Otto Bauer

Otto Bauer
Bauer in 1919
Foreign Minister of Austria
In office 21 November 1918 – 26 July 1919
Chancellor	Karl Renner
Preceded by	Victor Adler
Succeeded by	Karl Renner
Personal details
Born	(1881-09-05)5 September 1881 Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died	4 July 1938(1938-07-04) (aged 56) Paris, France
Political party	Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (SDAP)
Alma mater	University of Vienna
Military service
Branch/service	Austro-Hungarian Army (1902–1918)
Rank	First lieutenant (Reserve)

Otto Bauer (5 September 1881 – 4 July 1938) was one of the founders and leading thinkers of the left-socialist Austromarxists who sought a middle ground between social democracy and revolutionary socialism. He was a member of the Austrian Parliament from 1907 to 1934, deputy party leader of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) from 1918 to 1934, and Foreign Minister of the Republic of German-Austria in 1918 and 1919. In the latter position he worked unsuccessfully to bring about the unification of Austria and the Weimar Republic. His opposition to the SDAP joining coalition governments after it lost its leading position in Parliament in 1920 and his practice of advising the party to wait for the proper historical circumstances before taking action were criticized by some for facilitating Austria's move from democracy to fascism in the 1930s. When the SDAP was outlawed by Austrofascist Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg in 1934, Bauer went into exile where he continued to work for Austrian socialism until his death.