Page - 316 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

316 chapter 8 fascismwasnotaresultofthebalanceofclassforcesineitherItalyorGermany, as by 1920 the working class in both countries was already too weak to be able to resist a bourgeois counter-revolution.After 1920, thebourgeoisie had no reason to fear a revolution – evenBauer conceded this in 1936. Nor is it possible to explain the fascist offensive simplyby citing the economic crisis, giventhat fascisminbothcountriesonlyseizedpowerwhentheeffectsof the crisis hadwaned. To this day,many different theories are offered as towhy fascismmanaged to captivatemillions of people and prevail. It is certainly not a terriblemistake to assume that fascismwas the result of a cacophony of economic, political and social factors, ofwhicheconomic crises, the crisis ofbourgeoisvaluesandbourgeoisculture,andthecrisisof theparliamentary democraticsystemweredecisive. 2.2 AustrofascismasaSpecialSub-VarietyofFascism Intheearly1930s,Austria’sMarxistorganisationsdidnotinitiallypayanygreat attention to the fascisisation of its own country. One can put this down to objectivepoliticalandideologicalconditions: for thebroadmasses, thepolar- isationbetweenthetwofascistcurrentswasbarelyrecognisable,andtheinter- ferenceoftheHeimwehrinthestateapparatusincreasedgradually.Thelackof interestinfascismwasanideologicalweaknessthatunderminedtheprogram- maticpositionsofbothCommunistsandSocialDemocrats.TheCommunists didnotundertakeanytheoreticalanalysisofthefascistphenomenon.Instead, theyconfinedthemselvestothethesisof‘socialfascism’,accordingtowhichthe opportunistpoliticsofSocialDemocracywerepartlytoblameforthefascisisa- tionofAustria.Althoughthereisnodoubtingtheone-sided,narrownatureof theirpositions,theCommunists’evaluationoftheSocialDemocrats’strategies wasneverthelessaccurate.Bauer’sconceptofthe‘defensiveroleofforce’,which in1926becameofficialpartypolicy,permittedtheuseofrevolutionaryviolence onlywhencivilrightsandpoliticallibertiesweredrasticallyinfringed.Violence wasreservedfortheworst-casescenario–i.e.anultimateattackondemocracy inthecourseofwhichbasicrightswereabolished.Howtheworkingclassand itspartyshouldapproachasituationinwhichanti-democraticforcesgradually conqueredstatepowerdidnotformpartofBauer’s reflections. Bauer’sviewsonthefascisisationofAustria from1926–32arecharacterised byhisunswervingbelief in theability of democracy todefend itself andpre- vail through its intrinsicmechanisms.Asmentionedearlier, his statement at the1927congressconcerningthepossibilityofa fascistdictatorshipinAustria andtheabilityoftheworkingclasstoresistwasoptimistic.Bynomeansdowe wish to imply thatBauer failed to takenoticeof thegrowing influenceof the Heimwehrinthestateapparatus.Onthecontrary, in1927,hespokeoutagainst