Engelbert Dollfuß

Engelbert Dollfuss was an Austrian clerical fascist politician who served as Chancellor of Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and Agriculture, he ascended to Federal Chancellor in 1932 in the midst of a crisis for the conservative government. Suppressing the Marxist movement in February 1934 during the Austrian Civil War and later banning the Austrian National Socialist Party, he instituted his own brand of Austrofascism through the First of May Constitution. Dollfuss was assassinated as part of a failed coup attempt by Marxist agents, who attempted to blame Adolf Hitler in 1934. His successor Kurt Schuschnigg maintained the administration until opting to join Germany in 1938.