Red Vienna and Austro-Marxism: a brief introduction

Abstract

The term “Austro-Marxism” refers to a specific tradition of social-democratic Marxism. The Austrian Social Democratic Party in general, like the German Social Democratic Party, was guided more by the theories of Ferdinand Lassalle than by those of Marx and Engels and produced a specific style of politics and ideology (Rabinbach, 1989, p .11). The ideas of Austro-Marxism developed in the late 1890s and quickly became the dominant ideology of the SDAP [Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Deutschösterreichs], the Social Democratic Workers' Party of German Austria. Karl Renner, Rudolf Hilferding, Otto Bauer and Gustav Eckstein were the founders of these ideas and most of them also became leading figures in the Austro-Marxist movement in the First Republic [Erste Republik, 1918-1933] (Maderthaner, 1995, p.184-185 ).