Republikanischer Schutzbund

The Republikanischer Schutzbund (German: [ʁepubliˈkaːnɪʃɐ ˈʃʊtsˌbʊnt] ^ⓘ, "Republican Protection League") was an Austrian paramilitary organisation established in 1923 by the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria to defend the Austrian Republic in the face of rising political radicalisation after World War I. The Schutzbund, whose membership peaked at about 100,000 men in 1925, was armed and organised on military lines. In the July Revolt of 1927 it worked with government authorities to try to prevent the spread of violence, but it largely sat out the Pfrimer Putsch in September 1931 because it had failed so quickly.

Under the right-wing authoritarian government of Engelbert Dollfuss, the Schutzbund was banned on 31 March 1933, and the Austrian police began arresting its members and searching for weapons. When they attempted to enter the Social Democrat's headquarters in Linz on 12 February 1934 to look for arms, local Schutzbund members opened fire and sparked the Austrian Civil War. The Schutzbund was quickly defeated by the superior numbers and weaponry of the police and Austrian Army. Many Schutzbund members were arrested and nine men were executed, a number of whom were prominent in the Schutzbund. The Social Democratic Party was banned, and with it the Republikanischer Schutzbund came to an end.