Julie THORPE. Pan-Germanism and the Austrofascist State, 1933-38

Austrofascism has long been a puzzle. Between 1933 and 1938, a one-party “Fatherland Front” modeled on Italian fascism ruled Austria. The Socialist Party, for decades the main opposition party, was banned and many of its leaders imprisoned, forced into exile, or reduced to silence. At the same time, many Austrians were enthusiastic about the Nazi regime to the north: the Anschluss, symbolized by the image of jubilant Austrians cheering Adolf Hitler in March 1938 on Vienna's Heldenplatz, has cast a long shadow over interwar Austrian history. For this reason, some historians have had no problem labeling Austria in these years as fascist or “clerico-fascist.” Yet the “state of estates,” as the 1930s Austrian regime was often called, resisted annexation by Germany to the end, trying, albeit with only partial success, to create an Austrian state identity. Moreover, Austria was a haven for German Catholic émigrés, who contributed to a Catholic critique of totalitarianism emerging in journals supported by the Austrian state. For this reason, other historians have preferred to put “Austrofascism” in quotes or simply avoided the term altogether in favor of labels like “authoritarian.” What sort of state was Austria between 1933 and 1938? In this splendid book, Julie Thorpe revisits the topic. Rather than rehashing typological debates about what fascism is and how to classify it, she argues, with Robert O. Paxton, Michael Mann, and others, that fascism is best understood as a process rather than a static concept. In her analysis, Austrofascism was a process of remaking civic boundaries and political formations. By 1938, she concludes, “Austria was already a fascist state” (p. 232).

Annexation · Communism · Fatherland · German · Nazi Germany · Nazism · Opposition (politics) · Political science · Politics · State (computer science) · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · European history and politics · History · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Law