Austria under National Socialism 400,000 Jews – Simple way out; vote National Socialist". The Christian Social Party had ruled from 1932 and Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß had led them from 1932. The Social Democrats were no longer their only threat. The previous chancellor and priest Ignaz Seipel had worked towards an authoritarian state. Seipel based this on the Papal Encyclicals, Rerum novarum (1891) and Quadragesimo anno (1931). Abolition of the parliamentary system was necessary for this. A crisis in the Austrian parliament on the May 4, 1933 gave Dollfuß the opportunity he wanted. Later in May 1933 the Christian Social Union was converted to the
Christian Party of Austria in Lower Austria. In the 2008 parliamentary election, the party received 0.64% of the vote. Rudolf Gehring, the party's chairman, announced he would run for president in the 2010 election. He received 5.44% of the vote for third place, the party's highest vote percentage in a national election to date. The party is oriented mainly on Christian politics, advocating, for example: Christian Party of Austria The Christian Party of Austria (, CPÖ; formerly the Christians – ) is a minor political party in Austria, founded on October 15, 2005. It changed its name under its new chairman Rudolf Gehring in