Austrian Civil War

* Supported by the German Spartacists, the Reds maintain control of Upper Austria and Salzburg
* Ceasefire signed on 13 November 1920

 Spartacist Germany

**Support from:**
 Soviet Hungary

 Weimar Republic

**Support from:**
Karl Renner
Theodor Körner
Karl Seitz
Jakob Reumann
Otto Bauer
Julius Deutsch

Michael Hainisch
Michael Mayr
Walter Pfrimer
Richard Steidle

50,000 soldiers

40,000 soldiers

The **Austrian Civil War** (German:*Österreichischer Bürgerkrieg*) was a conflict in the newly established Republic of Austria, which occurred concurrently with the German Civil War. After a period of fighting in Lower Austria, particularly in Vienna, the fighting was largely contained to Upper Austria and Salzburg. The conflict, which began on 3 December 1919, came to an end with an armistice on 13 November 1920.

## History

After the Great War, Austria was in shambles and had lost its empire. The monarchy was deposed and the Republic of German-Austria was declared. However, with the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in September 1919, Austria was forced to renounce any attempts to form a union with Germany. A fragile coalition was provisionally established between the left-wing Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (SDAPÖ) and the right-wing Christian Social Party (CS). As the Austro-Hungarian Army had been disbanded, the provisional Volkswehr (People's Defense) was formed to replace it, which was aligned strongly with the Social Democrats. Right-wing militia forces were gradually formed in the rural regions and small towns to counter the influence of the Volkswehr.

### Start of the conflict

By December 1919 the coalition was on the verge of breaking apart, with the Christian Social Party demanding the dissolution of the Volkswehr due to fears of Spartacist sympathies. It also emerged that Otto Bauer, during his term as foreign minister, had covertly organized weapons shipments to the Hungarian Soviet Republic. Attitudes among the Social Democratic working class base had begun to shift considerably in favor of the German Spartacists, who left-wing Social Democrats such as Bauer were eager to unite with. Christian Social politician Michael Mayr sought to push the Social Democrats out of the coalition in favor of forming a government with right-wing pan-Germanic parties, but the Social Democrats instead called for fresh elections and the formation of a provisional coalition government until then. Mayr replaced Renner as Chancellor, but a crisis emerged when the Social Democrats refused to have Julius Deutsch replaced in his position as State Secretary of the Armed Forces. On 5 January the Social Democrats withdrew from the government entirely and initiated a call for a general strike.

Without a Social Democratic presence Mayr's government was left free to issue a declaration disbanding and disarming the Volkswehr, to be replaced by a new Federal Army, ostensibly in line with the terms demanded by the Entente. However, the Volkswehr refused to comply, while Otto Bauer began to openly speak of an imminent proletarian revolution. In Tyrol right-wing militia groups forcibly disbanded the local Volkswehr, which had numbered some 2,000 men. While the Volkswehr held a domineering presence in the north, particularly urbanized and industrialized cities such as Vienna, Linz and Graz, tensions were increasingly developing in rural Austria, where growing right-wing paramilitary forces stood steadfast against the perceived threat of Spartacism. The general strike and resistance by the Volkswehr left the Mayr government crippled in Vienna, but the rural regions were not disrupted. Fearing the seizure of government buildings by the Volkswehr, the Mayr government fled to Innsbruck on 14 January. There, the Italian occupiers had already begun arming right-wing militias to fight the Volkswehr, which they had feared since their successes against the Slovenes in Carinthia. Furthermore, fearful of a potential Austrian strike to retake South Tyrol, they were more than glad to foster a conflict that would keep the Austrians weak.

