!!!Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ
Sozialdemokratische Partei Oesterreichs - Social Democratic Party,
Austrian; (1888/89-1934 Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei, SDAP -
Social Democratic Labour Party, 1945-1991 Sozialistische Partei
Oesterreichs (SPOe) Austrian Socialist Party, since 1991
Sozialdemokratische Partei Oesterreichs, SPOe - Austrian Social
Democratic Party): the Social Democrats' first party congress took
place in Neudoerfl (then Miklo<!SZ<!-hatschek>s, Hungary) in 1874, the
chairman of the congress was H. Tauschinsky. During the following
years the party was split into moderate groups on the one hand and
anarchist groups on the other; as a result the state of emergency was
declared in the court circuits of Vienna, Korneuburg and Wiener
Neustadt. From 1886 the projected establishment of chambers of labour
again stirred up agitation but at the Hainfelder Parteitag (party
congress) in December 1888 and January 1889, V. Adler managed to
reconcile opposing factions. From then on the party committed itself
to Marxist ideals and joined the Second International; its strongholds
were Vienna and the industrial areas of Lower Austria, Styria, Bohemia
and Moravia. May Day was celebrated in Austria for the first time in
1890. To prepare for elections, the Social Democratic Party founded
regional voter associations, which quite often emerged from
Arbeiterbildungsvereine (workers' educational societies), on some
occasions these were also supported by liberal organisations. After
the reform of electoral law in 1897, the Social Democrats had 14
members of parliament. The party had close links with the Trade
Unions and had affiliated organisations for women, young workers,
cyclists, hikers and climbers, singers etc. The Social Democratic
Press played an important role, especially the
"Arbeiterzeitung" newspaper. When universal (male) suffrage
was introduced ( Electoral Law) the SDAP had 87 members of parliament
(49 of whom were German-speaking) and became the second strongest
party in the Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Deputies) in 1907. Party
officials could not prevent the party from being split into a
German-speaking and a Czech line. In the last elections taking place
under imperial rule in Austria in 1911 the party won a victory over
the Christian Social Party in Vienna; the party still committed
itself to internationalism, but when the World War I broke out it
supported national policies. It was only in the later phases of the
war that the party changed its attitude, as became evident in the
assassination of Minister President Count K. Stuergkh by F. Adler on
October 21, 1916. In the last year of the war, the pacifist line
of the party gained more influence (January strikes) and during the
last months of the war the SDAP supported the dissolution of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire and played a significant role in the
foundation of Deutsch-Oesterreich (German-Austria). One of the main
figures was O. Bauer, who advocated union with Germany; one of the
most important statesmen of the party was K. Renner.
\\
In the Provisional National Assembly the Social Democrats had 39 seats
whereas the Christian Social Party had 70 and the German Nationalists
101; in the Constitutional Assembly elected in February 1919 (when
women had the right to vote for the first time) 72 out of 170
representatives were from the Social Democratic Party, making the
party the strongest parliamentary group. K. Seitz became President of
the National Assembly and thus Head of State until December
9, 1920. The SDAP was in government until June 1920, after which
it went into opposition until March 1933. During the Social Democrats'
participation in government a number of exemplary social laws (F.
Hanusch) were passed and various initiatives taken in the field of
education (O. Gloeckel). During the period when the party was in
opposition to the federal government, it retained its majority in
Vienna and most of the other large cities and industrial areas and was
therefore in charge of administration in these areas.
\\
The SDAP was in pronounced opposition to conservative society and
sought to develop new models in the fields of education (
Volkshochschulen (adult education centres)), culture and sports; the
party also maintained a critical and even antagonistic position
towards the Catholic church ( Freethinkers).
\\
Members of the party formed the Republikanischer Schutzbund, a
heavily armed paramilitary organisation, in 1923/24. After the Linz
Programme was adopted in 1926, the more radical line under O. Bauer
prevailed over the moderate line under K. Renner. Confrontation with
the powers that be reached its first climax in the July Revolt on
July 15, 1927. As a result the Schutzbund's counterpart in the
Christian Social Party, the Heimwehr, also built up its forces. In
the last elections of the First Republic (1930) the SDAP came out the
strongest party, but rejected offers to form a coalition. In 1933 the
Christian Socialist government under E. Dollfuss took first steps
towards introducing a conservative and authoritarian political system
by eliminating parliament; the increasing suppression of the SDAP led
to the Uprising of February 1934 and culminated in civil war, in the
wake of which the Social Democrats were defeated and completely
excluded from political institutions and public life. The SDAP was
banned on February 14, 1934, the party was deprived of all its
seats in Parliament and its organisations were all dissolved.
