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

The Austrian civil war of 1934

February 12 is the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the conflict that has gone down into history as the Austrian civil war.

It was during the time of dictatorship of Engelberg Dollfuss, which he established in March, 1933. Dollfuss was a devout Catholic conservative from the Christian Social Party (CSP), the forerunner of today's People's Party, the present-day Christian Democratic Party. He became Chancellor in 1932 and the following year set up the dictatorship, which he conceived as an authoritarian state known as a Standestaat, or corporate state, modeled on Mussolini's Fascist dictatorship in Italy.

Engelbert Dollfuss (1892-1934)

The Social Democratic Party (SDAP) had been the chief party advocating parliamentary democracy in Austria. They were not at all supportive of the dictatorship, because it was clearly aimed at them. In September of 1933, he declared in a public speech in Vienna, "Die Zeit marxitischer materialistischer Volksverführung ist gewesen! Die Zeit der Parteienherrschaft ist vorbei! Wir lehnen Gleichmacherei and Terror ab, wir wollen den sozialen, christlichen, deutschen Staat Österreich auf ständischer Grundlage, unter starker, authoritärer Führung!" [The time of Marxist materialistic seduction of the people is done! The time of party rule is past! We reject leveling and terrorism, we want the social, Christian, German state of Austria on a corporatist basis under strong, authoritarian leadership!"] (Quoted by Brigitte Hamann in Österreich. Ein historisches Portrait, 2009)

During the 1920s, as in Germany, there were political militias formed, the Catholic Heimwehr on the far right and the Schutzbund for the SDAP. The Library of Congress' 1994 Austria: A Country Study described the civil war incident:

Seeking a firmer political footing than that offered by Italy and the coercive power of the police, military, and Heimwehr, Dollfuss formed the Fatherland Front (Vaterländische Front) in May 1933. The front was intended to displace the existing political parties and rally broad public support for Dollfuss's vision of a specifically Austrian nationalism closely tied to the country's Catholic identity. Dollfuss rejected union with Germany, preferring instead to see Austria resume its historical role as the Central European bulwark of Christian German culture against Nazism and communism. In September 1933, Dollfuss announced plans to organize Austria constitutionally as a Catholic, German, corporatist state. [As quoted above]

The opportunity to put the corporatist constitution in place came after a failed socialist uprising in February 1934 triggered by a police search for Schutzbund weapons in Linz. An unsuccessful general strike followed, along with artillery attacks by the army on a Vienna housing project. Within four days, the socialist rebellion was crushed. Both the SDAP and its affiliated trade unions were banned, and key leaders were arrested or fled the country. Dollfuss's constitution was promulgated in May 1934, and the Fatherland Front became the only legal political organization. Austrian society, however, remained divided into three camps: the nationalist bloc that was associated with the Heimwehr and the bloc represented by the CSP struggled for control of the Fatherland Front; the socialist bloc fell back on passive resistance; and the nationalist bloc dominated by the Nazis boldly conspired against the state with support from Germany.

Current Austrian President Heinz Fischer posted a statement on his website commemorating Stellungnahme des Bundespräsidenten zum 80. Jahrestag der Tragödie vom 12. Februar 1934 11.02.2014:

Was allerdings auch aus der großen zeitlichen Distanz von 80 Jahren als schwere und unübersehbare Schuld bezeichnet werden muss, ist die Tatsache, dass der damalige Bundeskanzler Dollfuß und die von ihm geführte Regierung nicht nur im Jahre 1933 in verfassungswidriger Weise den Nationalrat und den Verfassungsgerichtshof eliminiert haben, sondern auch in den Tagen des Bürgerkrieges vom Februar 1934 mit Kanonen auf Wohnhäuser schießen und mit Hilfe des Standrechtes politische Gegner hinrichten ließen.

Zu den Folgen dieses auf die Schaffung eines Einparteienstaates zielenden Vorgehens zählte die Tatsache, dass die Chance Österreichs, sich gegenüber dem Druck des nationalsozialistischen Deutschland zu behaupten, nicht vergrößert, sondern vielmehr reduziert und geschwächt wurde.

Dollfuß selbst ist bekanntlich im Zuge eines Putschversuches der Nationalsozialisten wenige Monate nach dem Februar 1934 den Kugeln eines Mörders zum Opfer gefallen.

Vor diesem historischen Hintergrund muss es umso positiver beurteilt werden, dass ein gemeinsames Gedenken an die Irrungen, Verfehlungen und politischen Sünden der Ersten Republik möglich ist, dem der Gedanke der Versöhnung zugrunde liegt.

[In any case, what even from the great temporal distance of 80 years must be described as serious and unmistakable guilt, is the reality that the then Federal Chancellor Dollfuss and the government led by him not only eliminated the Nationalrat {Parliament} and the Constitutional Court in a manner that violated the Constitution, but also in the days of the civil war of February 1934 fired on public housing with cannons and with help of martial law executed political enemies.

Among the results of the actions aimed at the creation of a one-party state is the fact that Austria's chance to defend itself against the pressure from National Socialist Germany was not increased but much rather reduced and weakened.

As it well know, Dollfuss himself fell victim to the bullets of a murderer in the course of a coup attempt by the National Socialists a few months after February 1934.

With this historical background, it must be all the more positively valued that a common reflection on the errors, failures and political sins of the First Republic is possible, which is based on the thought of reconciliation.]

Even though the direct participants and contemporaries are largely gone, there is a lasting sense of bitterness over the civil war still lingering. Brigitte Hamann describes the conclusion of the serious of clashes:

Der Bürgerkrieg dauerte vier Tage und forderte mehr als tausend Tote - die Regierung gab offiziell nur 314 an.

Als der Aufstand zusammenbrach, waren noch Tausende Linke in Haft. Justizminister Kurt von Schuschnigg weigerte sich, Gnadengesuche an den Bundespräsidenten zu richten - im Gegenteil: er ließ zur Abschreckung neun Sozialisten standrechtlich erschienen, was ihm, ebenso wie Dollfuß, den Namen „Arbeitermörder“ einbrachte. Nicht weniger als 16 000 Österreicher wurden in dieser Zeit aus politischen
Gründen inhaftiert.

[The civil war last four days and produced more than a thousand dead - the government admitted to only 314.

When the uprising collapsed, there were thousands of leftists in jail. Justice Minister Kurt von Schuschnigg declined to forward requests for clemency on to the Federal Chancellor {Dolfuss} - on the contrary: as a terror measure he had nine Socialists shot under martial law, which brought him as well as Dollfuss names as "killer of workers." Not less than 16,000 Austrians were imprisoned at this time on political grounds.]

After Dollfuss' murder, Schuschnigg became dictator and in 1938 surrendered Austria to Hitler without a fight.

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