Social Democratic Party of Austria

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Social Democratic Party of Austria
Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs
AbbreviationSPÖ
ChairwomanPamela Rendi-Wagner
Parliamentary leaderPamela Rendi-Wagner
Managing director [de]
Notable deputy chairpersons
FounderVictor Adler
Founded1 January 1889; 132 years ago (1889-01-01)[1]
HeadquartersLöwelstraße 18 A-1014 Vienna, Austria
Student wingSocialist Students of Austria
Youth wingSocialist Youth Austria
Paramilitary wingRepublikanischer Schutzbund (1923-1934)
Membership (2017)180,000[2]
IdeologySocial democracy[3][4]
Political positionCentre-left[5][6][7]
European affiliationParty of European Socialists
International affiliationProgressive Alliance
Socialist International
European Parliament groupProgressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Colours  Red
Anthem
"Lied der Arbeit"[8]
"Song of Labour"
National Council
40 / 183
Federal Council
19 / 61
Governorships
3 / 9
State cabinets
6 / 9
State diets
137 / 440
European Parliament
5 / 19
Website
spoe.at

The Social Democratic Party of Austria (German: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs [zoˈtsi̯aːldemoˌkraːtɪʃə parˌtaɪ ˈøːstəraɪçs], SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (German: Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) until 1945 and later the Socialist Party of Austria (German: Sozialistische Partei Österreichs) until 1991,[9] is a social-democratic[3][4] and pro-European[10] political party in Austria. Founded in 1889, it is the oldest extant political party in Austria. Along with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), it is one of the country's two traditional major parties.

Since November 2018, the party has been led by Pamela Rendi-Wagner. It is currently the second largest of five parties in the National Council, with 40 of the 183 seats, and won 21.2% of votes cast in the 2019 legislative election. It holds seats in the legislatures of all nine states; of these, it is the largest party in three (Burgenland, Carinthia, and Vienna.) The SPÖ is a member of the Socialist International, Progressive Alliance, and Party of European Socialists. It sits with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament; of Austria's 19 MEPs, five are members of the SPÖ. The party has close ties to the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) and the Austrian Chamber of Labour (AK).

The SPADÖ was the second largest party in the Imperial Council of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the 1890s through 1910s. After the First World War, it briefly governed the First Austrian Republic, but thereafter returned to opposition. The party was banned in 1934 following the Austrian Civil War, and was suppressed throughout Austrofascism and the Nazi period. The party was refounded as the Socialist Party of Austria in 1945 and governed as a junior partner of the ÖVP until 1966. In 1970, the SPÖ became the largest party for the first time in post-war history, and Bruno Kreisky became Chancellor, winning three consecutive majorities (1971, 1975, and 1979). From 1987 to 2000 the SPÖ led a grand coalition with the ÖVP before returning to opposition for the first time in 30 years. The party governed again from 2007 to 2017. Since 2017, the SPÖ have been the primary opposition to the ÖVP governments.

History[]

Main article: History of Social Democracy in Austria

Since its foundation in 1889, the SDAPÖ has been one of the main political forces in Austria. At the start of the First World War, it was the strongest party in parliament. At the ending of that war in 1918, the party leader Karl Renner became Chancellor of the First Republic. The SDAPÖ lost power in 1920, but it retained a strong base of support in the capital Vienna. A period of rising political violence culminated in the banning of the SDAPÖ under the Austrofascist dictatorship (1934–1938).

In the aftermath of the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918, the SDAPÖ broadly supported the Anschluss (the union with German Republic). When Anschluss took place in 1938 at the hands of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany, he brought Austria into the Second World War. In 1945, the party was reconstituted as the Socialist Party of Austria (German: Sozialistische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ) and was led by Adolf Schärf. The SPÖ entered the government of the Second Republic as part of a grand coalition with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) until 1966 and with the Communist Party of Austria until 1949. Renner became the first President of Austria.

From 1971 to 1983, the SPÖ under Bruno Kreisky was the sole governing party. For the following three years, it ruled in coalition with the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), then up to 2000 it was again part of a grand coalition with the ÖVP, with Franz Vranitzky as Chancellor until 1997. In 1991, it reverted to including Democratic in its name, becoming the Social Democratic Party of Austria (German: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs). During this period, the grand coalition combined with the Proporz system, whereby important posts throughout the government were shared out between members of the two main parties, evoked rising discontent. This was a factor in the growing popularity of the FPÖ which came second to the SPÖ in the 1999 Austrian legislative election. The following year, the FPÖ and ÖVP formed a right-wing coalition, displacing the SPÖ from a share in government. While this coalition was still in power, the SPÖ's Heinz Fischer was elected president in the 2004 Austrian presidential election. Following the 2006 Austrian legislative election, another grand coalition was formed between the SPÖ and the ÖVP, lasting until 2017, when the SPÖ went back to the opposition. In the 2019 Austrian legislative election, the SPÖ lost 12 seats and shrunk to 21.2%.

