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
Politics of Austria National opinion polls or consultative referenda are held, unlike referenda, before the National Council passes a law. Its results are not legally binding. As of 2015, there has only been one national opinion poll. The People's Party ("Österreichische Volkspartei", or ÖVP) was found by leaders of the former Christian Social Party in 1945 as a conservative/Centre-right party with loose ties to the Catholic Church. Between 1945 and 1970 it provided the Chancellor of Austria and since 1987 it has continuously been in government, its leader Wolfgang Schüssel being Chancellor between 2000 and 2007. It finds support from farmers, large and