Austrian Fascism Writes Its Own Death Warrant
Powers, John
Austrian Fascism Writes Its Own Death Warrant Sentence of 21 Socialists to 130 Years Imprisonment Foreshadows Fail of Schuschnigg Regime— Gallant Conduct of Prisoners By John Powers THE...
...therefore, in drafting the Preamble to the Working Rules of the International he kept in mind the need of uniting the workers, relying upon experience in the class struggle and education to bring about the greater movement...
...ebrating May Day as thf hmni national holiday of liktWlK been explained...
...Did the program of the Austrian Socialists ever call for any irresponsible putsch...
...Tomorrow we are going to clean up Austria.'*' No clearer announcement of intention was necessary...
...issues of fa* Conflict Why did the Defense Corps, organized and directed by Socialists, fight in February, 1934...
...In other words, that the formation of the latter was a consequence of the formation of the former and was necessary as a sseaaare of defense...
...That the labor movement of the world should inherit this day as its own and translate its local and provincial symbolism into terms of international brotherhood was natural...
...From Rome had come Mussolini's orders to Dollfuss that the Socialists and trade union* must be destroyed if fascist Italy was to continue to extend protection to its Austrian protege* against the pressure of Hitler determined to absorb Austria into the "Third Reich...
...When taspj ideals are realized, when laser»j triumphant all over the worM> ft, will reconstruct capitalism se ftM every day will be a May Day IN humanity...
...To save itseli from beiug devoured by the Protestant fascism of Germany, the Catholic fascism of Austria decided to throw itself into the...
...The changing of people's minds is a gradual, not a sudden process...
...Three years of the New Deal have revealed the Old Deal of company unions, Section 7A whittled away by interpretations, kick of enforcement and hostile court decisions...
...That was the origin of the European May Day, which has become a regular institution in all European countries...
...It is a protest agahw* Jingoism and the abysmal eatfwft fomented among the peoples of the world...
...in cases arising from Nazi activities in Austria and the subsequent assassination of Dollfuss by Nazi conspirators, to give the impression that the Catholic-fascist mur derers of Vienna were holding ever, the balance of '"justice" betweer Socialists and Nazis, the government decided to throw the Socialist hostages to the Nazi wolves...
...for labor, not for idle exstsftBt*] The cesspools and foul ghat* as...
...There have always been those who lack the stern qualities and the grim persistence to keep on until the goal is reached...
...The conduct of all the other defendants was equally brave and honorable...
...Confronted with the testimony if the police spy Korbel, upon whom the prosecution sought to mpport the charge that the Socialists had prepared for a revolution a month before the fighting —testimony which collapsed miser- | ibly in the very first days of the trial together with Korbel—Major Eifler, questioned by the presiding judge, said: "I cannot tell you, Herr President, what he is, because I was brought up a gentleman...
...So long as we are compelled to sell labor power and others are privileged to buy it, so long as others own the work places and have the power to exclude us, we will remain a lower class...
...However complex and obscure it may appear at times, history, after all, does have a meaning...
...A leading...
...Its origin runs lack to the Romans and other ancient peoples...
...That officers of the Federal Army discussed military details with Major Eifler...
...Nothing can be a substitute for the organized power of the workers organized into compact and disciplined unions of their class...
...Bat I can tell you his statements are nameless lies.'* Asked by the court whether he did not think that it was a "dreadful responsibility" to have planned the resistance, Major Eifler declared: "No, it was accessary and right to face the enemies of the republic, arms in hand...
...Let it storm...
...Major Fey, leader of the Heimwehr...
...Its syS"Ow ism of awakening life suggests continuous rebirth and reedjSsV ment of the labor and Sodllm movement to a changing w»r» Its in* pi rat ion cannot b* <Sfd*" riled with the dead hand of pteS dent...
...It urged the world labor and Socialist congress to Join the agitation for a shorter workday...
...Major Alexander Eider, war hero, organiser and chief of staff of the Republican Defense Corps, sentenced to 18 years, and Captain Rudolph Loew, his econd in commend, east to prison for a period of IS yean, head the latest Socialist roll of honor...
...planned another long campaign to culminate in great mass meetings on May Day, 1890...
...The May pole, from-which the merry-makers suspended flowers and around which they danced, liecame a custom with the toilers who found in the day a release from arduous labor...
...We cannot tell at this moment what form the answer will take...
...We do not seek to be an upper class...
...To appease the Nazi opposition for the- punishment meted out tc ¦some Austrian Nazis by the Dollfuss and Schuschnigg government...