Confronting the past of 1938–1945[]

Concerning the role of the SDAPÖ during Nazi rule from 1938 to 1945, the party started opening its archives and set in a commission to investigate its past conduct. Despite the fact the SDAPÖ had been outlawed and many party members imprisoned under Austrofascism, many SDAPÖ members initially welcomed the Anschluss of Austria into Germany back then and some became members of the Nazi Party. Alfred Gusenbauer issued a declaration promising and supporting a full and open investigation ("Klarheit in der Vergangenheit – Basis für die Zukunft"). In 2005, the report about the so-called "brown spots" (German: braune Flecken) was completed and published. The report talks about SDAPÖ members and leaders who became members of the Nazi Party during German rule after the Anschluss. One example given in the report is the case of Heinrich Gross, who received many honours from the party and even the government in the post-war period. This was despite the fact that he worked as a Nazi doctor in the euthanasia ward Am Spiegelgrund in Vienna, where human experiments on children were performed. Those children with presumptive mental defects were eventually killed, often by lethal injection. Gross was probably himself involved in the experimentations and killings. The Austrian judicial system protected him for a very long time from any kind of prosecution, something that was very typical in the post-war period. He enjoyed wide support from the SPÖ and party leaders for a very long time.

Reflecting the change in attitude towards the past, President Heinz Fischer in a 10 April 2006 interview with the liberal newspaper Der Standard strongly criticised Austria's view on its historical role during Nazi rule. He called the traditional view that Austria was the first victim of Nazi aggression as false. The Moscow Declaration of 1943 by émigrés which called for the independence of Austria from Nazi Germany was a problem since it stated that the war was neither started nor wanted by any Austrian ("Und das ist nicht richtig"), that Austrian Jewish victims were not mentioned in the declaration ("kein Wort für die jüdischen Opfer"), that it took decades for them to receive any kind of compensation and justice from the government and that it was regrettable and inexcusable. His statements were direct criticism of the right-wing government of the coalition ÖVP–FPÖ which rejected compensation to victims and the admission of the co-guilt Austrians carried for crimes committed by them during the Second World War.

Election results by states[]

Burgenland[]

Burgenland is a state that is a traditional stronghold of the SPÖ. Since 1964, the governors of this easternmost state have come from the SPÖ. Burgenland is one of the few states that are ruled by a SPÖ majority in the state assembly (Landtag). In 2000, the SPÖ received 46.6%. In 2005, it received 5.2% more votes and ended up with an absolute majority of 51.8%. After losing it in 2010, the SPÖ was able to regain it in the latest election in January 2020. From 2015 to 2020, the SPÖ in Burgenland was in an unusual coalition with the FPÖ. The Governor (Landeshauptmann) of the Burgenland is .

Carinthia[]

The SPÖ used to be strong in Carinthia as it regularly won the most seats in state elections and the governors used to be Social Democrats until 1989. Since the rise of Jörg Haider and his FPÖ, he successfully pushed the SPÖ out of their leading position. In state elections in 1999, the SPÖ received 32.9%. However, this went up to 38.4% in 2004. Until 2005, the SPÖ was in a coalition with the right-wing FPÖ in Carinthia, where Haider was Governor. This constellation is in question after the chairperson of the Carinthian SPÖ Gabi Schauning decided to resign from her post as Vice-Governor of Carinthia after a fall-out with Haider. Carinthia has a mandatory concentration government, where each party with a certain number of seats in the state parliament automatically participates in the state government. The term coalition refers to the co-operation between parties and not to the participation in the state cabinet.

Lower Austria[]

In Lower Austria, the SPÖ received 29.2% in 1998. It increased its shares by 3.2% in 2003 and ended up with 32.4%. In the 2008 Lower Austrian state election, the SPÖ received 25.5% of the vote.

