Engelbert Dollfuß

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Engelbert Dollfuß

Engelbert Dollfuß (often Dollfuss in English; 4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian politician who was Chancellor of Austria between 1932 and 1934.

Life

Dollfuß was a member of the Christian Social Party, stated to have sought to keep Austria out of the state of Germany founded in 1871, that it viewed as Protestant Prussian-dominated, and identified Austrians on the basis of Catholic religious identity. He became concerned that the NSDAP-associated DNSAP party could gain a significant influence in future elections (according to fascism scholar Stanley G. Payne, should elections have been held in 1933, the DNSAP could have mustered about 25% of the votes – contemporary Time magazine analysts suggest a higher support of 50%, with a 75% approval rate in the Tyrol region bordering Germany). There was also the threat from Communists.

In early 1933, he shut down the parliament and assumed dictatorial powers. He banned both the Communists and the DNSAP and later established a one-party system. Dollfuss modelled "Austrofascism" according to Catholic corporatist ideals with anti-secularist tones and to some degree influenced by Italian fascism.

Dollfuss was assassinated as part of a failed coup attempt by Austrian National Socialists in 1934. His successor Kurt Schuschnigg maintained the regime until National Socialist Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938.

See also