Julius Raab (29 November 1891 – 8 January 1964) was a conservative

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, who served as Federal

Chancellor of Austria The chancellor of the Republic of Austria () is the head of government of the Republic of Austria. The position corresponds to that of Prime Minister in several other parliamentary democracies. Current officeholder is Karl Nehammer of the A ...

from 1953 to 1961. Raab steered Allied-occupied Austria to independence, when he negotiated and signed the Austrian State Treaty in 1955. In internal politics Raab stood for a pragmatic "social partnership" and the "

Grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there ar ...

" of Austrian Conservatives and Social Democrats.

Biography

Raab was born into a middle-class Catholic family in

Sankt Pölten Sankt Pölten (; Central Bavarian: ''St. Pödn''), mostly abbreviated to the official name St. Pölten, is the capital and largest city of the State of Lower Austria in northeast Austria, with 55,538 inhabitants as of 1 January 2020. St. Pölte ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt ...

, the son of a master builder. He attended a Catholic high school and in 1911 enrolled at the

Vienna University of Technology TU Wien (TUW; german: Technische Universität Wien; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recogn ...

to study

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

. He was drafted into the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

as a pioneer officer before graduation and fought on the Russian and Italian fronts of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. After the defeat of

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

Raab returned to the university and engaged in politics. On 14 January 1923, Raab married Harmine Haumer. The death of his father and the beginning of his political career in the

First Austrian Republic The First Austrian Republic (german: Erste Österreichische Republik), officially the Republic of Austria, was created after the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 September 1919—the settlement after the end of World War I w ...

compelled Raab to drop out of the university in 1925. From 1927 to 1934 he was a member of the National Council parliament as a Lower Austrian deputy of the Christian Social Party. Backed by Chancellor Ignaz Seipel, he was also active in the ''

Heimwehr The Heimwehr (, ) or Heimatschutz (, ) was a nationalist, initially paramilitary group operating in Austria during the 1920s and 1930s that was similar in methods, organization, and ideology to the Freikorps in Germany. It was opposed to parlia ...

'' paramilitary arm of right-wing political forces, and was appointed chief for Lower Austria in 1928. However, his attempts to bind the paramilitary forces to the Christian Social Party ultimately failed. In 1932 he joined the Catholic ''

Ostmärkische Sturmscharen The Ostmärkische Sturmscharen (; ' Eastern March Stormtroopers') was a right-wing paramilitary group in Austria, founded on 7 December 1930. Recruited from the Katholische Jugend ( Catholic Youth), later from journeymen and teacher organisation ...

'' forces led by his party fellows

Kurt Schuschnigg Kurt Alois Josef Johann von Schuschnigg (; 14 December 1897 – 18 November 1977) was an Austrian Fatherland Front politician who was the Chancellor of the Federal State of Austria from the 1934 assassination of his predecessor Engelbert Dollfu ...

and

Leopold Figl Leopold Figl (2 October 1902 – 9 May 1965) was an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (Christian Democrats) and the first Federal Chancellor after World War II. He was also the youngest Federal Chancellor of Austria after the wa ...

. In 1933 Raab joined the Fatherland's Front, the newly established right-wing coalition led by Chancellor

Engelbert Dollfuss Engelbert Dollfuß (alternatively: ''Dolfuss'', ; 4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian clerical fascist politician who served as Chancellor of Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and Agriculture, he ...

. During the

austrofascist The Federal State of Austria ( de-AT, Bundesstaat Österreich; colloquially known as the , "Corporate State") was a continuation of the First Austrian Republic between 1934 and 1938 when it was a one-party state led by the clerical fascist Fa ...

period of 1934–1938 Raab progressed through the ranks of the Corporate State, and was appointed Minister of Commerce by Chancellor Schuschnigg just four weeks before the 1938 ''

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the Nazi Germany, German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Ger ...

'' to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

.Wilsford, p. 378. Raab was ousted after the ''Anschluss'' but, unlike many other Austrian political leaders, escaped death or imprisonment through the help of the Lower Austrian Nazi ''Gauleiter'' Hugo Jury, whom he knew personally. He was never involved in the Austrian resistance but kept in touch with the old Christian Democrat elite and supported his fellow Leopold Figl after his release from imprisonment. In April 1945, Raab was made a member of

Karl Renner Karl Renner (14 December 1870 – 31 December 1950) was an Austrian politician and jurist of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria. He is often referred to as the "Father of the Republic" because he led the first government of German- ...

's provisional government, formed in the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

zone of occupation in Austria. Raab co-founded the conservative

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is curr ...

