July Putsch

July Putsch
Part of the interwar period
Police car at Ballhausplatz outside the Chancellery building in Vienna, 25 July 1934
Date 25–30 July 1934 (6 days) Location Federal State of Austria Result Austrian government victory Nazi coup d'etat failed Fatherland Front remains in power Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss is killed Potential German invasion averted
Belligerents
Schutzstaffel (SS) SS Standarte 89 Austrian Nazi Party supporters Austrian Legion Supported by:  Nazi Germany	Federal State of Austria Fatherland Front Federal Army Federal Police Gendarmerie Heimwehr Supported by:  Fascist Italy
Commanders and leaders
Fridolin Glass Otto Wächter Anton Rintelen	Engelbert Dollfuss † Wilhelm Miklas Kurt Schuschnigg Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg Emil Fey
Strength
154 SS (Vienna) thousands (elsewhere)	Entire Federal Army, police, gendarmeries, and paramilitary Heimwehr forces
Casualties and losses
98[1]–140[2] killed 13 executed[2] 4,000 detained[2]	101[1]–104[2] killed
11[1]–13[2] civilians killed

The July Putsch (German: Juliputsch) was a failed coup d'état in Austria against the Fatherland Front government of Engelbert Dollfuss by Austrian Nazis from 25 to 30 July 1934.

The Austrian Legion and German Schutzstaffel soldiers with support from Nazi Germany attempted to depose Dollfuss's Austrofascist regime in favor of a pro-Nazi government under Anton Rintelen of the Christian Social Party. The Nazis attacked the Federal Chancellery and assassinated Dollfuss, but the majority of the Austrian population and the Austrian Army remained loyal to the government. The July Putsch ultimately failed when Adolf Hitler withdrew his support for the coup after Fascist Italy guaranteed to diplomatically support Austria against a German invasion.

The Austrian government eventually suppressed the coup, with over 200 people being killed in six days of fighting. A number of Austrian Nazis and collaborators were charged with treason and executed or imprisoned. Kurt Schuschnigg succeeded Dollfuss as Chancellor of Austria and the Fatherland Front remained in power under the Federal State of Austria until the Anschluss in 1938.