Ignaz Seipel and his political role in Austria (1876-1932)

Abstract

The Catholic clergyman and Austrian politician Ignaz Seipel is considered one of the most controversial figures in Austria’s interwar political history due to the important inspiration his political activities had on the country’s political, economic, and social future. Seipel, who held the chancellorship for two terms throughout the period (1922-1924) (1926-1929), succeeded in saving the Austrian economy from collapse, restoring international confidence in the First Austrian Republic, and safeguarding its political existence on the European map. But that success was met with failure in managing the internal political scene of the republic. His term in office witnessed a severe ideological division which threatened civil peace in Austria because of his intense hostility towards the socialists. This division was demonstrated in his inflexible stance during the Vienna actions of 1927, when he rejected to make concessions to the working class, supported the violent police suppression of their protests, and openly aligned himself with right-wing paramilitary forces in order to exclude socialist opposition to his party and religious orientations. Therefore, his extreme positions formed the features of the fall of parliamentary democracy and the rise of Austrian fascism in the 1930s.