\\
Some of the party leaders (O. Bauer, J. Deutsch) emigrated to the
ČSR, where they established a foreign office in Brno (then
Bruenn), which published the weekly magazine
"Arbeiterzeitung", which was smuggled into Austria. Those
leading functionaries who remained in Austria were arrested or kept
under surveillance; the illegal group of Revolutionaere Sozialisten
(Revolutionary Socialists), which was led by less prominent party
members, was dissolved in 1938 after the Anschluss.
\\
Former party officers from the period of the First Republic
re-established the party under its new name "Sozialistische
Partei Oesterreichs (Sozialdemokraten und Revolutionaere
Sozialisten)" - Austrian Socialist Party (Social Democrats and
Revolutionary Socialists) on April 14, 1945; the newly-founded
party managed to build up an all-Austrian organisation within the same
year. It pursued a fairly pragmatic course, formed the Provisional
Government on April 27, 1945 together with the OeVP - Austrian
People's Party and the KPOe - Austrian Communist Party; after the
elections of November 25, 1945 it formed a concentration
government and from 1947 to 1966 a coalition government with the OeVP;
in this government the Vice Chancellor and many ministers (the Federal
Ministers of the Interior, for Social Affairs, for Transport and
Nationalised Companies) were Socialists, although the Socialist Party
did not have as many seats as the OeVP. The leftist party members in
leading positions who were influenced by Austro-Marxism had to resign
from their positions in favour of the more conservative and pragmatic
politicians in the party such as K. Renner, A. Schaerf and O.
Helmer. The lessons learned during the First Republic, the need to
reconstruct Austria after the war and to achieve independence, the
spread of Communism in Eastern Europe and the lack of revolutionary
spirit among Austrian workers caused the SPOe to pursue co-operation
with the conservative camp by forming a coalition with the
Oesterreichische Volkspartei - (Austrian People's Party) and
supporting the introduction of the Social Partnership, which was
institutionalised in 1957 ( Nationalisation). As a member of the
coalition government, the SPOe enforced the nationalisation of primary
industry and gained a firm foothold in the nationalised enterprises;
it contributed considerably to improving the economic situation of
workers and introduced a number of social measures in every field (
Allgemeines Sozialversicherungsgesetz). After a short period in
opposition (1966-1970), the new SPOe federal party chairman B.
Kreisky (from 1967) succeeded in modernising the party programme,
making his party attractive to middle-class conservative voters and
finally assuming governmental responsibilities (minority government
1970-1971 supported by the Freiheitliche Partei Oesterreichs,
1971-1983 sole party in power with absolute majority). From 1970-2000
the SPOe has always provided the Federal Chancellor (1983-1987
coalition government with FPOe - Austrian Freedom Party, from
1987-2000 with OeVP - Austrian People's Party). Up to 1986 all
Socialist candidates for the Presidency in the Second Republic won the
elections. The provincial governors of Vienna (since 1945), Burgenland
(since 1964) have been Socialists, as was the governor of Carinthia
from 1945 to 1989. The group of the Social Democratic Trade Unions
(FSG) is a dominant member of the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions
and the Chambers of Labour (in Vorarlberg up to 1974, in Tirol up to
1984). The SPOe is the dominant party in many industrial areas and in
many cities and large towns such as Linz, Steyr, Wels, Hallein,
St. Poelten, Wiener Neustadt, Graz, Kapfenberg, Leoben, Bruck an
der Mur and Villach. Social insurance institutions, Austrian Federal
Railways and some major Banks ( BAWAG, Bank Austria AG) are strongly
influenced by the SPOe.
\\
Its organisation is centralistic with direct individual membership
(approximately one third of its voters). The number of members is
declining (in 1979: 721,000 members, in 1990: 583,000, in 1995:
487,500, in 1999: 430,000). There are approximately 55,000 party
officials in 3,000 regional organisations and sections (as of 1998).
Other levels of party organisation are district, provincial and
national organisations. Vienna still has the most important provincial
organisation with 30 % of all party members (as of 1998), even
though the number of party members in Vienna has been decreasing more
than in any other province over a long period.
