When Herr Andreas Thaler, Mini ter of Agriculture and Forestry, retired in March, 1931, Dr. Dolifuss took his place, and when the second cabinet of Herr Buresch resigned on May 5, 1982, Dr. Dollfuss was elected to be Federal Chancellor, Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Agriculture and Forestry.
The Government which he controlled was composed of a combine (Agriculturists) party formed from the members.) The Chancellor had only narrow parliamentary majority, in some cases only one vote, which he found extremely hampering. The very democratic post-war Austrian [Constitution also ent itself to parliamentary obstruction. On many occasions, he found that the dificult negotiations which he had to conduct jon his country's behalf at Geneva, jand the numerous home problems, resulting from the ill-effects of the war and the economic crisis. were rendered more complicated by the parliamentary regime.
As a result, Dr. Dolifuss became an enemy of parliamentarism, at Toast in its most democratic sense, These ficulties © combined "with clashes between Nazis and Socialists ed. the Government in March, 1933, to issue an emergency decree forbidding all meetings and demonstra. dons and restricting the freedom of the Press. The Nazi Press attacked the measure as being "the feverish effort of a mandate less government to cling to power which it would not possess. f an election were held."
"Rump" Parliament Dissolved The Chancellor dissolved the "Rump" parliament which met a week later, and subsequently the government was carried out by decree. A further step away from
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