Salzburg[]

In 2004. the SPÖ won a surprising victory in Salzburg. It was able to increase its share of votes from 32.2% (1999) to 45.3%. For the first time, the conservative ÖVP lost its traditional dominant position. Gabi Burgstaller became the first SPÖ governess (Landeshauptfrau) in the state's history. In March 2009, the party lost 2 seats (from 17 to 15) with a 39.5% of the popular votes, going to the FPÖ (from 3 to 5) with a 13% of the votes. The ÖVP had 14 seats with a 36.5% of the votes and the Grüne 2 seat with a 7.3% . The BZÖ had no seat with a 3.7% of the votes, showing a growing of the right-wing parties.

Styria[]

Styria was traditionally ruled by the ÖVP. In 2000, the Styrian SPÖ ended up with 32.3%. In 2005, the voters shifted towards the left, something that also benefited the KPÖ, the local communist party. The SPÖ won 9.4% more and ended up with 40.7%, defeating the ÖVP which got 38.7% of the votes. Styrian SPÖ Chairman Franz Voves became the state Governor.

Tyrol[]

In Tyrol, the SPÖ receive few votes since the state is a traditional conservative stronghold. In 1999, the Tyrolean SPÖ received 22.8% of all votes. In 2003, it increased its share by 3.1% to 25.9%.

Upper Austria[]

In 2003, the SPÖ was able to raise its voters share in Upper Austria by 11.3% from 27% (1997) to 38.3%. It was in a grand coalition with the ÖVP in the state government as the junior partner, with four out of nine of the state government ministers coming from the SPÖ.

Vienna[]

Vienna was always traditionally the stronghold of the SPÖ. In the 1996 city council (Gemeinderat) elections, the SPÖ lost many votes to the FPÖ. It received around 39% of all votes, the FPÖ around 27.9% and the ÖVP 15.2%. This changed in 2001, when the SPÖ jumped to 46.9% and the FPÖ shrank to 20.1% and again in 2005 when the SPÖ gained to 49% and the FPÖ shrank further to 14.8%. The 2005 results meant that the SPÖ was able to hold the majority of seats in the Vienna city council and rule by itself without coalition partners. The current Governor-Mayor of Vienna is Michael Ludwig.

Vorarlberg[]

Vorarlberg is a traditional stronghold of the conservative ÖVP. Of all the Austrian states, the SPÖ receives the fewest votes in this westernmost state. In 1999, the SPÖ received 12.9%, but it was able to raise its share of votes in 2004 by 3.9% and ended up with 16.8%.

Chairpersons since 1945[]

Main article: List of chairpersons of the SPÖ and SDAPÖ

The chart below shows a timeline of the social-democratic chairpersons and the Chancellors of Austria since 1945. The left bar shows all the chairpersons (Bundesparteivorsitzende, abbreviated as CP) of the SPÖ, and the right bar shows the corresponding make-up of the Austrian government at that time. The red (SPÖ) and black (ÖVP) colours correspond to which party led the federal government (Bundesregierung, abbreviated as Govern.). The last names of the respective chancellors are shown, with the Roman numeral standing for the cabinets.

Second Kurz governmentBierlein governmentFirst Kurz governmentKern governmentSecond Faymann governmentFirst Faymann governmentGusenbauer governmentSecond Schüssel governmentWolfgang SchüsselViktor KlimaFranz VranitzkyFred SinowatzBruno KreiskyJosef KlausAlfons GorbachJulius RaabLeopold FiglKarl RennerPamela Rendi-WagnerChristian KernWerner FaymannAlfred GusenbauerViktor KlimaFranz VranitzkyFred SinowatzBruno KreiskyBruno PittermannAdolf Schärf

Select list of other SPÖ politicians[]

  • , journalist and Member of Parliament
  • , head of the parliamentary club (Klubobmann)
  • Johanna Dohnal, the first minister for women's affairs during the government of Bruno Kreisky
  • Christoph Matznetter, budget and financial matters spokesman in the National Council
  • Barbara Prammer, first female

Minority factions[]

Some groups within the SPÖ such as Der Funke (The Spark) are Marxist and proponents of a radical strain of democratic socialism.[citation needed] SJ Austria, a youth organisation maintaining close relations with the party, is generally perceived of as being more towards the left-wing than the SPÖ itself.[citation needed]

Election results[]

Imperial Council[]

