In 1933, Austria shifted toward dictatorship under Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, driven by concerns about rising Nazism in Germany and Austria's own political instability. Fearing a similar takeover by Austrian Nazis, Dollfuss dissolved the Austrian parliament after a procedural issue on March 4, effectively seizing power in a move he described as parliament’s "self-elimination." He implemented strict controls, banning public assemblies, curtailing freedom of the press, and using a wartime emergency law to assume executive and legislative powers. This shift to authoritarian rule marked the end of democratic governance in Austria and the start of an Austrofascist regime inspired by Benito Mussolini's model in Italy.
Dollfuss took further steps to consolidate control by banning all political parties, including the Nazis (DNSAP) in June and the Communists. He also moved to establish a single-party state, forming the "Patriotic Front" (Vaterländische Front) as Austria’s only legal party, and aligned himself closely with Italy to counterbalance Germany's influence. Mussolini even pledged military support for Austrian independence. To Dollfuss, both the Nazi and Communist movements represented a threat to Austria’s independence and its Catholic, conservative values.
Tensions escalated in February 1934 when Austrian government forces clashed with the Social Democrats’ paramilitary group, the Republikanischer Schutzbund, in the Austrian Civil War. The conflict ended swiftly with the government’s victory, leading to the official ban of the Social Democratic Party and tightening of Dollfuss’s grip on power. In May 1934, Dollfuss’s government approved a new authoritarian constitution, reinforcing Austria as a single-party state with strong corporatist control over labor and society. However, his leadership soon faced a serious threat from Austrian Nazis, emboldened by Hitler’s consolidation of power in Germany.
On July 25, 1934, a group of Austrian Nazis attempted a coup and assassinated Dollfuss. His successor, Kurt Schuschnigg, continued Dollfuss’s anti-Nazi policies, resisting calls for unification with Germany. But pressure from Hitler intensified, culminating in March 1938 with Hitler’s demand for a Nazi-friendly government in Austria. Under duress, Schuschnigg resigned, and German forces entered Austria unopposed, leading to the Anschluss and Austria’s incorporation into Nazi Germany.