Austrofascism is a term which is frequently used to describe the authoritarian rule installed in Austria between 1934 and 1938. It was based on a ruling party, the Patriotic Front (Vaterländische Front) and the Heimwehr (Homeguard) paramilitary units. Leaders were Engelbert Dollfuß and, after Dollfuß' assassination, Kurt Schuschnigg, who originally were politicians of the Christian Socialist Party, which was quickly integrated into the new movement.

Origins and Ideology

The system of Austrofascism was partly based on Mussolini's Italian fascism and conservative Political Catholicism (Clerical Fascism). Its basis was laid in the Korneuburg Program of the Christian Socialist Party on May 18, 1930. Effectively, it meant that the democratic constitution and parliamentarism were replaced by an authoritarian system, the so-called Ständestaat (State of Estates).

Notably, in the Ständestaat constitution, Austria was not a republic, but its official name was Bundesstaat Österreich (Federation of Austria), which belies the fact that the country's constituent parts, the States of Austria, effectively had less powers than under the 1920 constitution.

History

In March 1933, Dollfuß began his authoritarian strategy with a strong stance against the opposition social democrats, who responded with the February Uprising of 1934. Dollfuß completed his work with the constitution of May 1, 1934. Austrofascism then remained in place until the Anschluss to Germany in 1938.