Tyrolean Militarism, Catholicism, and the Heimwehr Movement
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The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Fall 12-1-2017 A Legion of Legacy: Tyrolean Militarism, Catholicism, and the Heimwehr Movement Jason Engle University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Part of the Cultural History Commons, European History Commons, Political History Commons, and the Social History Commons Recommended Citation Engle, Jason, "A Legion of Legacy: Tyrolean Militarism, Catholicism, and the Heimwehr Movement" (2017). Dissertations. 1474. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1474 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A LEGION OF LEGACY: TYROLEAN MILITARISM, CATHOLICISM, AND THE HEIMWEHR MOVEMENT by Jason Christopher Engle A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School, the College of Arts and Letters, and the Department of History at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2017 A LEGION OF LEGACY: TYROLEAN MILITARISM, CATHOLICISM, AND THE HEIMWEHR MOVEMENT by Jason Christopher Engle December 2017 Approved by: ________________________________________________ Dr. Andrew Wiest, Committee Chair Professor, History ________________________________________________ Dr. Brian LaPierre, Committee Member Associate Professor, History ________________________________________________ Dr. Heather Stur, Committee Member Associate Professor, History ________________________________________________ Dr. Günter Bischof, Committee Member Marshall Plan Professor, History, University of New Orleans ________________________________________________ Dr. Graydon A. Tunstall, Committee Member Senior Lecturer, History, University of South Florida ________________________________________________ Dr. Kyle Zelner Chair, Department of History ________________________________________________ Dr. Karen S. Coats Dean of the Graduate School COPYRIGHT BY Jason Christopher Engle 2017 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT A LEGION OF LEGACY: TYROLEAN MILITARISM, CATHOLICISM, AND THE HEIMWEHR MOVEMENT by Jason Christopher Engle December 2017 This study of the origins of the Heimwehr (Home Guard) movement offers insight into the conditions under which such groups gained their following. As such, its story is a valuable one that shows a society groping with the problem of a complex, multi-faceted identity that was, at the same time, wracked with substantial economic privation and politically polarized. The paramilitary Heimwehr movement that began in 1920 was the creation of Austria’s conservative provincial governments. It was intended to preserve the existing social and political order—that of the hegemonic social groups of the Habsburg Monarchy—against the growing threat of Marxist revolution, embodied by the Social Democratic Party. The movement understood itself as the continuity of the centuries-old, volunteer militia tradition and carried on its rituals and adopted many of its values. In post-Habsburg Austria, the Heimwehren sought to defend their homeland not from any army, but from an ideology—Marxism. With numerous sources—foreign and domestic—of financial, material, and military support, the Heimwehr movement was at the epicenter of anti-Marxism in Europe and waged an ideological war against the Austrian Social Democratic Party. The movement’s seemingly negative political agenda that extended beyond its aversion toward Marxism has been depicted by historians as indicative the absence of a iv distinct, overarching sociopolitical outlook. The controversial and misunderstood—even by Heimwehr members themselves—Korneuburg Oath its federal leaders published in May 1930 outlined the agenda of the movement and, when carefully read, reveals the guiding hand of Catholic social thought. The fact that far right circles of Austria’s mainstream conservative parties birthed and reared the Heimwehr movement, differentiated it from the Nazis and Italian fascism, who only later gained mainstream support due to the desperation of the latter. Indeed, with the recent outpouring of populist, xenophobic nationalism in the United States and Europe, the Heimwehr movement in Austria, among other right-wing paramilitary organizations of Europe’s “Fascist Era” serve as useful, cautionary tales for the present political landscape. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are numerous individuals and institutions who have contributed to the successful completion of this project. First, I would like to thank the History Department at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM). The professional development opportunities, encouragement, and funding I received contributed greatly to my intellectual development and growth as an individual. The Department of History’s 2011- 2012 Study Abroad Award enabled me to develop my German language skills at the Acta Lingua Academy in Vienna, Austria. Additionally, I was generously awarded a 2013- 2014 Wayde W. Benson Fellowship, which paid for my travel to Tyrolean Landesarchiv in Innsbruck, Austria and contributed toward offsetting document reproduction costs. At USM I was fortunate to work with great group of people: Colin Colbourn, Rob Thompson, John Fitzmorris, Tim Hemmis, Christian Pinnen, Angela Riotto, Ryan Tickle, Matt McGrew, Denise Carlin, Chad Boykin, Stephanie Ann Seal, and Nancy Nichols, among others, made my time in Hattiesburg a cherished memory. I would like to acknowledge Drs. Kyle Zelner, Michael Neiberg, Jeff Bowersox, Amy Milne-Smith, and Susannah Ural, in particular, for the intellectual guidance, inspiration, professional development, and friendship they offered me throughout my journey. Additionally, I want to thank Drs. Heather Stur and Brian LaPierre for their suggestions to improve future iterations of this project. I would also like to thank Drs. Graydon “Jack” Tunstall and Günter Bischof for bringing their expertise to my committee. Finally, I would to express my gratitude to Dr. Andrew Wiest, whose lap I fell into as an orphaned PhD candidate. His direction and timely words of encouragement helped keep me on track and vi greatly enhanced the clarity of this manuscript. Whatever faults remain in this study, I accept full responsibility. I would also like to recognize Dr. Ronald Bacher at the Tyrolean Landesarchiv for his guidance in helping me navigate the archive’s collections and library holdings. I would also like to thank Wolfgang Ebster for his friendly assistance throughout my time there at the Landesarchiv. I want to also express my thanks to Dr. Gunda Barth-Scalmani at the University of Innsbruck for her warm welcome and inclusion in the academic community there at the University of Innsbruck. Drs. Oswald Überegger at the University of Bozen and Laurence Cole at the University of Salzburg, whose work greatly inspired this project, offered friendly advice and assistance in navigating the particulars of Tyrolean history were invaluable to this dissertation. One becomes a historian out of an intrinsic and unending fascination with the past that they want to understand and to help others understand. For me, that fascination was first enlivened by my middle school history teacher, Jim Arter, and was further stoked from from vacations stops at historic battlefields and sites as a youth—both of which clearly had a profound impact on my life. Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank my parents and mother-in-law for their support of my decision to pursue my doctorate and haul their grandson thirteen hours away. I am most grateful to my wife, Jodie, and our children, Wilhem and Hilde, for their unswerving love, support, patience, inspiration, and repeated sacrifices throughout this long journey. Without their belief in me and commitment to seeing this journey through to its completion, I could have never finished this project—I dedicate this work to them. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .............................................................................................. x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ xi INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER I – AUSTRIA’S LEGACY OF ALPINE CIVIC MILITARISM .................. 28 CHAPTER II – THE HEIMWEHR MOVEMENT AS A TRANSNATIONAL PHENOMENON............................................................................................................... 93 CHAPTER III – CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT AND THE MAKING OF THE HEIMWEHR MOVEMENT .......................................................................................... 153 CHAPTER IV – THE HEIMWEHR: “AN IRRESISTIBLE POPULAR MOVEMENT” ......................................................................................................................................... 221 CHAPTER V – AMBITIOUS OPPORTUNISTS OR INSTRUMENTS OF FOREIGN