With the Constituent National Assembly still chaired by the Social Democrat Karl Seitz, a new Social Democratic government was formed. While the right-wing of the Social Democrats characterized by Seitz and Karl Renner sought to ease the tensions and avoid a bloody conflict, the situation had already developed out of their control. Bauer had already shifted definitively to the view of pursuing a revolution, where he was joined by Julius Deutsch and Friedrich Adler. Furthermore, the split had already become unreconcilable, as right-wing forces had already established themselves in the rural regions and had begun to arm in open defiance of the Social Democrats. Bauer argued that not seizing the opportunity would lead only to either a communist putsch or the victory of the counterrevolution. His positions were popular in the Volkswehr and in the striking working class, who demanded the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat. While a small section of the Social Democrats around Adolf Schärf openly defied Bauer, the majority stood in agreement with him.

### The Civil War begins

The Volkswehr did not face resistance in Vienna nor in most of the north, where the rule of the Social Democratic government was solidified. However, roughly half of the country had been rendered ungovernable by the Christian Social split. A rival government was established in Innsbruck under Mayr, while the right-wing militia forces were united under the initiative of Richard Steidle, forming the Heimwehr (Home Guard), which sought to emulate the Freikorps. Minor clashes occurred as smaller Volkswehr groups were disarmed, but the Heimwehr lacked the strength to organize a serious offensive on the major cities. Only in Salzburg could the Heimwehr organize sufficient strength to go on the offensive, which began on 20 February, a date generally considered the beginning of the Austrian Civil War. This attracted the attention of Spartacist forces in Bavaria, who feared a strike from the south just as the situation had grown increasingly difficult to the north. The local Volkswehr enlisted the aid of Spartacist forces based in nearby Rosenheim, who jointly succeeded in expelling the Heimwehr from Salzburg. This marked the beginning of open cooperation between the Spartacists and the Austrian Social Democratic government.

A decisive moment came for the Christian Social government, however, with the arrival of August von Mackensen's Romanian Army, which had been released from Franco-Italian custody and directed to Austria. His force was rearmed and, by the time it reached Austria in March, it had a strength of about 80,000 soldiers. Allied with the Heimwehr, his force invaded Lower Austria. Although the Volkswehr numbered around 50,000, it had shortages of equipment and had grown to include many hastily trained members unfamiliar with combat. This, combined with the numerical superiority of Mackensen's army, resulted in the fall of Vienna and the return of the Christian Social government. The Social Democratic government and the Volkswehr retreated to Upper Austria, and succeeding in staging a defense with the aid of the Spartacists. Mackensen and the Heimwehr continued their offensive, striking into Upper Austria. However, the Reds were able to hold Linz and Salzburg. The frontline stagnated thereafter, with neither side committing to substantial offensives.

Simultaneously, the strategically decisive Battle of Berlin began in April. As it came to an end in June, the German White Movement was forced into a rapid retreat westwards. This was accelerated by the arrival of Bolshevik forces in August, following the defeat of Poland in the Polish-Soviet War. The front in Austria was no longer considered of great importance, and the Entente powers organized the transportation of Mackensen's army through Italy and France to Western Germany. Though this gave an opportunity for a counteroffensive by the Volkswehr, the Spartacists were unwilling to commit forces to Austria as the Summer Offensive continued, and as a result the front remained stagnant.

### Peace

    The Weimar Republic and the German White Movement collapsed in October 1920. The subsequent Baden-Württemberg Offensive initiated by France threatened Spartacist control in Bavaria and thereby threatened the Austrian front, forcing the diversion of forces. The Spartacists were eager to end the conflict and did not wish to prolong the war in Austria, which they believed could further aggravate the Entente. Armistice negotiations were briefly scuttled by a failed Heimwehr offensive, but a ceasefire was finally signed in Linz on 12 November 1920, a date that coincidentally marked the second anniversary of the declaration of a republic. The Social Democratic government retained control of Upper Austria as well as the city of Salzburg and the surrounding area, while the Christian Social government retained the rest of the country. Although the Social Democrats wished to join Germany, for geopolitical reasons an independent Austrian Socialist Republic was declared in Linz on 20 November, a day after the signing of the Treaty of Aachen that ended the German Civil War.