Karl Renner
Karl Renner
Austrian Social Democratic leader who signed the Treaty of Saint-Germain and founded the Second Republic in 1945
Born to an ethnic German farming family in Moravia, he studied law in Vienna, joined the Social Democrats and entered the Imperial Council in 1907. An Austromarxist theorist of “personal autonomy” on the national question, he was criticised by Lenin and Stalin. In 1918 he became the first chancellor of German-Austria, leading a grand coalition that introduced the eight-hour day among other reforms, and had to accept the ban on union with Germany and the territorial losses of Saint-Germain. He supported the Anschluss in 1938. In April 1945, at Soviet direction, he formed a provisional government, and that year became president. He died in Vienna in 1950.
Career timeline
- 1896Joined the Social Democratic Workers’ Party of Austria
- 1907–1918Member of the Reichsrat
- 1918–1920Chancellor and foreign minister of German-Austria (Austria)
- 1919Head of the delegation at Saint-Germain
- 1931–1933President of the National Council
- 1945Head of the provisional government; declared independence
- 1945–1950President of Austria