1932: Vote of No-Confidence Against the Dollfuss Government
On August 2, 1932, a motion of no-confidence failed in parliament against the government of Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss with the narrowest of margins. It had been introduced by Greater German delegates and was supported by the Social Democrats. Finally though, a tied vote of 81 to 81 was in favour of the government. The resulting vote of no-confidence was due to a political conflict over the acceptance of a loan with the League of Nations, the so-called Lausanne Loan. In it, among other things, it was agreed that Austria should continue to refrain from forming a customs union with the German Reich.
After the general election in 1930, the government relied on only a minimal majority of 83 votes in parliament. Two MPs, however, opposed the party line after the acceptance of the Lausanne Loan which led to the stalemate. In order to be able to reach a tie at all and to avoid their recall, the government even brought in delegates from the hospital to vote. Moreover, on the same day, former Chancellor Ignaz Seipel had died; he was still an MP of the Christian Socials at the time. His mandate was immediately filled to avoid a recall (“Seipel’s Death Saves the Government’s Life,” was the title of an article in a Vorarlberg regional newspaper).
The stalemate in this vote is also interesting because a similar event was used in March of the following year by Engelbert Dollfuss’ government to eliminate the Parliament and to begin the dismantling of democratic institutions in Austria.
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