The times we live in. Witnessing the rise of fascism in Austria from 1930 to 1934

The experiences of contemporaries have been neglected in the research of the far-reach-ing changes in Austria in the early 1930s. With the historiography focussing on institutions and structures as well as mostly the time since 1933, significant gaps exist and underlying assump-tions which do not reflect the experiences of people living in the troubled times. In contrast, this thesis uses a bottom-up approach to unravel the lives of contemporaries, their hopes and fears and the impact of the various crises in politics, economics and identity from 1930 to 1934. It thus asks how ordinary members of society experienced their times and witnessed the slow slide towards fascism and how they reacted to it. Based on the accounts of seven diarists, these troubled times are analysed through the lenses of contemporaries writing soon after the events and often still under the impression of them. Hence, they paint unblurred pictures of their times influenced by their surroundings. Their views...Show moreThe experiences of contemporaries have been neglected in the research of the far-reach-ing changes in Austria in the early 1930s. With the historiography focussing on institutions and structures as well as mostly the time since 1933, significant gaps exist and underlying assump-tions which do not reflect the experiences of people living in the troubled times. In contrast, this thesis uses a bottom-up approach to unravel the lives of contemporaries, their hopes and fears and the impact of the various crises in politics, economics and identity from 1930 to 1934. It thus asks how ordinary members of society experienced their times and witnessed the slow slide towards fascism and how they reacted to it. Based on the accounts of seven diarists, these troubled times are analysed through the lenses of contemporaries writing soon after the events and often still under the impression of them. Hence, they paint unblurred pictures of their times influenced by their surroundings. Their views shed light on the past as it ‘actually was’ and unravel the stories beyond the institutions. The first chapter analyses the end of parliamentary democracy in Austria in 1934 as witnessed by the diarists with a focus on the turning point of February 1934. The second chapter situates the diarists within the political and financial crises of the violent times. Lastly, the third chapter looks at the profound unsolved questions of identity, linked to religion and political decisions within the framework of the diarists’ perceptions of the past. In this fascism in Austria is understood as existing in two similar yet distinct variants: clerical Austrofascism and Nazism. The former tried to establish itself foremost by eliminating its biggest enemy, the Socialists, at the same time as creating a collective identity based on religion, German nationalism and the Habsburg past. The diarists’ experiences change the external narrative especially in view of February 1934: they showed the necessity of reinterpreting February 1934 as the turning point in the timeline of Austrian history as which it was perceived in comparison to the Anschluss in 1938. Furthermore, the accounts revealed the interconnectedness of the many crises of their times and how these as well as the remembered past and anticipated future shaped their perceptions and everyday life. However, also the split into distinct ‘Lager’ and the thesis of Austrofascism op-posing the threat of Nazism have to be revisited. The latter was insofar challenged as the step from democracy to an authoritarian regime was seemingly more impacting the diarists’ lives than the step from one variant of fascism to another.Show less

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The times we live in. Witnessing the rise of fascism in Austria from 1930 to 1934