ENGELBERT DOLLFUSS
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Christian Falangist President of Austria
"Germany neither intends nor wishes to interfere in the internal affairs of Austria, to annex Austria or to conclude an Anschluss." Adolf Hitler (In a speech to the Reichstag on May 21, 1935)
A story of betrayal by a
secular Fascist regime in Italy and the subjugation by a heathen Nazi state in
Germany against a Christian Falangist Austria.
~ Most of the graphics can be right
clicked to enlarge. ~
The Flag of Falangist Austria
Engelbert Dollfuss was born on October 4th, 1892 in the town of Texing in lower
Austria.
He studied law at the University of Vienna and Economics at the University of
Berlin. During World War One he served as a reserve officer in the Austrian
army. And upon his return to civilian life he served as secretary of the
Peasant's Association then as director of the Lower Austrian Chamber of
Agriculture in 1927 and in 1930 as a member of the Christian Social Party he was
appointed president of the Federal Railway System. The following year he was
named minister of agriculture and forests. Ambitious, Intelligent and talented
he became Chancellor of his nation on May 20th, 1932. Even though Dollfuss never
called himself a Christian Falangist he was indeed one in spirit and deed. The
CFPA will always refer to Dollfuss and his regime as Christian Falangist. Unlike
Fascist regimes with their expansionist and secular natures, Falangist regimes
never expand by going to war with neighboring countries and are always
emphatically Christian in nature.
Dollfuss instituted a program of economic reform with help of a £9,000,000 loan
from the
League
of Nations on condition Austria not enter into a customs union with Germany for
20 years. This angered not only the pro-German Austrian Nazis but the Socialists
as well. To bolster his position and prevent Austria from uniting with Nazi
Germany, Dollfuss met with Benito Mussolini in Riccione Italy on August 20th,
1933 to form an alliance. By promising to set up a Falangist regime at home Il
Duce would guarantee Austrian independence. Which wasn't a bad deal as Dollfuss
was a Falangist and an admirer of Mussolini anyway.
Because of the growing movement for unification with Germany and the Liberal attitude of Parliament on that matter he dissolved that institution and henceforth ruled by decree. In May of 1933 he banned the Communist Party and the following month he banned the Nazi Party. He couldn't stand either one and felt his nation, a Catholic country, would be better off without the godless Reds and pagan Nazis. On September 11th of 1933 he formed his own political party called the Fatherland Front ( Vaterländische Front) and merged with the HomeGuard (Heimwehr) in 1934. The HomeGuard was formed right after the First World War as a militia to protect Austria and to prevent a Communist uprising. It later espoused Corporatism and became a political party in 1930.
Austrian Falangist Demonstration
On May 1st, 1934 Dollfuss proclaimed a new constitution, providing for state organization through professional corporations or guilds similar to those in Fascist Italy. The opposition by German and Austrian Nazis to his regime intensified and acts of murder, terror and sabotage became so rampant that the death penalty was reinstituted and detention camps established. All to no avail because Hitler could send in two more agent provocateurs for every one the Austrians took out.
The Body of Engelbert
Dollfuss
The
situation came to a head on July 25th, 1934 when a detachment of Nazi Storm T
roopers
took over the Chancellery building which housed the government offices and after
shooting president Dollfuss they let him lay bleeding to death for four hours
and refusing to allow him medical assistance, he died a martyrs death. The Nazis
who were holed up in the chancellery, were calling for help from the Austrian
Storm Troops and SS, but the help never came. These Austrian Nazi traitors would
have been escorted to the German border and released had they not murdered
Dollfuss. At 5:30 Schuschnigg and his forces took the Chancellery back. The
Nazis after surrendering were put to death and Kurt von Schuschnigg then became
Chancellor of Austria.
Mussol
ini
upon hearing of the attempted coup called up his army and sent them to the
Brenner Pass and the Carinthian border. German intelligence became alarmed when
they found out that the Italian army were being issued battle ammunition. Nor
had Mussolini confined himself to the military sphere, he had received the
British and French Ambassadors to discuss common diplomatic action in the
crisis. Temporary though this umbrella of Italian protection turned out to be,
it was the nearest thing to safety that the Austria of Dollfuss and Schuschnigg
ever knew or could have known. Had Mussolini stood his ground and sided with the
British and French, he very well could have prevented WWII or at the very least
postponed it until the Allies were better prepared.
On Stage For Austria
Dollfuss by dying a martyr did more to unite his Austria than anything he did or
could have done while he was alive. Over one million of his countrymen att
ended
his funeral. As a great London paper wrote on July 30, 1934 "By his death, Dr.
Dollfuss has proved that a German culture really exists that is worth saving".
The murdered Chancellor might have hoped for greater help from Britain while he
was alive. But he could not have wished for a better epitaph once he was dead.
During
his administration Dollfuss had balanced the Austrian budget, reduced
unemployment by 54,000, the savings banks were above their pre-crisis level of
2,000,000,0
00
schillings; the tills of the National Bank were filling up fast, and note
circulation had been cut back by almost 30 percent. The currency had become
healthy enough to withstand the effects of all the Western devaluation measures
of 1933, and the nation's adverse trade balance had been reduced from 25 to 19
percent of the total. The overall index of industrial output jumped from 78 to
88 from October of 1932 to October of 1933.
Kurt von
Schuschnigg long time Falangist and member of the Fatherland Front was Minister
of Justice in the Dollfuss administration. From 1934 until 1938 he ruled Austria
and under increasing pressure from Hitler to unite Austria with his pagan Nazi
state, von Schuschnigg planned a referendum for the Austrian people to vote on
whether or not they wanted to become part of a greater Germany or to remain a
independent nation, the voting was to take place on March 13th. Hitler fearing the Austrians would vote against an Anschluss
(union) sent his troops across the border on March 11th 1938 and invaded the
country. Von Schuschnigg was arrested and thrown into prison and not released
until the war was over, by the victorious Allies. He then emigrated to the
United States, where he taught at Saint Louis University until his retirement in
1968, after which he returned to his Fatherland to spend the remainder of his
days and to be buried in his native soil.
To read a more in depth study of Engelbert Dollfuss go to www.dollfuss.org
20 Jun 2006