Page - 304 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

304 chapter 8 In the socialist camp, the Austromarxists Deutsch, Renner, Ellenbogen, Leichter,MaxAdlerandBauerdecisivelycontributed to investigating the fas- cist anomaly. For the sake of precision, we hasten to clarify that they only begantoexcel inthisareainthe1930s,asbeforethattime,theAustriansfailed to recognise the fascist threat forwhat itwas.According toBotz, twobeliefs that were widespread in the Austrian Social-Democraticmovement further hampered their analysis.ManySocialDemocratsdismissed the fascistmove- mentsasarmedgangactivities,paintingtheperpetratorsas thugswhoserved thecapitalistsasfootsoldiersagainsttheworkingclass;othersbelievedthatthe governmenthadvoluntarilyhandedpowertothefascists.21The1920sliterature ofDeutschandBraunthal, inaddition toRenner’spostwarwritings, served to reinforcethisperspective.22 Bauer’sdissertationsfromthe1920scontainedmoreprofoundthesesonthe riseof fascismthanmostAustriansocialist texts.However,onecanonlyspeak ofmature theoriesof fascismwith respect tohis 1930swritings. Inacomplex andmeticulousmanner,ZwischenzweiWeltkriegen (BetweenTwoWorldWars, 1936)andDieillegalePartei(TheIllegalParty,posthumouslypublishedin1939) depict fascism’sgenesis, socialbase,andmechanismsofseizingpower,aswell asinvestigatingthesocial forceswhichfacilitatedafascistdictatorshipinItaly. What ismore, theauthordifferentiatedbetweenfascismasamassmovement and fascismas a formof rule. Bauer interpreted fascismas aproduct of eco- nomiccrisisandtheconsequencesofwar inEurope.Evenso,hedidnotgoso farastoconsideritahistoricalnecessityorinevitabledevelopmentaltendency inall capitalist countries.23Forhim, theprimary reasonswhy fascismproved basisoffascism.Theytracedthemechanismsbywhichfascismseizedpowerwithgreater attentiontodetail thantheCommunists, foregroundingthethesis–sharedbytheCom- munists–that thebourgeoisiehandedpowertothefascists todefendtheexistingsocial orderincasetheproletariatunderwentradicalisation.Somesocialistsconsideredfascism a tool used by big capital and aristocratic landowners to put pressure on theworking class.At the same time,Bauer’s theory that fascism inpowerhadbecomeautonomous ofbothbourgeoisieandproletariatwasverypopularamongSocialDemocrats.Notethat this thesiswas sharply criticisedby theCommunists. Inaddition, even though the tone ofBauer,Breitscheid,Deutsch,Hilferding,deMans,Löwenthal,Tasca,Turati,andRosen- bergwasnotasharshas thepolemicsofferedby theCommunists, they still denounced the Communists for supporting the Bolshevik model of rule, arguing that the bour- geoisie had resorted to fascismbecause it feared that Bolshevismmight spread to the West. 21 CompareBotz1980,p. 178. 22 SeeDeutsch1926;Braunthal 1922;Renner1932,pp.89–90;Renner1953,p.78. 23 Heclaimed, for instance, that there couldbeno talkof fascism inPoland,Bulgaria and