...and that representatives of the government eve* negotiated with representatives of the Defense Corps in the Defease Corps offices with a view to securing the collaboration at the Defense Corps in the defense of the frontier...
...The Facts of the Case Documents bearing on the case published by the Socialists and presented at the trial, clearly established the following facts: 1. That the Heimwehr, Le„ the fascist Storm Troops, were organized and armed before the Republican Defease Corps...
...The call of May Day comes to us...
...across the centuries...
...The fact however, that those sentenced had no opportunity to partake in the fighting, for by a treasonable maneuver of the government they had been rounded up two weeks before the February uprising and rendered helpless...
...Just when we are drawing the fire from the biggest batteries the enemy has...
...They stood proudly before their accusers and reaffirmed their faith in the very beat Socialist tradition—fearless, gallant, j and passionately loyal to their cause...
...As the mists are dispelled the old lesson that labor must rely upon its own resources is again being learned...
...The Socialists fought a defensive battle because they were compelled to do so as a last resort...
...Well—goodby...
...Those who fought did so with courage, devotion and gallantry that will live forever in the history of mankind's struggle for liberty...
...Art and beauty Oftvjflj place the hideous cities that Iff now wretched monuments of ftjj capitalist regime...
...frankly declared: "In the last two days I have nude certain that Herr Dollfuss is with us...
...Karl Marx and his intimate associates were influential in arranging the congress and he was active in its proceedings...
...Let the faint-hearted and the weaklings lie down if they like...
...A.F...
...Labor will aft...
...The International Socialist Congress was called to meet in Paris in July, 1889, and President Gompers planned to get the -ympathetie support of the congress for the struggle in the United States...
...That the present awakening of the working class in the industrial countries of Europe gives occasion for a new hope, but at the same time contains a solemn warning not to fall back into old errors, and demands an immediate union of the movements not yet united...
...Let it pour...
...Just when the newspapers and magazines are compelled to give us constant attention...
...May 1st, IBM...
...To the gallant comrades who stood up like Socialists and revolutionists before their accusers, and to the' workers of Austria, we send this May Day our flaming greeting and a pledge of eternal faith and devotion...
...May Day spars us to rsssost effort today, inspires cea**Msss»s| ultimate victory, and brinsft...
...durtion of the eight-hour say ad the enactment of the labss^HH lation embodied in the rettoBBnssi of the Paris Congress...
...Marx believed that an organized movement of the workers was more important than a purely Socialist prog-ram...
...There have always been those who want to get something for nothing...
...Two pal later'the A.F.ofL...
...wf> disease-breeding kennels of hsaamj kind, the anxiety and overstnaftj the brooding fear of unempleymaft the unmerited poverty and t*» SPJ certainties of this chance-world *» capitalism, will he no more...
...Speaking at a fascist parade on February 11, 1934, attended by the minister of war...
...Eventually to bring the working opportunities—the industries—under the control of those who labor is the aim to which all our straggles lead...
...Some of your plans have not worked out as you expected...
...We cannot tell what developments may intervene before the final judgment i*fpronounced and executed upon* the Catholic-fascist rulers of Austria...
...May Day is a rail to serviet against war and the rspHsftd system that weeds it...
...a society where those who labor shall own, where mankind will at last be the master of their desHnmU Karl Marx's Labor Policy Preamble to the Working Rules of the International Workingmen'x A ssoeiation—1864 WHEN the Communist Manifesto was written by Marx and Engels in 1848...
...Finally, May Day and its idetjPj forecast the day of working Osftj deliverance from the nscuacinffQftVj italism of our time...
...Even so...
...They wished to avoid it, if possible, bat they were ready to face it if necessary...
...Seldom does a comrade see the direct results of his own individual efforts for the cause...
...But that does not matter...
...a free society based upon c+m operative labor and production...
...A letter from Gompers was read to the delegate...
...Forward for genuine insurance m against unemployment, old age,* sickness and accidents/ Forward against imperialist warsM against ignorance and barbarism,* against fascism and dictatorship...
...It teaches tks tj| rermality nf progress...
...Something in the day appealed to the emotional and spiritual nature of *erfs and laborers...
...To the Quitter By John M. Work CO you are tired and discouraged and propose to lie down and quit, just when things are...
...But let him look back a few years—comparing the Socialist sentiment then with the Socialist sentiment now—and he will see the marvelous advance that has been made through the common efforts of all the comrades, ineluding himself...
...There have always been those who drop out and take it easy, and then profit by the sacrifices of their comrades after the victory is won...
