1928: Expectations of civil war in Wiener Neustadt

On October 7, 1928, a gathering of the Home Guard and a social democratic workers’ day were held in Wiener Neustadt, which, in the lead-up to it, garnered expectations of an outbreak of a civil war and attracted considerable attention, including by the international media as well. The Home Guard planned the big event in the “red” industrial city as a provocation. The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SDAPÖ) responded by announcing the workers’ day. On October 3, the warring factions and the municipality agreed to temporally and spatially separate the two marches, and to set up a neutral zone in between. A large contingent of military, police and gendarmerie influenced the urban landscape that day. On the morning of October 7, a parade took place of approximately 20,000 Home Guard fighters, consisting mostly of members from Styrian Homeland Security (Heimatschutz). In the afternoon, approximately 35,000 people participated in the workers’ day, among them about 15,000 members of the Protection League (Schutzbund). In the end,  the programme of conflict management was ultimately successful,  highlighting Social Democracy’s aspiration to enforce discipline in its own ranks and to avoid conflict. At the same time, the Home Guard’s display of strength meant the start of an intensive “battle for the streets”.