Austrofascism: Revisiting the ‘Authoritarian State’ 40 Years On

Abstract

This article argues that the history of the Austrian state from 1933 to 1938 needs to be placed outside the constraints of Austrian historiography and located within transnational histories of European fascism. It challenges the consensus view in Austrian historiography that the state was authoritarian, rather than fascist, and argues that the connection between Austrian pan-German identity and the state's fascistizing policies in the media, education and population politics can shed light on the trajectory of Austrofascism in the 1930s.