...The resolution assSeHS} May 1 reads: "Let the workers of af *s}0 tries .ad of all cities gatsnfW e-ether on one day and thas eav stitote a great international eeaonstration Let them eVnuaftaf the public authorities the hsu...
...They have neither fears nor illusions...
...There may be mountains to climb, cliffs to scale, thickets to penetrate, and rivers to ford...
...He is mentally, morally and spiritually deceased...
...In the face of all this you propose to lie down...
...The First International Labor Congress declares that the International Workingmen's Association, and all societies and individuals belonging to it, recognize troth, right and morality as the basis of their conduct toward one another and their fellow men, without respect to color, creed or nationality...
...Brave Conduct of the Socialists The conduct of Major Eifler and !iis comrades, most of them plain .vorkers, at the Vienna trial adds mother bright page to the annals >f Socialism...
...We cannot yet discern the lines, but their import is already clear...
...His wants were few and accustomed to all manner of delays in gratification...
...4. That the Republican Defense Corps repeatedly declared in Parliament that it was prepared for internal disarmament if the other side were also willing...
...coming our way all over the UnitedaStates-and all over the world...
...They follow the sun...
...That this iffer was turned down by the government and internal disarmament thereby rendered impossible...
...It e'ft'^tl I a living movement, not one dap...
...It stated that the American Federation of Labor was so occupied with the eight-hour movement that it was unable to send an official representative...
...Like the rest of their Socialist comrades they had not sought the encounter of February, 1934...
...He who quits is dead...
...That the economic dependence of the working class upon the owner of the tools of production,1 the sources of life, forms the basis of every kind of servitude, of social misery, of spiritual degradation and political dependence...
...We are a lower class...
...He had long experience in traveling on almost nothing...
...Incontrovertible evidence demonstrated that the treason was wholly on the side of the government...
...We managed to get enough money for his ticket...
...Austrian Fascism Writes Its Own Death Warrant Sentence of 21 Socialists to 130 Years Imprisonment Foreshadows Fail of Schuschnigg Regime— Gallant Conduct of Prisoners By John Powers THE conviction and sentence of twenty-one Socialists in Vienna on April 18th to a total of nearly 130 years imprisonment is the latest manifestation of fascist bloodlust...
...In 1886 the American trade j unions, engaged in concerted prop- ! aganda for the eight-hour day, set 1 May Day to start the campaign, ' but the Haymarket tragedy in Chicago set back the movement for nearly two years...
...arm of Rome...
...uggested that the first ftav day in September be desi^natada) Labor Day and a resolution,to ftftj effect was adopted...
...The'workers themselves were exhausted, worn out with twenty years of war and political and social turmoil, their strength and resources, political and* economic, sapped to a degree which became tragically apparent when it dedevoped that only a few thousand had actually joined the February battle...
...The willingness to fight against degradation to lower levels of living inspires more and more of the organized labor hosts...
...of L. Founded May Day In Eight-Hour Day Fight -International Labor Holiday Originated When Gompen Sent Envoy to Second International in Paris With Plea for Cooperation...
...3. That, on the other hand, the Heimwehr undertook an offensive "putsch" in 1931, which was harply condemned by the government, though no serious steps »ere taken against the culprits, and that the same Heimwehr leaders are today ministers, while .hose who then opposed them in the name of the Constitution are now in the dock...
...Yet, they were tried and convicted for "treason" and "complicity in treason," despite the fact that the indictment against them had collapsed...
...In that year the A.F.ofL...
...Forward to a free democracy wit* ^ equal economic, social and political rights...
...In England it was an ancient custom for the ]>eoplc to go "a-Maying" on the First of May to welcome the advent of spring...
...Defense Corps determined to resist this conspiracy by force...
...It came to the serf fo the feudal ages from the Roman bondmen, from the serf to the journeymen of the guilds, and from the journeymen to the wage worker of modern capitalism...
...That the authorities promised the Defense Corps recognition as a police corps and referred to the possibility that the Federal Government would take steps to look after dependents of Defense Corps men on active service...
...The path to the goal may not be a smooth and gentle incline...
...Another said quietly: "To this the only answer can be revolution...
...Various views were represented, from simple trade unionism and the followers of Giuseppe Mazzini to various shades of Socialism...
...Old illusions are passing and as they disappear the message of human liberation meets a welcome response by millions formerly indifferent...
...Nevertheless, many of the ass progressive trade unions have b | each year joined in May Day oar . brations in union with the works* of all other countries...
...They remember the lines of Gerald Massie: We are beaten back in many a fray...
