Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg
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- This article is about the 20th century conservative politican. For the 17th century Austrian Fieldmarshal see Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg.
Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg (May 10, 1899, Eferding -March 15, 1956, Schruns; Ernst Rüdiger Fürst von Starhemberg until the 1919 abolition of nobility) was an Austrian Fascist and politician prior to World War II.
Born in Eferding, Upper Austria, in 1899, von Starhemberg hailed from a long line of Austrian nobles and inherited the title of prince. He was the oldest son of Princess Franziska von Starhemberg and Prince Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg. He was a colleteral relative to Field Marshal Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg. In World War I he served on the Italian Front and in 1921 was a member of Freikorps "Oberland". As a young man, he became a proponent of right wing and authoritarian politics and joined the Heimatschutz, quickly becoming a leader of one of its local branches. He also became an admirer of Benito Mussolini and his Fascist government. In the early 1920s, Starhemberg traveled to Germany and had contacts with the nascent National Socialist German Workers Party. Adolf Hitler actively used Starhemberg’s status as an Austrian noble to try to improve the party’s image and to attract wealthy, influential, and respectable backers to its ranks. After seeing the failed Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, Starhemberg became disgusted with Nazism and returned to Austria. Rejoining the Heimatschutz, Starhemberg became its national leader in 1930 and actively campaigned to turn Austria into a more organized state. Eventually, Starhemberg’s movement became powerful enough to influence the government, and as such the chancellor appointed him Minister of the Interior in September of 1930. Starhemberg resigned his position shortly thereafter, however, when the Heimwehr’s political wing did poorly in Parliamentary elections. When conservative Engelbert Dollfuß became Chancellor of Austria in 1932, Starhemberg once again gained governmental power. At Dollfuß’s request, Starhemberg worked to combine a number of right wing groups into a single political entity. He was successful, and the result was the powerful Fatherland Front. For his efforts, Starhemberg became Dollfuß’s vice chancellor in May of 1934. When Dollfuß was assassinated two months later during ai failed coup by the Mazis, Starhemberg became leader of the Fatherland Front. He also retained his position as vice chancellor under Kurt Schuschnigg, and became Minister of State Security as well. With these positions, Starhemberg was in effect the second most powerful man in Austria. During this time period, he fought to keep Austria an independent state and fervently opposed the Austrian Nazi Party and their support of a union with Germany. In 1936, however, he was forced out of power by Schuschnigg, who disagreed with Starhemberg’s radical opposition to the Nazis. After Austria was invaded by Germany in 1938, Starhemberg fled the country and served in the British and Free French air forces for a short period of time at the beginning of World War II. In 1942 he traveled to Argentina and lived there until 1955, after which time he returned to Austria to die. He died in Schruns in 1956.
[edit] Notes
Regarding personal names: Fürst is a title, translated as Prince, not a first or middle name. The female form is Fürstin.
| Preceded by Emil Fey |
Vice Chancellor of Austria 1934–1936 |
Succeeded by Eduard Baar-Baarenfels |
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