Page - XXI - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

introduction to the english edition xxi theoryofhistoryand, inpractice, reformistpolitics.Onecannotoverestimate its significance for thestrategicobjectiveofAustrianSocialDemocracy inthe periodbeforeWorldWari–i.e.tomaintainthestatusquoofthemonarchy.We will investigatethesequestions inthethirdchapter. ThenotionofpreservingtheAustro-HungarianEmpireprevailedinnumer- ousworksofBauer’s on the so-called ‘national question’. Bauerworkedout a culturaltheoryofthenationthatinformedhisproposalsforsolvingthenation- alitiesquestioninthemultinationalHabsburgstate.IntheperiodbeforeWorld War i, he advocated national-cultural autonomy for the Slavic peoples, and towards theendof thewartheconceptofAustria’sAnschluss (annexation) to theGermanReich.Bothsolutions,whichwewill assess in the fourthchapter, testifiedtotheGermannationalismprevalent inAustrianSocialDemocracy. Regarding subject matter, my work will depict Bauer’s political thought within two areas. The first consists of questions linked to the fulfilment of Social Democracy’s programmatic goal, that is, the realisation of socialism. The theory of parliamentary-democratic revolutionoccupied a central place here: itwas basedon thepremise that the legal institutions of the capitalist state, especially parliament, could beutilised for the purposes of the prolet- arian struggle for socialism.ThispremisedeterminedBauer’spositionon the dictatorship of the proletariat, theworkers’ and soldiers’ councils, and pro- grammatic drafts to win themiddle classes for the revolution. In practice, the strategy based on this premise resulted in a politics of defending Aus- tria against socialist revolution and, as a consequence, the strengthening of counter-revolutionary forces. Bauer’s attempts to save democracy at a time when the conservative campwas consolidating itself, contained in the Linz programmeandhis conceptof ‘integral socialism’,weredivorced fromreality fromtheoutset.Iwill introducetheproblemsoutlinedhereinthefifthchapter andelaboratethemfurtherinthesixth.InthosechaptersIwilldemonstrateto whatextentBauer’sabsolutisingparliamentarydemocracyasavaluedeterm- inedhisevaluationofthebourgeoisstateanditsforms.Hisvisionofdemocracy also shapedprojects to democratise social andpolitical life, definedhis atti- tude to coalitionpolicies, andultimatelydeterminedhismodel of a socialist order. The weaknesses inherent in the theory of a ‘third way’ to socialism and corresponding strategy for theworking-classmovement becameparticularly apparent during periods of parliamentary crisis caused byWorldWar i and as thegradual fascisisationofAustria ensued. Iwill identify themwithin the second subject area (chapters 7 and 8)when introducing Bauer’s views and assessmentsconcerningthecausesofWorldWariandhisfearoftheoutbreak ofWorldWar ii. Thecentral issueat stake in thispart ofmywork is fascism.