Page - 299 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

the spectre of fascism 299 themore left-leaning leaders of Leopold Kunschak’s Christian trade unions wantedtodefenddemocracy.12 Abriefdigressionbeforeweassess the standpointof theChristianSocials. Intheearly1930s,theHeimwehrwasasignificantbutnotdecisivestatepower. The Social Democratsmadeup the parliamentarymajority, and the govern- ment formed by delegates of the Christian Socials, the Heimwehr, and the Landbundhadonly receivedonemore vote. An alliance between theChris- tianSocial andSocial-Democraticparties toavert the threatofAustrofascism was theoreticallypossible.However, it is fair to saywithoutengaging inspec- ulations that co-operationbetweenclerical anddemocratic forceswasnot a realisticpropositioninAustria,notjustonthebasisoftheirprogrammaticand political differences. The increasing influenceof theHeimwehr in theChris- tianSocialPartywasfarmoreimportant.Asevidencedbytherapprochement oftheChristianSocialsandHeimwehraftertheelectionsof9September1930, pro-fascist tendencies gradually prevailed in this party. One of theministers ofKarlVaugoin’sminoritygovernment,ErnstRüdigerStarmhemberg,became theleaderoftheHeimwehr.Thiselection–thelastfreelyheldgeneralelection oftheFirstRepublic–grantedtheHeimwehrapartialsuccess: itonlyreceived eight seats inparliament.13Evenso, this signifiedashiftof forces in thebour- geoiscamp.TheChristianSocialPartywaslosingitsinfluencetotheHeimwehr, while thesdap,whichhadscoredanelectoral success,hadostensiblyconsol- idated its power – after all, it hadbecome the strongest party in parliament for the first timesince 1919.However, theelectionvictoryblindedthesdapto itsowncritical state.The ideology thatheld it togetherhad lost strength.The dividebetweentheparty leadershipandfactions, tradeunions,andgroupsof intellectualswasexpanding.Inlightofthefascists’growingpower,themasses’ 12 IntheChristianSocialParty,thedemocraticcurrent(representedbythechairoftheChris- tiantrade-unionmovement,LeopoldKunschak)facedanti-democratictraditions(Seipel, Vaugoin,Dollfuss). From1900onward,nationalist thinkingprevailed. It emphasised the superiorityofGermansinAustriaandanti-Marxism.Theseaspectswerealsodominantin theChristianSocialParty’sprogrammesof 1923, 1926and1928.Theywereexpressionsof theGermancharacterofthepartyandthecloserelationshipbetweenAustriaandtheGer- manReich. SeeBerchtold 1967, inDocuments, Programmes,Protocols, pp. 356–63; Lüer 1987;andSimon1984b,p. 122. 13 Intheelections,theSocialDemocratswon72mandates(41percentofvotes),theChristian Socials 66mandates (36percent), theGreaterGermansandLandbund 19mandates (12 percent), and theHeimwehr 8mandates (6percent). Itwas also characteristic that the Nazi party, having only received 100,000 votes (3 percent) did notmanage to secure a parliamentary seat, while the National Socialists in Germanywon 107mandates (18.5 percent) intheelectionsof 14September1930.SeeZöllner1979.