German nationalism in Austria an independent Austria, rejected his merger proposal, Strasser said "Don't talk to me about Austria. There is no Austria ... there was once a living corpse which called itself Austria ... that this Austria collapsed in 1918 was a blessing ... particularly for the German people, who were thereby given the chance to create a Greater Germany." After this, tensions between the Nazis and Austrofascists worsened, culminating in the July Putsch of 1934, when Nazis attempted to overthrow the government. Whilst they managed to assassinate chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, the putsch was quickly crushed by the police, army, and Heimwehren. In
Chancellor of Austria Archchancellor ("Erzkanzler"), later Imperial Chancellor ("Reichserzkanzler"), was created as a high office on the service of the Holy Roman Emperor. The task was usually fulfilled by the Prince-Archbishops of Mainz as Archchancellors of the German lands. In the course of the Imperial reform, the Habsburg Emperor Maximilian I in 1498 attempted to counter the spiritual power of the "Reichserzkanzler" with a more secular position of an Imperial Court Chancellor ("Hofkanzler"), but the two became merged. These were also the times when attempts were made to balance Imperial absolutism by the creation of Imperial Governments ("Reichsregiment"), ultimately a failure. Nevertheless, when