\\
The central secretariat is headed by one or two Federal Party
Secretaries (formerly by central secretaries), the party is subdivided
in sections (e.g. Bundesbildungsausschuss (Federal Committee for
Education), Bundesfrauenkomitee (Federal Committee for Women), Junge
Generation (Young Generation), FSG (Social Democratic Trade
Unionists)). The party also runs a number of affiliated organisations
(Oesterreichische Kinderfreunde, sozial-demokratische Jugend
(Social-Democratic Youth), Junge Generation (Young Generation), Freier
Wirtschaftsverband (Free Business Association), Arbeitsbauernbund
(Socialist Farmers Association), sports organisations, ASKOe,
Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Oesterreichs, Oesterreichischer
Arbeiter-Saengerbund, Arbeitsgemeinschaft religioeser Sozialdemokraten
(Committee of Religious Social Democrats) etc.). Party publications
have been decreasing since the 1960s, as have regional papers; in 1991
the "Arbeiterzeitung" (independent since 1989) ceased
publication.
\\
The highest ranking body is the Party Congress, in which
representatives of the district organisations and their subordinated
organisations take part (641 delegates in 2000). The Party Congress
elects the Federal Party Executive (65 members, since 1987), the Party
Presidency (6-10 members, since 1967) and the Party Chairperson
(1945-1957 A. Schaerf, 1957-1967 B. Pittermann, 1967-1983 B. Kreisky,
1983-1988 F. Sinowatz, 1988-1997 F. Vranitzky, 1997-2000 V. Klima,
since 2000 A. Gusenbauer). In addition there is an "Enlarged Party
Presidency", which includes the chairpersons of provincial
organisations, and a Party Council ("kleiner Parteitag" - minor party
congress). The Party Executive has a fairly stable position on all
levels (officers are appointed for long periods), while middle and
lower level officers are rarely involved in political decision making;
the strong internal discipline of the party encourages political
efficiency. The number of women officers has been increasing.
\\
Regardless of the Party's name, its party line has always been
social-democratic and its pro-western orientation has enabled it to
clearly distance itself from the Kommunistische Partei Oesterreichs
(KPOe, Austrian Communist Party). After the Action Programme of 1947,
which was still strongly influenced by the Linz Programme of 1926, the
New Party Programme of 1958 gave unequivocal evidence of this
political orientation and, while still containing some Austro-Marxist
ideas, it abandoned its former anticlericalism and accepted Social
Partnership. Election victories after 1970 favoured the enforcement of
ideologically central issues (Party Congress of 1970 in Villach), but
rather than effecting in a revision of its political course, it
managed to broaden the party's popular appeal so as to adapt to shifts
in the electorate (fewer blue-collar workers, more white-collar
workers and civil servants). The party´s attitude towards the
Catholic church was considerably improved under B. Kreisky. This was
also borne out in the Party Programme adopted by the 24%%sup th/%
Party Congress in 1978, which also envisaged reforms in the fields of
justice, social affairs and culture and which have in the meantime
been implemented. Since the economic crisis in the 1980s, the party
has also recognized the need for neo-conservative solutions such as (
privatisation). These changes in the party line were reflected in the
party name being changed into Austrian Social Democratic Party in
1991. The new political circumstances of the 1990s confronted the SPOe
with problems concerning its orientation and strategies; while the
SPOe lost votes steadily in the elections between 1983 and 1994, it
came out victorious in the 1995 elections.
\\
In 1998 a new party programme and organisational statute was adopted
which provide for further substantive and organisational innovations
(e.g. candidacy of non-party members). At the national elections of
1999 the SPOe only won one-third of votes, its worst result in the
Second Republic, but still remained the party with the most seats.
After negotiations with the OeVP to form a coalition government had
failed at the beginning of 2000, the SPOe went into opposition after
30 years of government.
!Literature
H. Hautmann and R. Kropf, Die oesterreichische
Arbeiterbewegung vom Vormaerz bis 1945, %%sup 2/%1976; R. Neck,
Sozialdemokratie in Oesterreich 1918-38, 1983; H. Maimann (ed.), Die
ersten 100 Jahre. Oesterreichs Sozialdemokratie 1888-1988, 1988; F.
Kreuzer, Was wir ersehnen von der Zukunft Fernen. Die oesterreichische
Arbeiterbewegung, 1988; P. Pelinka and G. Steger (eds.), Auf dem Weg
zur Staatspartei, 1988.
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