The Social Democratic movement in Steyr, Austria, 1927–1934

The social and economic background to politics in Steyr was highly unusual. The town was a working class, social democratic stronghold isolated within an agrarian, conservative region. Moreover, its economy was unstable automobile works, dominated by one single, highly the Steyr-Werke. This thesis i...

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Main Author:	Charles A. Jeffery
Format:	Default Thesis
Published:	1989
Subjects:	Political science not elsewhere classified untagged Political Science not elsewhere classified
Online Access:	https://hdl.handle.net/2134/32101
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id	rr-article-9466985
record_format	Figshare
spelling	rr-article-94669851989-01-01T00:00:00Z The Social Democratic movement in Steyr, Austria, 1927–1934 Charles A. Jeffery (7186826) Political science not elsewhere classified untagged Political Science not elsewhere classified The social and economic background to politics in Steyr was highly unusual. The town was a working class, social democratic stronghold isolated within an agrarian, conservative region. Moreover, its economy was unstable automobile works, dominated by one single, highly the Steyr-Werke. This thesis is concerned with the ways in which this unusual background dominated and defined the nature and development of the local social democratic movement between 1927 and 1934. It argues that this background conditioned the emergence of a distinctive, insular social democratic ethos which encapsulated a moderate, reformist approach to politics based not on ideological considerations, but on practical local experience. Between 1927 and 1929, the Steyr-Werke undertook a massive expansion of production and employment which triggered a local economic boom. The boom in the local economy supported and promoted the social democratic ethos. Conversely, the sudden shutdown of automobile production late in 1929 plunged the local economy into depression and undermined the rationale of the social democratic ethos, which became anachronistic and inconsistent with the new local economic background. However, the unwieldiness of the Social Democratic Party structure and the rigidly bureaucratic mentality of the party leadership precluded effective response to the new local conditions. The inability to respond stimulated the development of an opposition faction within the movement which rejected the authority and policies of the established party leadership, and which mobilised in support of a radically different, quasi-communist political strategy. 1989-01-01T00:00:00Z Text Thesis 2134/32101 https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/The_Social_Democratic_movement_in_Steyr_Austria_1927_1934/9466985 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
institution	Loughborough University
collection	Figshare
topic	Political science not elsewhere classified untagged Political Science not elsewhere classified
spellingShingle	Political science not elsewhere classified untagged Political Science not elsewhere classified Charles A. Jeffery The Social Democratic movement in Steyr, Austria, 1927–1934
description	The social and economic background to politics in Steyr was highly unusual. The town was a working class, social democratic stronghold isolated within an agrarian, conservative region. Moreover, its economy was unstable automobile works, dominated by one single, highly the Steyr-Werke. This thesis is concerned with the ways in which this unusual background dominated and defined the nature and development of the local social democratic movement between 1927 and 1934. It argues that this background conditioned the emergence of a distinctive, insular social democratic ethos which encapsulated a moderate, reformist approach to politics based not on ideological considerations, but on practical local experience. Between 1927 and 1929, the Steyr-Werke undertook a massive expansion of production and employment which triggered a local economic boom. The boom in the local economy supported and promoted the social democratic ethos. Conversely, the sudden shutdown of automobile production late in 1929 plunged the local economy into depression and undermined the rationale of the social democratic ethos, which became anachronistic and inconsistent with the new local economic background. However, the unwieldiness of the Social Democratic Party structure and the rigidly bureaucratic mentality of the party leadership precluded effective response to the new local conditions. The inability to respond stimulated the development of an opposition faction within the movement which rejected the authority and policies of the established party leadership, and which mobilised in support of a radically different, quasi-communist political strategy.
format	Default Thesis
author	Charles A. Jeffery
author_facet	Charles A. Jeffery
author_sort	Charles A. Jeffery (7186826)
title	The Social Democratic movement in Steyr, Austria, 1927–1934
title_short	The Social Democratic movement in Steyr, Austria, 1927–1934
title_full	The Social Democratic movement in Steyr, Austria, 1927–1934
title_fullStr	The Social Democratic movement in Steyr, Austria, 1927–1934
title_full_unstemmed	The Social Democratic movement in Steyr, Austria, 1927–1934
title_sort	social democratic movement in steyr, austria, 1927–1934
publishDate	1989
url	https://hdl.handle.net/2134/32101
_version_	1797372012106088448

The Social Democratic movement in Steyr, Austria, 1927–1934

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