(ÖVP), which denounced the dark legacy of the 1930s, and assumed leadership of ÖVP parliamentary group after the legislative elections held in November 1945. However, he represented the austrofascist forces of the past that were unacceptable to the Soviets,Wollinetz, p. 94. and for a while was "relegated to the back seat".Shell, p. 168. From 1947, he expanded his influence through presidency in the

Austrian Federal Economic Chamber The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber ( de: ''Wirtschaftskammer Österreich'' or WKO) functions as the federal parent organization for the nine State Chambers and 110 trade associations for different industries within Austria's system of econom ...

, the institution tasked with managing social partnership of the government, the political parties, the entrepreneurs and the employees' trade unions. He clearly favored a

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...

and minimal government regulation of the economy. On the other hand, Raab also held talks with former Austrian Nazi officials like Wilhelm Höttl and Taras Borodajkewycz on their support for ÖVP politics. Raab succeeded Leopold Figl as ÖVP party chairman in 1951 and as Federal Chancellor in 1953. Despite clearly Western attitudes, Raab established excellent relations with post-

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Soviet Union. In February 1955

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov. ; (;. 9 March O. S. 25 February">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 25 February1890 – 8 November 1986) was a Russian politician and diplomat, an Old Bol ...

proposed resuming the talks on Austrian independence. On 12 April 1955 Raab, Foreign Minister Leopold Figl and State Secretary

Bruno Kreisky Bruno Kreisky (; 22 January 1911 – 29 July 1990) was an Austrian social democratic politician who served as Foreign Minister from 1959 to 1966 and as Chancellor from 1970 to 1983. Aged 72 at the end of his chancellorship, he was the oldest ...

arrived in Moscow for the negotiations that paved the way to the Austrian State Treaty concluded in Vienna on 15 May. Austria declared neutrality, as did all individual '' Bundesländer''. The success of 1955 marked the peak of ÖVP influence, accompanied by a strong economic revival (''

Wirtschaftswunder The ''Wirtschaftswunder'' (, "economic miracle"), also known as the Miracle on the Rhine, was the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II (adopting an ordoliberalism-based social mar ...

'') and

full employment Full employment is a situation in which there is no cyclical or deficient-demand unemployment. Full employment does not entail the disappearance of all unemployment, as other kinds of unemployment, namely structural and frictional, may remain. Fo ...

. The party won 46% of the popular vote in the

1956 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1956. Africa * 1956 Gold Coast legislative election * 1956 Italian Somaliland parliamentary election * 1956–1957 Kenyan legislative election * 1956 Nyasaland general election Asia * 1956 Burmese gene ...

, Raab retained his seat as Federal Chancellor. Despite criticism within the party, Raab strongly favored a tight coalition with the Social Democratic Party under Adolf Schärf. In 1957 he and trade union chief Johann Bohm co-founded the Joint Commission on Wages and Prices, the

social partnership Social partnership ( ga, Pairtíocht sóisialta) is the term used for the tripartite, triennial national pay agreements reached in Ireland. The process was initiated in 1987, following a period of high inflation and weak economic growth which le ...

institution that became a cornerstone of Austrian

corporatism Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. Th ...

.Wilsford, p. 379. In 1957 Raab suffered a light stroke. By the end of the 1950s, his own career and his party's influence declined. In 1961 he passed ÖVP leadership to Alfons Gorbach, who also succeeded him as Federal Chancellor on 11 April. On 28 April 1963 Raab competed in the

presidential President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

elections but lost to incumbent Adolf Schärf. His health rapidly deteriorated, and he died, aged 72, in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

on 8 January 1964.

Notes

References

* Shell, Kurt Leo (1962).
The transformation of Austrian socialism
'. SUNY Press. . * Wilsford, David (1995).
Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary
'. Greenwood Publishing Group. . * Wollinetz, Steven (1988).
Parties and party systems in liberal democracies
'.

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa plc, a United Ki ...

. .

External links

Archive entries with and about Julius Raab
in the online archive of the Österreichische Mediathek * * *
www.datum.at/
Klemens Kaps: ''„Baumeister des Faschismus“'', critical article in the paper, ''Datum''. (2005/09)
www.jrs.at
Julius-Raab-Stiftung for Research and Education , - , border="1" cellpadding="10" width="30%" align="center" , Preceded by:

, width="40%" align="center" ,

1953–1961 , width="30%" align="center" , Succeeded by:
Alfons Gorbach , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Raab, Julius 1891 births 1964 deaths 20th-century Chancellors of Austria Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Austrian Roman Catholics Chancellors of Austria Austrian People's Party politicians People from Sankt Pölten Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery Candidates for President of Austria Austrofascists Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Biography

Notes

References

Further reading

External links