First Austrian Republic

Karl Seitz

* 1920–1928

Michael Hainisch

* 1928–1934

Wilhelm Miklas

The First Austrian Republic (German: Erste Österreichische Republik) or Federal Austria, was an Austrian state created after the signing of the Treaty of Saint Germain in September 1919. With this agreement, German Austria, a state that was created after the collapse of Austria-Hungary, ceased to exist. Austria was a "de facto" republic, although its constitution does not mention such a name.

The existence of the First Republic was remembered for the sharp conflict and tensions between the political right and the left. The climax of these conflicts was the July Uprising of 1927. The Austrian Constitution came into force in 1920, and was amended and supplemented in 1929. The termination of the existence of the Federal State of Austria is interpreted differently. According to some, the Federal State ceased to exist when the Austrofascists came to power in 1934 after the Austrian Civil War.

But the new government continued to use the old constitutional name of the state - "Bundesstaat Österreich". For others, the Federal State disappeared from the world scene with the Anschluss of 1938.

### **Formation of the state**

In 1919, forced by the Entente, German Austria ceased to exist by signing the Agreement of Saint Germain.With that agreement, some German areas were handed over to other countries, the Sudetenland to Czechoslovakia, the German Tyrol to Italy, and part of southern Austria was handed over to the Kingdom of SHS. The Germans in Austria were furious that this agreement violated US President Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" in the peace negotiations.

One of the points of the treaty was the self-determination of all peoples. Austria managed to save two more provinces that other countries were looking for. The first was the southeastern part of the Carinthia region inhabited by Slovenes, so that on October 20, 1920, Austrian Slovenes voted to remain in Austria. Another region - Gradišće or Burgenland - was sought by Hungary.

This area had also been part of Hungary since 1647, but the majority of Burgenland's inhabitants were German, with significant Croatian and Hungarian minorities. According to the agreement of Saint-Germain, these regions remained in Austria. Austria also claimed the city of Sopron, but it remained in Hungary.

After the First World War, Austria was governed by a right-wing and left-wing coalition that made significant progress by working on socioeconomic and labor laws. In 1920, the Austrian Constitution was adopted in the same coalition. However, the new Austria was still difficult to govern due to the occupation of regions that had previously been a significant economic factor. Things were even more complicated because the Austro-Hungarian states depended on the Bank of Vienna.

### **Politics from 1920. to 1932.**

After 1920, the Austrian government was dominated by the Christian Social Party, which was in close contact with the Catholic Church. The first chancellor from this party, Ignaz Seipel, tried to create an alliance between rich industrialists and Catholic crusaders. Although a peaceful party was in power, state politics was fierce and violent from both the left and the right. Those two rivals were in constant conflict. In 1927, leftists staged a mass protest when members of right-wing paramilitaries were convicted of murdering members of a rival party. A large protest known as the July Uprising was silenced by the police, and several demonstrators were killed. Violence in Austria dragged on until the 1930s when Engelbert Dollfuss became chancellor.

### **Austrofascism**

Chancellor Engelbert Dolphus, a member of the Christian Social Party, came to power in 1932. Under his leadership, Austria approached totalitarianism. In March 1933, Dollfus dissolved the National Assembly and put the parliament out of office.

His government competed with the National Socialist German Workers' Party, which wanted to unite Austria with the Third Reich. Dolphus's Austrofascism tied the Austrian government to the Catholic Church and one of the reasons why he did not want to unite with Germany was that the majority of the population in Germany was Protestant. Soon there are conflicts between National Socialists, Socialists and Austrofascists.

In 1934, on May 1, Dollfus established a one-party state in Austria. The Federal Council is limited in its work, while the election for the National Council has been abolished. The state assumed complete authority over employer-employee relations, which was known as the Ständestaat, and a repressive policy began to be implemented against National Socialists and supporters of unification with Germany. The National Socialists retaliated by assassinating Dolphus on July 25, 1934.

Dollfus's successor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, continued the repression of the National Socialists, but disbanded the right-wing paramilitary Heimwehr in 1936.

### **Anschluss**

In 1938, Hitler won Mussolini over the issue of unification with Austria and began the first plans for the Anschluss. Schutznig wants to avoid a conflict with Germany and on March 13 he organizes a plebiscite on whether the Austrians want unification with Germany or an independent Austria. Schutznig wanted to secure votes for independence. Even 99% of Austrians voted for unification. Hitler takes this back to an ultimatum for Schutznig. In the ultimatum, Hitler demanded that Austria align its foreign, military, and economic policy with Germany's, and that Schutznig appoint Artur Seiss-Inquart as Minister of the Interior.

Schutznig accepts the ultimatum on March 11, because Hitler promised him military intervention. Schutznig was succeeded as chancellor by Seiss-Inquart, and the very next day, March 12, Germany sends its troops to Austria, which take over power. On March 13, the Federal State of Austria officially ended and was declared part of the Third Reich as the province of Ostmark.