...Had they ever toyed with the idea of forcing a party or class dictatorship upon Austria...
...There were not as many votes as you thought there ought to be...
...2. That the Republican Defense Corps was recognised by the constitutional authorities in Austria, including the Christian Social Minister of War Vangoia...
...But newer strength we borrow...
...Persistence—persistence—and yet again persistence—is the thing that wins...
...Voluminous, irrefutable data supporting these facts submitted by he Socialists at the Vienna trial established that the responsibility i'or the civil conflict of 1934 lay exclusively on the shoulders of the Austrian government — Dollfuss, Starhemberg, leader of the Aus.rian fascists, and Major Fey...
...In the meantime the day-to-day struggle for more bread, more wages, better conditions, shorter, hours, must go on...
...By James Oneal J^|.\Y DAY i. a symbol of the awakening of all things to life...
...They and their women folk in the courtroom brought into he proceedings the same gallantry ind courage that characterized the Defense Corps in its conduct in :he February fighting...
...I suspect that those who observed the woodland bursting into a riot of green, the flowering of the hillside, the evidences of awakening life in all nature, felt rather than interpreted this as a forecast of the beauty and joy that would some time be universal for mankind...
...let the {aSSsS tional labor demoitMrattes* # be held oa this day...
...Forward against the company union and against injunctions...
...Accusers Pace Destruction I And what of their accusers, of those who sentenced them to a living death in the prisons of Austria ? History, perhaps sooner than now appears likely, will take care of them...
...But we *know that their ultimate fate will be the fate of all traitors to the cause of liberty and justice throughout history...
...Here a paragraph from Mr...
...A/l AY DAY finds great masses of the organized workers more determined, more courageous and more enlightened than at any time for years...
...We strive for a classless society where unmerited want and unearned wealth will no longer be a hideous social contrast...
...That all exertions which, up to this time, have been directed toward the attainment of this end have failed on account of the want of solidarity between the various branches of labor in every land, and by reason of the absence of a brotherly bond of unity between the working classes of different countries...
...officially endorse} the first Monday in September, ft 1884, Congress declared this Of a holiday in the District of ft> lumbia and the territories andJft States one by one declared it f holiday in the ensuing years, I [ the convention of the A.F.ofl* f 190.1 a resolution to declare ftf Day as labor's holiday was defeal I and the trade unions have scceffti ; the September day ever since...
...Sixteen years later the workers were breaking down these old vestiges of aristocracy and the International Workingmen's Association — the First International — was founded in London in 1864...
...And let him not expect to be patted on the back every time he serves the cause...
...The Preamble below reveals the composite character of the Congress, the final paragraph showing concessions to the followers of Mazzini: Preamble to Working Rules "In consideration that the emancipation of the working class must be accomplished by the working class itself, that the struggle for the emancipation of the working class does not signify a struggle i'or class privileges and monopolies, but for equal rights and duties and the abolition of class rule...
...That the emancipation of labor is neither a local nor a national, but a social problem, which embraces all countries in which mod' em society exists, and whose solution depends upon the practical and theoretical cooperation of the most advanced countries...
...in Austria, the triumph of Hitlerism in Germany, the presence of a white guard regime in Hungary, and dose cooperation between Mussolini and the clerical-fascist Doll fuss regime placed the Austrian workers in a trap from which no attempt at force could, under the circumstances, provide escape...
...There are others also in the service...
...You have not been fully appreciated by your comrade...
...Every advance conquered strengthens us for the next advance and each is a preparation for the time when the laboring masses and their friends will be vested with that power in government and industry that will enable mankind to create a paradise out of this industrial misery...
...It was not until 1888 that a nation-wide movement was again taken up for the shftrter hours...
...They knowthat "the flower that follows the sun does it even on cloudy days...
...mU knowledge that hundreds of aw lions think as we think, SSfSMH hope, work as we work, spaseJaS* that mankind will flow*r il*SSS»fj thing better in the s^est do...
...y "Inasmuch as the Asseriea Federation of Labor, at its ft, - Louis convention in Deeoadar 1888, ha* already liitaaj jag...
...I hi the dutches of hoary freeflow and archaic formulas...
...Having its origin in the labor movement of the United States, it was j carried to the European workers, | adopted by them and observed to ! this day, while here it was aban- j doned by the trade unions for an official Labor Day designated by j Congress...
...Was it because the Socialists had aimed to seise power...
...Gompers' autobiography: "I talked the idea over with Hugh McGregor, who was idealist enough to recognize no practical difficulties...
