group of the SDAP, the Schutzbund, who joined with the Austrian Nazis to fight the Schuschnigg dictatorship. SPÖ leader Heinz Fischer, President of Austria since July 2004, when interviewed for the Gudula Walterskirchen's biography Engelbert Dollfuss. Arbeitermörder oder Heldenkanzler (2004), said that after the civil war and repression of the SDAP in 1934, "by some of the beaten down and pressed into illegality Social Democracy hatred led some to the conclusions that the National Socialists as the 'enemies of my enemies' {were} something like the lesser evil in comparison with Dollfuss and Schuschnigg and Starhemberg." (my translation) Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg (1899-1956) was the head of the Austrofascist private militia the Heimwehr, had been a participant in Hitler's 1923 "Beer Hall Putsch" in 1923 in Munich, and in 1934-6 served as head of the Fatherland Front, unity party of the Austrofascist dictatorship, and as Vice Chancellor.

Helmut Konrad notes that Austrian Social Democrats who aligned with the Nazis after the civil war tended to be more from rural than urban areas. He speculates that for the rural Social Democrats, "the rejection of Catholicism" was the leading reason for their support of the SDAP. ("Der 12.Februar 1934 in Österreich" in Günther Schefbeck, ed., Österreich 1934. Vorgeschichte - Ereignisse - Wirkungen, 2004) The dictatorship was explicitly a Catholic state, while the Nazis were an anti-Catholic Party - which of course didn't prevent the Nazis and the Catholic Church from cooperating, both in Germany and in annexed Austria.

12. Februar 1934: Eine Dokumentation der Ereignisse, a short documentary from the Austrian Social Democratic Party (in German):

The illegal Communist Party in Austria also benefited from the aftermath of the civil war. "Nie in der Geschichte bis 1934 und auch nie nach 1945 hatten die österreichischen Kommunisten quantitativ und qualitativ eine solche Bedeutung, wie sie es in den Jahren der Illegalität hatten." ["Never in history up to 1934 and also never after 1945 did the Austrian Communists have such a quantiative and qualitative significance as they had in the years of illegality."] (Helmur Konrad, "Der 12.Februar 1934 in Österreich" in Günther Schefbeck, ed., Österreich 1934. Vorgeschichte - Ereignisse - Wirkungen, 2004)

The Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstands (DÖW) has a feature on the civil war, Vor 80 Jahren: Februar 1934. It also features a 2004 article by Helmut Konrad, Der Februar 1934. im historischen Gedächtnis.

The Virtuelles Museum Oberösterreich also has an online feature on the events of the 1934 civil war.

The Oberösterreichische Nachrichten has been running a number of articles recalling the events of the civil war.

Christoph Kotanko, Portisch: Es gibt keine geteilte Schuld am Bürgerkrieg 1934 12.02.2014

Tatort Steyr-Werke Autobautor 12.02.2014

Gerhard Hüttner, Drama von Holzleithen: Vier Sanitäter starben auf der Bühne im Kugelhagel 12.02.2014

Edmund Brandner, In Ebensee wurden 1934 Arbeiter an die Wand gestellt 12.02.2014

Sabrina Auböck, Linz 1934: "Sechs Schüsse gingen knapp vorbei" 12.02.2014

Der Schutzbund stand einer Übermacht gegenüber 12.02.2014

Roman Kloibhofer, "Die Hauptverantwortung lag beim konservativen Lager" 12.02.2014

Hannes Fehringer, Februarkämpfe ´34 forderten erste Opfer 12.02.2014

Kanonen und die Kindheit 13.02.2014

Der Arbeiteraufstand auf der Steyrer Ennsleite blutete aus 13.02.2014

Roman Kloibhofer, "1934 ist doch schon lange vorbei, man sollte sich nicht daran erinnern" 13.02.2014

Die langen Finger des Staates 14.02.2014

Haftbefehle gegen alle roten Parteiführer 14.02.2014

Hannes Fehringer, "Kein Fußbreit den Faschisten!" 14.02.2014

Additional articles:

Paul Sailer-Wlasits, Über den Irrtum der "geteilten Schuld" Standard 07.02.2014

Kurt Bauer, Schwieriges Vermächtnis Standard 08.02.2014

Februarkämpfe 1934: "Die meisten Opfer waren Unbeteiligte" Standard 10.02.2014

Regierung gedachte gemeinsam Bürgerkriegsbeginns 11.02.2014

Hans Rauscher, Gemeinsames Gedenken gut, gemeinsames Projekt besser Standard 11.02.2014

Peter Huemer, Das 34er-Jahr: Widerstand und Heroismus Standard 11.02.2014

12. Februar 1934: Blutiger Bürgerkrieg in Österreich News.at 11.02.2004

Schicksalsjahr 1934: Die Wiener Straßenbahner im Bürgerkrieg Standard 12.02.2014

Tags: austrian civil war, dollfuss, österreichischer bürgerkrieg, schuschnigg