Leopold Wagner (1927, Klagenfurt – 26 September 2008) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPÖ), serving as governor (''

Landeshauptmann The Landeshauptmann (if male) or Landeshauptfrau (if female) (, "state captain", plural ''Landeshauptleute,'' ) is the chairman of a state government and the supreme official of an Austrian state and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Ty ...

'') of

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

from 1974 to 1988. Wagner was governor of Carinthia for three consecutive terms, with an absolute majority in the state parliament each time, making him the only Carinthian governor with such a lengthy period of unchallenged rule. Along with his deputies, Erwin Frühbauer and Rudolf Gallob, he modernized the state considerably, and was considered a leading figure in its post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

politics. He was controversial within his generally left-wing party, however, for his

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

tone. He replaced Hans Sima as governor amidst a wave of popular nostalgia for

pan-German Pan-Germanism ( or '), also occasionally known as Pan-Germanicism, is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanism seeks to unify all ethnic Germans, German-speaking people, and possibly also non-German Germanic peoples – into a sin ...

and nationalist sentiment, which he took advantage of by speaking unapologetically of his former high-ranking position in the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...

, and inveighing against Carinthia's Slovene minority. He stepped down as governor in 1988, after being shot and seriously wounded in late 1987 at his 40th high school reunion, during a dispute with a former classmate. His populist nationalism is seen as a forerunner for that of

Jörg Haider Jörg Haider (; 26 January 1950 – 11 October 2008) was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Au ...

, who took over as governor of Carinthia a year later, in 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Leopold 1927 births 2008 deaths Politicians from Klagenfurt Governors of Carinthia Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Hitler Youth members