Kurt Von Schuschnigg (redirected from Kurt Schuschnigg)

Schuschnigg, Kurt Von 

Born Dec. 14,1897, in Riva, Italy; died Nov. 18, 1977, in Innsbruck, Austria. Austrian political and state figure; a leader of the Christian Socialist Party.

Schuschnigg was minister of justice from 1932 to 1934 and minister of education in 1933 and 1934. He became chancellor in 1934 after the assassination of E. Dollfuss. In 1936 the Schuschnigg government and the government of fascist Germany concluded an agreement by which Austria virtually subordinated itself to Germany; Austria officially adopted the reactionary thesis of Pan-Germanism, which viewed Austria as a second German state. In February 1938, Schuschnigg signed an agreement with Hitler that resulted in the appointment of National Socialists to important positions in the Schuschnigg government; the agreement hastened the annexation of Austria by Germany.

After the Anschluss (annexation), which took place in March 1938, Schuschnigg was placed in a concentration camp. Schuschnigg was released in 1945 and emigrated to the USA, where he lived until 1967.