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
Socialist League (UK, 1932) the merger but remained for a time with the League; Ernest Bevin disassociated himself from the new organisation and its activities. J. T. Murphy was expelled from the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1932 and went on to join the Socialist League. By 1934 he was National Secretary. Unlike its two predecessors, the League gained affiliation to the Labour Party. Its members included six Labour Members of Parliament: Clement Attlee, Seymour Cocks, Stafford Cripps, David Kirkwood, Neil Maclean and Alfred Salter. It gained great success at the 1932 Labour Party conference, winning votes committing the party to socialist legislation