Election Votes % Seats +/– Government
1891 3,848 1.2 (#12)
0 / 353
 Steady Extra-parliamentary
1897 245,001 23.1 (#2)
14 / 425
 Increase 14 Opposition
1900–1901 251,652 23.3 (#2)
12 / 425
 Decrease 2 Opposition
1907 513,219 11.1 (#2)
50 / 516
 Increase 38 Opposition
1911 542,549 11.9 (#2)
46 / 516
 Decrease 4 Opposition

Constituent National Assembly[]

Election Votes % Seats +/– Government
1919 1,211,814 40.8 (#1)
72 / 170
 Increase 72 SPÖ–CS majority

National Council[]

Election Votes % Seats +/– Government
1920 1,072,709 36.0 (#2)
69 / 183
 Decrease 3 Opposition
1923 1,311,870 39.6 (#2)
68 / 165
 Decrease 1 Opposition
1927 1,539,635 43.3 (#2)
71 / 165
 Increase 3 Opposition
1930 1,517,146 41.1 (#1)
72 / 165
 Increase 1 Opposition
1945 1,434,898 44.6 (#2)
76 / 165
 Increase 4 ÖVP–SPÖ–KPÖ majority
1949 1,623,524 38.7 (#2)
67 / 165
 Decrease 9 ÖVP–SPÖ majority
1953 1,818,517 42.1 (#1)
73 / 165
 Increase 6 ÖVP–SPÖ majority
1956 1,873,295 43.0 (#2)
74 / 165
 Increase 1 ÖVP–SPÖ majority
1959 1,953,935 44.8 (#1)
78 / 165
 Increase 4 ÖVP–SPÖ majority
1962 1,960,685 44.0 (#2)
76 / 165
 Decrease 2 ÖVP–SPÖ majority
1966 1,928,985 42.6 (#2)
74 / 165
 Decrease 2 Opposition
1970 2,221,981 48.4 (#1)
81 / 165
 Increase 7 SPÖ minority
1971 2,280,168 50.0 (#1)
93 / 183
 Increase 12 SPÖ majority
1975 2,326,201 50.1 (#1)
93 / 183
 Steady SPÖ majority
1979 2,413,226 51.0 (#1)
95 / 183
 Increase 2 SPÖ majority
1983 2,312,529 47.6 (#1)
90 / 183
 Decrease 5 SPÖ–FPÖ majority
1986 2,092,024 43.1 (#1)
80 / 183
 Decrease 10 SPÖ–ÖVP majority
1990 2,012,787 42.8 (#1)
80 / 183
 Steady SPÖ–ÖVP majority
1994 1,617,804 34.9 (#1)
65 / 183
 Decrease 15 SPÖ–ÖVP majority
1995 1,843,474 38.1 (#1)
71 / 183
 Increase 6 SPÖ–ÖVP majority
1999 1,532,448 33.2 (#1)
65 / 183
 Decrease 6 Opposition
2002 1,792,499 36.5 (#2)
69 / 183
 Increase 4 Opposition
2006 1,663,986 35.3 (#1)
68 / 183
 Decrease 1 SPÖ–ÖVP majority
2008 1,430,206 29.3 (#1)
57 / 183
 Decrease 9 SPÖ–ÖVP majority
2013 1,258,605 26.8 (#1)
52 / 183
 Decrease 5 SPÖ–ÖVP majority
2017 1,351,918 26.9 (#2)
52 / 183
 Steady Opposition
2019 1,011,868 21.2 (#2)
40 / 183
 Decrease 12 Opposition

Presidency[]

Election Candidate First round result Second round result
Votes % Result Votes % Result
1951 Theodor Körner 1,682,881 39.1 Runner-up 2,178,631 52.1 Won
1957 Adolf Schärf 2,258,255 51.1 Won
1963 Adolf Schärf 2,473,349 55.4 Won
1965 Franz Jonas 2,324,436 50.7 Won
1971 Franz Jonas 2,487,239 52.8 Won
1974 Rudolf Kirchschläger 2,392,367 51.7 Won
1980 Rudolf Kirchschläger 3,538,748 79.9 Won
1986 Kurt Steyrer 2,061,104 43.7 Runner-up 2,107,023 46.1 Lost
1992 Rudolf Streicher 1,888,599 40.7 Runner-up 1,915,380 41.1 Lost
1998 No candidate
2004 Heinz Fischer 2,166,690 52.4 Won
2010 Heinz Fischer 2,508,373 79.3 Won
2016 Rudolf Hundstorfer 482,790 11.3 4th place

European Parliament[]

