Starhemberg, Ernst Rüdiger, prince von

Starhemberg, Ernst Rüdiger, prince von

(born May 10, 1899, Eferding, Austria—died March 15, 1956, Schruns) Austrian politician. In 1930 he became leader of the fascist Austrian Heimwehr, a paramilitary defense force, and in 1932 he helped Engelbert Dollfuss form the right-wing coalition called the Fatherland Front. Appointed vice chancellor in 1934, he sought to maintain a fascist Austrian state that was independent of Nazi Germany. Differences with Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg resulted in Starhemberg's expulsion from the government (May 1936). He fled Austria after the Anschluss (1938). Following a brief period of service early in World War II in the British and Free French air forces, he lived in Argentina (1942–55) before returning to Austria.