Prince Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg | |
|---|---|
 Ernst Rüdiger Camillo von Starhemberg inHeimwehr uniform | |
| Vice-Chancellor of Austria | |
| In office 1 May 1934 – 14 May 1936 | |
| Chancellor | Engelbert Dollfuß Kurt Schuschnigg |
| Preceded by | Emil Fey |
| Succeeded by | Eduard Baar-Baarenfels |
| Leader of theFatherland Front | |
| In office 31 July 1934[1] – 15 May 1936[2] | |
| Preceded by | Engelbert Dollfuß |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Minister of the Interior | |
| In office 30 September 1930 – 4 December 1930 | |
| Chancellor | Carl Vaugoin |
| Preceded by | Vinzenz Schumy |
| Succeeded by | Franz Winkler |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 May 1899 |
| Died | 15 March 1956 (aged 56) |
| Political party | Heimatblock (1921–1933) Fatherland Front (1933–1938) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
| Relatives | Starhemberg family |
| Part ofa series on |
| Conservatism in Austria |
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PrinceErnst Rüdiger Camillo von Starhemberg, often known simply asPrince Starhemberg, (10 May 1899 – 15 March 1956) was an Austriannationalist and politician who helped introduce the dictatorial conservativeStändestaat in Austria during theinterwar period. A fierce opponent ofAnschluss, he fled Austria when the Nazis invaded the country and briefly served with theFree French and British forces inWorld War II.
Starhemberg was a leader of theHeimwehr and later of theFatherland Front. He served in theBundesrat between 1920 and 1930, asMinister of Interior in 1930, Vice-Chancellor in 1934 and subsequently Acting Chancellor and Leader of the Front after the murder ofEngelbert Dollfuß, relinquishing the former position after a few days. Disenchanted by the moderate ways of ChancellorKurt Schuschnigg, he was ousted from power in 1936, when the Heimwehr was dissolved, and fled the country after theAnschluss to avoid retaliation from vengefulNazis.
Starhemberg lived in exile in Switzerland and served with the western Allies in the British andFree French Air Forces for a short period at the beginning of World War II, but became disenchanted with them when they entered into an alliance withJoseph Stalin'sSoviet Union, which he viewed as equally evil as the Nazis. He left forArgentina where he spent the next thirteen years in exile. He died during an extended visit to Austria in 1956.
He was the 1,163rdKnight of theOrder of the Golden Fleece, Austrian Order.
Born inEferding,Upper Austria, in 1899, into the illustriousHouse of Starhemberg which hailed from a long line of Austrian nobles and inherited the title ofprince. He was the oldest son ofPrince Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg and PrincessFranziska von Starhemberg, born CountessLarisch von Moennich. He was a collateral relative to Field MarshalCount Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg. InWorld War I he served on the Italian Front and then in 1921 was a member ofFreikorps Oberland.
Seeking election to theBundesrat, the representation of Austrian states (Länder) at age 21, Starhemberg became a proponent ofCatholic andconservative politics and joined theHeimatschutz, quickly becoming a leader of one of its local branches. He also became an admirer ofBenito Mussolini and hisFascist government. In the early 1920s, Starhemberg traveled toGermany and had contacts with the nascentNazi movement.Adolf Hitler actively used Starhemberg's status as an Austrian noble to try to improve the party's image and to attract wealthy and influential backers to its ranks. After seeing the failedBeer Hall Putsch of 1923, Starhemberg became disenchanted with Nazism and returned to Austria. Rejoining the Heimatschutz, Starhemberg became its national leader in 1930 and actively campaigned to turn Austria into a more organized state. Eventually, Starhemberg's movement became powerful enough to influence the government, and as such the chancellor appointed himMinister of the Interior in September 1930. Starhemberg resigned his position shortly thereafter, however, when theHeimatblock (the Heimwehr's political wing) only won eight seats in elections for theNationalrat.
When conservativeEngelbert Dollfuß becameChancellor of Austria in 1932, Starhemberg once again gained governmental power. At Dollfuß's request, Starhemberg worked to combine a number of right-wing groups into a single political entity. He was successful, and the result was the powerfulFatherland Front, which saw its creation in late 1933, followed by theauthoritarianMay Constitution of 1934. For his efforts, Starhemberg became Dollfuß's Vice-Chancellor under the new rule. Upon Dollfuß' assassination two months later during a failed coup by the Nazis, Starhemberg briefly came to head the government and the Front. As PresidentWilhelm Miklas proclaimed Austria was not yet ready for a "Heimwehr Cabinet", called a cabinet meeting in Vienna's Ballhouse surrounded bybarbed wire and government troops to restrain suspicious members of the Heimwehr, who claimed the Nazi coup had been foiled only through their courage, and appointedKurt von Schuschnigg Chancellor instead on 29 July. Starhemberg officially supported the compromise and his office as Vice-Chancellor, being appointed Minister of Public Security as well.[3]
With these positions, Starhemberg was in effect the second most powerful man in Austria. During this period, the regime fought to keep Austria an independent state bysupport from France, the United Kingdom and Fascist Italy and through crackdowns on Austrian Nazis and others favoring a union with Germany. The idea of union with Germany had been popular among Socialists as well as Conservatives, although theTreaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919) which Austria signed at the end of World War I forbade it.
In 1936, Starhemberg's disagreements with Schuschnigg, who, inspired by theappeasement policies of the western democracies, wanted to improve relations with Nazi Germany rather than risk invasion by a far strongerWehrmacht and face possible desertion by Hitler's new-found ally, Mussolini. In March 1936, Starhemberg was forced to relinquish his position as Federal leader of the Fatherland's Front, which was dissolved (as was the Heimwehr) and on 14 May that year he was ousted from the government.
After theAnschluss in March 1938, which saw much of the Front's leadership purged (Schuschnigg himself was detained and shipped toconcentration camp), Starhemberg escaped to Switzerland. In 1940, after the beginning ofWorld War II, Starhemberg joined theFrench Army and later fled to England during theDunkirk evacuation.[4] He went on to serve in the British andFree French air forces. However, Starhemberg became disenchanted with the western Allies when they entered into an alliance withJoseph Stalin'sSoviet Union, which he viewed as equally evil as the Nazis. In 1942, Starhemberg decided to leave the war and traveled toArgentina where he spent the next thirteen years. In 1955, the year ofJuan Perón's (also a fervent admirer of Fascism and Mussolini) ousting by a military coup, Starhemberg returned to Austria.
Starhemberg died inSchruns,Vorarlberg, during an extended visit to Austria in 1956. He was staying at a spa in Schruns. During a walk, he was photographed against his will by Georg Auer, a journalist who worked at a communist newspaper. In response, Starhemberg became enraged and attacked Auer with his walking stick.[5] However, he suddenly suffered a cardiac arrest and died.[6]
Starhemberg married two times:
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| Preceded by | Vice-Chancellor of Austria 1934–1936 | Succeeded by |
