Kurt Schuschnigg

Chancellor of Austria

Kurt Alois Josef Johann Edler von Schuschnigg 14 December 1897 Reiff am Gartsee, County of Tyrol, Austria-Hungary

18 November 1977(1977-11-18) (79) Mutters, Tyrol, Austria

29 July 1934 – 11 March 1938

Chancellor of Austria Kurt SchuschniggChancellor of AustriaIn office 29 July 1934 – 11 March 1938PresidentWilhelm MiklasDeputyErnst Rüdiger Starhemberg Eduard Baar-Baarenfels Ludwig Hülgerth Edmund Glaise-HorstenauPreceded by Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg (acting)Succeeded by Arthur Seyss-InquartIn office 25 July 1934 – 26 July 1934 ActingPresidentWilhelm MiklasDeputyErnst Rüdiger StarhembergPreceded by Engelbert DollfussSucceeded by Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg (acting)Minister of Foreign AffairsIn office 14 May 1936 – 11 July 1936ChancellorHimselfPreceded by Egon Berger-WaldeneggSucceeded by Guido SchmidtMinister of DefenseIn office 29 July 1934 – 11 March 1938Preceded by Ernst Rüdiger StarhembergSucceeded by Arthur Seyss-InquartMinisters of EducationIn office 24 May 1933 – 14 May 1936Preceded by Anton RintelenSucceeded by Hans Pernter Personal detailsBornKurt Alois Josef Johann Edler von Schuschnigg (1897-12-14 ) 14 December 1897 Reiff am Gartsee, County of Tyrol, Austria-HungaryDied18 November 1977(1977-11-18) (aged 79) Mutters, Tyrol, AustriaPolitical partyFatherland Front (1933–1938)Other political affiliationsChristian Social Party (1927–1933)Spouse(s)Herma Masera ​ ​(m. 1926; died 1935)​ Vera Fugger von Babenhausen ​ ​(m. 1938; died 1959)​ChildrenKurt von Schuschnigg Jr. Maria Dolores Edle von SchuschniggParentsArtur von Schuschnigg Anna Josefa Amalia WopfnerAlma materUniversity of Freiburg Innsbruck UniversityMilitary serviceAllegiance  Austro-Hungarian EmpireBranch/service  Austro-Hungarian ArmyYears of service1915–1919Battles/warsWorld War I Italian Front (POW) Battles of the Isonzo Kurt Alois Josef Johann Schuschnigg (German: ; 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 Dollfuss until the 1938 Anschluss with Nazi Germany. Although Schuschnigg accepted that Austria was a "German state" and that Austrians were Germans, he was strongly opposed to Adolf Hitler's goal to absorb Austria into the Third Reich and wished for it to remain independent. When Schuschnigg's efforts to keep Austria independent had failed, he resigned his office. After the Anschluss he was arrested, kept in solitary confinement and eventually interned in various concentration camps. He was liberated in 1945 by the advancing United States Army and spent most of the rest of his life as part of the academia in the United States.