...May Day teaches that at things change...
...And the consciousness of baring aided the cause is sufficient reward...
...And let the workers sfJK different nations rnasafl demonstrations as seems best ft them, in conform it» with Hi special conditions of their taaeV Labor Day rVafsssi Why the trade union SSSSSBftt of this country withdrew fhMTIM...
...Your lament is babyish...
...Forward against wage reductions, for the 30-hour week, for the abolition of child labor...
...Working fcr the great cause of Socialism is the chief thing that is worth living for at this stage of human progress...
...Close rank*, march forward, in the great labor struggle...
...Eventuaih a resolution for an eight-hour dem'onstration in every country was adopted and there was pretty general observance of the day...
...the working class was largely disfranchised and trade unions were illegal...
...We discovered that a boat was leaving within a brief time that would just get him to Paris in time...
...Tost ftp bulk of the unions decline to eat ' brate it only emphasizes the all ' that they are out of step with lift ¦ brothers on this matter in all eft* countries as they are in the sssSh of independent political actios, j May Day is not only a dsf St pledging the fellowship of •» workers of all countries regardhO : of sex, nationality, color or re* but it is a day for taking stock ad to con.-ider the road we have* travel before the world «¦ made SB* for the working class...
...Economic, social, political and cultural democracy is the ideal of the working masses, the ideal for which we and our ancestors have sacrificed and in the effort to attain which many have died...
...And where the vanguard rests today The rear shall camp tomorrow...
...The crime of these Socialists was that they remained true to their convictions and as officers and and members of the Defense Corps had prepared to defend the Socialist movement and the republic with their lives...
...The New 'fad) Centra] Labor Union on iftftjK 1882...
...Those party leaders who saw things with a clear eye and had no illusions about the situation were fully a wars- of wnat was and what was not in the power of the workers to accomplish under the circumstances then prevailing...
...The twenty-one men convictec* on April 18 were hostages of the regime which ensued upon th< defeat of the gallant Socialist defense...
...How Fighting Began What precipitated the fighting...
...You are unable to see visible" results of your efforts...
...Political and economic condition...
...They are in the struggle to win—and win they will...
...Already its finger is writing its judgment on the wall of the prison in which Austrian fascism has incarcerated the body but not the spirit of Socialism and freedom...
...That, therefore, the economic emancipation of the working class is the great end to which every political movement must be subordinated as a simple auxiliary...
...This Congress regards it as the duty of man to demand the rights of a man and citizen, not only for himself, but for everyone who does his duty...
...All the aesthetic impulses of the toilers were quickened, and although they could not fathom their own feelings the one fact that was evident was a day's release from the drudgery to indulge in festivals of comradeship and joy...
...The margin of time intervening was too small to tru^t a letter of invitation to the mail, so- McGregor agreed to act as a special courier...
...It is soft for peace and fraternity asssni the nations...
...The Paris Resolution The famous first congress of the second Socialist international opened on the hundredth anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, July 14, 1889...
...Let it rain...
...In any case they will be in the vanguard just the same, enlightening the people and bringing the great day of universal love and happiness nearer...
...delegate from France, Lavigae, introduced the resolution which was carried unanimously, with an explanation from the Russians that in the land of the Csu , a May Day demonstration ***S*jE pw-ible...
...No rights without duties, no duties without right...
...The destruction of Austrian Socialism was the price demanded by Mussolini...
...ism society of equal opportunity for all...
...Just when the people's minds have become fertile for our principles, and we have a grand opportunity to push past another mile post on the way to the cooperative commonwealth...
...It was then that the Republics...
...Dollfuss Starhemberg and Fey agreed U pay the ransom in the blood of tin Austrian workars...
...Bat they whose courage and whose consecration to the cause make them worthy to be called men and women will keep on organizing and educating, with enthusiasm, good will and determination, in spite of all obstacles, until capitalism fades away nwd Socialism take* possession...
...Trembling in the deep recesses of their miserable souls with fear of the ultimate judgment that the people will pronounce upon them, the pious condotieri, judicial murderers of the Schuschnigg government, have pronounced sentence upon a (roup of the Republican Defense Corps to appease their sadistic thirst for revenge ami satisfy their competitors in crime, the Maris...
...What Majoi Fey meant was that the Heimwehi was going to stage a counterrevolution...
...This, is the end of Austria— the government has sentenced itself to destruction by the Nazis now," said one man in the courtroom, as quoted by a correspondent of the New York Times...
...Or let the sun glow soothingly...
Vol. 18 • April 1935 • No. 17
