Page - 317 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

the spectre of fascism 317 wildcatstrikesandworkers’demonstrationsinitiatedwithoutofficialendorse- ment from theparty and tradeunions in order to avoid confrontationswith theHeimwehr. It didnot escape the attentionof SocialDemocracy’s oppon- ents that thiswasmotivatedbyBauer’s characteristically fearful politics and aversion to radicalphenomena. It is hardly surprising that they felt intensely relaxedaboutthesdap’selectionvictoryin1930;afterall, theywereawarethat theSocialDemocratswouldnotuse thehistoricalopportunity that theyhad, onceagain,beengiven.TheelectionresultonlyinspiredBauertoanevenmore confident assessment of thepossibilities topreserve thedemocratic founda- tions of the state. In 1930, hepresented conclusionson theunlikelihoodof a fascistdictatorshipinAustriaoneconomicgrounds.Forexample,hesurmised thatAustria’sdependencyon foreigncapitalwasade factoguaranteeagainst the fascists rising topower.44Evidently, thiswasawrongassumption–Bauer didnotconsider thatGermanandItaliancapital in factbankrolledtheHeim- wehrandtheNationalSocialists.Bauer’sothereconomicprognosis,basedon Hilferding’s theoryoforganisedcapitalism,was just as inaccurate.According tothis theory, financecapitalwouldbetransformedintostatecapitalbecause ofthecrisis, i.e. itwouldassumetheformofacentrallyplannedeconomyand pavethewayforsocialism. It follows thatBauer stilldidnotyet feara fascist threat inearly 1930sAus- tria.Hisstatementsatthelsicongressin1931,wherehecitedthepossibilityof defeatingfascismandsavingdemocracy,arefurtherevidenceofthis.Sotooare hisremarksatthesdapcongressin1932,whereheproposedastruggleagainst anti-democratic tendencieswagedbyparliamentarymeans.Until 1932,Bauer wasconvincedthatAustriadidnotcontainasocialbasis for fascism,andthat fascism overestimated its own abilities. He continued to underestimate fas- cism’simpact,evenwhenitbecamestartlinglyapparentduetotheprogressive fascisisationoftheChristianSocialPartyandever-closerlinksbetweenconser- vativeforcesandfascistsofbothvarieties. When Dollfuss dissolved parliament inMarch 1933, Bauer was forced to admit that hehad introducedanauthoritarian regime, even if he rightly did notrefer to itas totalitarian.Healsoobservedthat theHeimwehrhadconsol- idateditspositioninthebourgeoisgovernmentandbelieveditpossiblethat it wouldevolve towards fascism.He identifiedboth the landedgentry, the Jew- ish bourgeoisiewho sought protection from the anti-Semitismof theNazis, and the urban andpeasantmiddle classes under the influence of theChris- tianSocialPartyasthesocialvehiclesof fascism.In1933,Bauerwasstillwrong 44 SeeBauer1980t,p.253.