The Christian Social Party (Austria) from 1891

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The Christian Social Party (Austria)

The Christian Social Party (German: Christlichsoziale Partei, CS) was a major conservative political party in the Cisleithanian crown lands of Austria-Hungary and in the First Republic of Austria, from 1891 to 1934. It is a predecessor of the contemporary Austrian People's Party.


The party emerged in the run-up to the 1891 Imperial Council (Reichsrat) elections under the populist Vienna politician Karl Lueger (1844–1910). Referring to ideas developed by the Christian Social movement under Karl von Vogelsang (1818–1890) and the Christian Social Club of Workers, it was oriented towards the petit bourgeoisie[citation needed] and clerical-catholic; there were many priests in the party, including the later Austrian chancellor Ignaz Seipel, which attracted many votes from the tradition-bound rural population. As a social conservative counterweight to the "godless" Social Democrats, the party gained mass support through Luegers anti-liberal and antisemite slogans. Its support of the Austro-Hungarian cohesion and the ruling House of Habsburg also gave it considerable popularity among the noble class, making it an early example of a big tent party.

Upon the implementation of universal suffrage (for men) under minister-president Max Wladimir von Beck, the CS gained plurality in the 1907 Reichsrat elections, becoming the largest parliamentary group in the Lower House; however already in the 1911 elections, it lost this position to the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP). Though Minister-president Karl von Stürgkh had ignored the discretionary competence of the parliament during the 1914 July Crisis, the Christian Social Party backed the Austrian government during World War I. Nevertheless when upon the dissolution of the Monarchy in October 1918 the German-speaking Reichsrat representatives met in a "provisional national assembly", the 65 CS deputies voted for the creation of the Republic of German-Austria and its accession to Weimar Germany.

First Republic

After the 1918 assembly had elected the Social Democrat Karl Renner state chancellor, the Christian Social Party formed a grand coalition with the SDAP under Karl Seitz. In the 1919 Austrian Constitutional Assembly election, the CS gained 35.9% of the votes cast, making it again the second strongest party after the Social Democrats. With its support the assembly enacted the Habsburg Law concerning the expulsion and the takeover of the assets of the House Habsburg-Lorraine. On 10 September 1919, Chancellor Karl Renner had to sign the Treaty of Saint-Germain, which prohibited any affiliation with Germany. It was ratified by the assembly on 21 October.

Antisemtic CS poster of 1920, depicting a Judeo-Bolshevik serpent choking the Austrian eagle

However, the next year the coalition broke up and Renner resigned on 11 July 1920, succeeded by the Christian Social politician Michael Mayr. Both parties agreed on scheduling new elections and the national assembly dissolved after it had passed the Constitution of Austria on 1 October 1920. Upon the following 1920 election, the CS gained 41.8% of the votes cast surpassing the Social Democrats and as the strongest party entered into a right-wing coalition with the newly established nationalist Greater German People's Party (GDVP). The National Council parliament, successor of the national assembly, re-eleted Mayr chancellor on November 1920. The CS also nominated the non-partisan Michael Hainisch, actually a Greater German sympathizer, for Austrian president, who was elected by the Federal Assembly on December 9.

All Chancellors of the First Austrian Republic from 1920 onwards were members of the Christian Social Party, and so was President Wilhelm Miklas, who succeeded Hainisch in 1928. The Social Democrats remained in opposition and concentrated on their Red Vienna stronghold, while the Austrian political climate polarized over the next years.

Chancellor Mayr had to resign as chancellor in 1922, after the Greater German People's Party left the coalition in disagreement over a treaty signed with the Czechoslovak republic concerning the Sudeten German territories. He was succeeded by Ignaz Seipel, CS chairmen since 1921. Seipel, a devout Catholic and fierce opponent of the Social Democrats, was able to re-arrange the coalition with the GDVP and was elected chancellor on 31 May 1922. From 1929 onwards, the party tried to form an alliance with the Heimwehr movement. Because of the instability of this coalition the party leadership decided to reform a coalition with the agrarian Landbund.

Patriotic Front

In the process of establishing the so-called Austro-fascist dictatorship, Christian Social Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß merged the Christian Social Party into the Patriotic Front in 1933. After the Anschluss of Austria to Nazi Germany, the party was banned in March 1938 and ceased to exist. After the Second World War, the party was not founded anew. Most of its supporters and politicians thought the name was too closely associated with Austrofascism; they founded the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), which can be regarded as the inheriting party of the CS.  :

Prominent members of the CS included:

Supporters of the Austrian Christian Social Party in 1934

    Walter Breisky
    Karl Buresch
    Engelbert Dollfuß
    Otto Ender
    Viktor Kienböck
    Karl Lueger
    Michael Mayr
    Hans Pernter
    Rudolf Ramek
    Richard Reisch
    Richard Schmitz
    Kurt von Schuschnigg
    Ignaz Seipel
    Fanny von Starhemberg
    Ernst Streeruwitz
    Josef Strobach
    Carl Vaugoin
    Richard Weiskirchner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_ ... Austria%29