Election Votes % Seats +/–
1996 1,105,910 29.2 (#2)
6 / 21
1999 888,338 31.7 (#1)
7 / 21
 Increase 1
2004 833,517 33.3 (#1)
7 / 18
 Steady
2009 680,041 23.7 (#2)
4 / 17
 Decrease 3
2014 680,180 24.1 (#2)
5 / 18
 Increase 1
2019 903,151 23.9 (#2)
5 / 18
 Steady

State Parliaments[]

State Year Votes % Seats ± Government
Burgenland 2020 92,633 49.9 (#1)
19 / 36
 Increase 4 SPÖ majority
Carinthia 2018 140,994 47.9 (#1)
18 / 36
 Increase 4 SPÖ–ÖVP
Lower Austria 2018 217,289 23.9 (#2)
13 / 56
 Steady 0 ÖVP–SPÖ–FPÖ
Salzburg 2018 50,175 20.0 (#2)
8 / 36
 Decrease 1 Opposition
Styria 2019 138,572 23.0 (#2)
12 / 48
 Decrease 3 ÖVP–SPÖ
Tyrol 2018 55,223 17.2 (#2)
6 / 36
 Increase 1 Opposition
Upper Austria 2015 159,753 18.4 (#3)
11 / 56
 Decrease 3 ÖVP–FPÖ–SPÖ–Grüne
Vienna 2020 301,967 41.6 (#1)
46 / 100
 Increase 2 SPÖ–NEOS
Vorarlberg 2019 15,635 9.5 (#4)
4 / 36
 Increase 1 Opposition

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs". ParlGov Database. Holger Döring and Philip Manow. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  2. ^ "Veränderte Zeiten" [Changed times]. ORF. 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "Austria". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Dimitri Almeida (27 April 2012). The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus. CRC Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-136-34039-0. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  5. ^ Connolly, Kate; Oltermann, Philip; Henley, Jon (23 May 2016). "Austria elects Green candidate as president in narrow defeat for far right". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  6. ^ "The Latest: Election tally shows Austria turning right". The Washington Times. Associated Press. 15 October 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  7. ^ Oliphant, Roland; Csekö, Balazs (5 December 2016). "Austrian far-right defiant as Freedom Party claims 'pole position' for general election: 'Our time comes'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  8. ^ Hochman, Erin R. (2016). Imagining a Greater Germany: Republican Nationalism and the Idea of Anschluss. Cornell University Press. p. 115. ISBN 9781501706066.
  9. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Austria: Transport and telecommunications - history - geography". Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  10. ^ "SPOE Partei Programm" (PDF) (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2012. (458 KiB) Party platform, see articles I.(1) and III.7.(1): "strive for a society that overcomes class antagonisms", "only the advancement of political to economic, and therefore social, democracy establishes the precondition for the realization of our basic principles".[dead link]

Literature[]

  • Gordon Brook-Shepherd. The Austrians. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. London, 1995. ISBN 3-552-04876-6.
  • Caspar Einem, Wolfgang Neugebauer, Andreas Schwarz. Der Wille zum aufrechten Gang. Czernin Verlag, Vienna, 2005. ISBN 3-7076-0196-X (discussion on book is available online on hagalil.com).
  • Maria Mesner (Ed.). Entnazifizierung zwischen politischem Anspruch, Parteienkonkurrenz und Kaltem Krieg: Das Beispiel der SPÖ. Oldenbourg Verlag, Vienna, 2005. ISBN 3-486-57815-4.
  • Bruno Kreisky, Matthew Paul Berg (Translator), Jill Lewis (Ed.).The Struggle for a Democratic Austria: Bruno Kreisky on Peace and Social Justice. Berghahn Books, New York, 2000. ISBN 1-57181-155-9.
  • Barbara Kaindl-Widhalm. Demokraten wider Willen? Autoritäre Tendenzen und Antisemitismus in der 2. Republik. Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik, Vienna, 1990.
  • Norbert Leser: Zwischen Reformismus und Bolschewismus. Der Austromarxismus in Theorie und Praxis, 1968.
  • Wolfgang Neugebauer. Widerstand und Opposition, in: NS-Herrschaft in Österreich. öbv und hpt, Vienna, 2000. ISBN 3-209-03179-7.
  • Peter Pelinka. Eine kurze Geschichte der SPÖ. Ereignisse, Persönlichkeiten, Jahreszahlen. Ueberreuter, Vienna, 2005. ISBN 3-8000-7113-4.

External links[]

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