History of The Austrian Council Movement 1918–24

Hans Hautmann

The history of the First Austrian Republic is often understood in terms of its eventual failure, namely the civil war fought in the streets of Vienna in February 1934 and the crushing of the workers’ movement by Austrofascism. The fall of ‘Red Vienna’ is well known, but the ‘workers’ and soldiers’ council movement’ (1917–24) that preceded it seems to have been buried under the rubble of fascism. And yet a whole body of historiography has sought to deepen our understanding of this history. Among its leading representatives is Hans Hautmann. Here, we present his brilliant and too-little-known study to English-speaking readers for the first time.

Biographical Note

Hans Hautmann (1943–2018) was Professor of Modern and Contemporary History in Linz (Johannes Kepler University, Austria). He was one of the most famous historians of the worker’s movement in Austria. He also served as president of the KPÖ’s Archives and Library Association (Alfred Klahr Gesellschaft) from 1998 to 2007.

Jean-Numa Ducange (born in 1980) is Professor of Contemporary History in Rouen (France), author of several books and articles on the history of the Left (Marx, a French Passion, Brill, 2023).

Readership

This book is especially relevant to post-graduate students, academic institutes, libraries. The subject may be of interest to a fairly broad spectrum of activists and an audience interested in the history of workers’ democracy.

Foreword: Hans Hautmann, Historian of the Austrian Soviets
Translator’s Note
Abbreviations
Preface

Introduction

Part 1 The Workers’ Councils during the War

1 The Origins of the Council Movement
1 The Deteriorating Material Conditions of the Working Class during World War I
2 The Conflict between the Social-Democratic Leadership and the Working Masses
3 Propagation of the Council Idea by the Left Radicals and the Example of the Russian Soviets

Chapter 2 The January 1918 Strike and the Emergence of Workers’ Councils
1 The Onset of the Strike in the South Vienna Basin
2 Response of the Party Leadership: The Strike Spreads to Vienna
3 The Establishment of the Vienna Workers’ Council
4 Negotiations with the Government and the Further Spread of the Strike Movement
5 Discussions in the Workers’ Council from 19–20 January 1918: Decision to Call off the Strike
6 The End of the January Strike
7 The Institutionalisation of the Workers’ Council

Excursus Revolutionary Organisations of Austrian Prisoners of War in Soviet Russia
1 Prisoners of War and the October Revolution
2 The Activities of the Prisoner-of-War Organisations
3 Individual Examples: Otto Bauer, Alexander Täubler, Gustav Duda, Johann Koplenig, Karl Tomann, Gilbert Melcher, Heinrich Brodnig and Others
4 The Austro-Hungarian Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies in Soviet Russia

Chapter 3 The Workers’ Councils in the Last Months of the War
1 The Lower Austrian Provincial Party Conference
2 The First Organisational Statute
3 The Aftershocks of the January Strike
4 The Plan for a ‘Central Workers’ Council’
5 The June Strike and the Vienna Workers’ Council
6 Stagnation of the Council Movement in Summer and Autumn 1918

Part 2 The Council Movement in the Austrian Revolution 1918–20

Chapter 1 Workers’ and Soldiers’ Councils in the November Revolution (November 1918 to March 1919)
1 The Emergence of Soldiers’ Councils
2 The Stagnation of the Vienna Workers’ Council
3 Friedrich Adler and the Council Movement
4 Activities of the Soldiers’ Councils. Developments in the Provinces
5 The Council Movement in Upper Austria
6 The Council Movement in Other Provinces: The Intensification of the Domestic Political Situation in February 1919
7 The Initiative of the Linz Workers’ Council for the Renewal of the Council Movement

Chapter 2 Councils in the Social-Revolutionary Situation of Spring 1919
1 Organisational Reform
2 Political Decisions
3 The Workers’ Council Elections of Spring 1919
4 The Workers’ Councils in the Provinces
5 The Soldiers’ Councils in Spring 1919

Chapter 3 The Council Movement at the Height of Its Power (Summer 1919)
1 The Second National Conference of German-Austrian Workers’ Councils
2 The Solidarity Action of 21 July 1919
3 The Spheres of Activity of the Workers’ Council

Chapter 4 Anti-Council Movements
1 The Attitude of the Bourgeois Parties towards the Council System
2 The Citizens’ and Estates Council
3 The Peasant Council Question

Chapter 5 The Onset of the Crisis of the Council Movement in Autumn 1919
1 The Workers’ Councils and the End of Soviet Hungary
2 The Escalating Approach of the Bourgeois Camp towards the Working Class
3 The Coalition Question
4 The Beginnings of the Social-Democratic Working Group of Revolutionary Workers’ Councils (SARA)
5 The Demand for a Property Levy
6 Rules of Procedure of the Vienna Municipal Workers’ Council and the Individual District Workers’ Councils
7 The New Workers’ Council Elections in November 1919

Chapter 6 The Leftward Shift of the Workers’ Councils and the Collapse of the Coalition (Spring 1920)
1 The Dispute over the Revival of the ‘Workers’ Association’ [Arbeiterunion]
2 Organisational and Political Questions
3 The Workers’ Councils and the Kapp Putsch
4 The Demise of the Soldiers’ Council Movement
5 The Workers’ Councils in the Provinces
6 The Vienna Municipal Workers’ Council in Action
7 The Dispute over the Mass Demonstration of 10 May 1920
8 The Third National Conference of Workers’ Councils (First Session of the National Workers’ Council)
9 The Demise of the Coalition and Its Consequences for the Council Movement

Part 3 The Decline of the Workers’ Council 1919–24

Chapter 1 Council Theory in Austria
1 Social-Democratic Council Theories
2 The Communist Conception of Councils
3 The Council Conception of the Federation of Revolutionary Socialists ‘Internationale’
4 Statements by the Anarchists

Chapter 2 The Workers’ Council in the Final Months of the Austrian Revolution (Summer and Autumn 1920)
1 The Boycott Campaign against Hungary and Poland
2 The Disintegration of the SARA
3 The Decline in Workers’ Council Activity
4 The New Elections to the Workers’ Councils in Autumn 1920

Chapter 3 The Years 1921–24
1 The Second Session of the National Workers’ Council (Fourth National Conference of Workers’ Councils)
2 The Workers’ Councils’ Relief Campaign for the Starving of Soviet Russia
3 The Withdrawal of the Communists
4 The Last Workers’ Council Elections in Summer 1922
5 Transition into the Republican Defence League
6 The Salzburg Party Congress Resolution to Dissolve the Workers’ Councils

Summary

Bibliography
Index