Bauer’s first betrayal of Social Democracy truly began on the night of March 2nd 1927.

Acting under orders from a governing parliamentary coalition of Bourgeois parties, elements of the Austrian armed forces - the Bundesheer - illegally broke into Vienna’s armoury, seizing some relatively unimportant rifle parts.

The significance of this action became clear over the next two months. The break-in provoked a heated debate in parliament whether arms legally stockpiled to protect the Republic should be under the control of Social Democratic authorities. Eventually it was agreed that the weapons should be moved for safe keeping to a secret location known only to the government.

In May, machine guns, rifles, bullets and mortars were moved under cover of darkness to a warehouse in Vienna, never to be seen again by Social Democrat members. Over the following years, similar seizures occurred regularly and by the time insurrection had finally broken out, the working class had lost their ammunition, 710 machine guns and nearly 40,000 modern rifles.

The Social Democratic party was not content with simply giving away the worker’s arms. It also undermined their will to resist.

Earlier that year the Social Democratic party had held a rally through the small town of Schattendorf, as a counter to one already being held by the Fascist Heimwehr militia. During the rally a barman and his son began shouting fascist slogans at the marchers, who threw stones in return and tried to break into his pub. The publican fired a shotgun, killing two marchers - one a child, the other a pensioner.

He was acquitted 6 months later and by July 16th, two days after the trial, word of this injustice had spread around the city. In a spontaneous demonstration, workers downed tools and headed for the centre of Vienna to protest.

A de-facto general strike was called around the city as trams stopped and streetlights went out. A huge mob gathered at first outside the parliament building, later moving down the main street to the city’s high court. Mounted police responded to this by charging the crowd, but they were soon overwhelmed. Protesters charged inside the building and set it alight.

Faced by confrontation the Social Democratic leadership tried hard to avoid any further fighting. Their solution was to dispatch the Schutzbund - not to defend the workers but to restrain them. The armed force of the workers stood between them and the police. As Schutzbund leaders and the Social Democrat Mayor of Vienna urged calm upon the seething mass they were spat and sworn at.

Finally the protesters dissipated, attacking police stations as they returned to the suburbs. By the end of the troubles, 57 workers, 28 bystanders and 4 police were dead, the credibility of the Social Democrats was utterly destroyed and the hopes of the workers crushed. Months later at the Fifth National Schutzbund, conference delegates would discuss the lessons of July.

Their conclusion? They drafted a paper called ‘Directives to be followed in case of spontaneous work stoppages for political reasons’ - effectively a guide to using the workers’ armed forces against a popular uprising.

(Emphasis added.)