The riots that took place in Vienna in July, 1927, and the unsuccessful strikes that followed them came to be regarded almost immediately as a turning point in the history of Austria's first republic. In a flash, the Social Democratic Party, which had made the best relative showing in the parliamentary elections in April of that year, was thrown on the defensive, while within a few months the governing anti-socialist groups dominated by the Christian Social Party began to gather their forces for a vigorous political offensive. In the forefront of the anti-socialist drive stood the various paramilitary Heimwehren, which had played a leading role in foiling the nationwide strikes in July. Capitalizing on the widespread fear that the socialist leaders were preparing to wage violent class warfare, the Heimwehr leaders rapidly expanded their provincial organizations and used them as militarized pressure groups. They sought to depict the Heimwehr as a popular movement that would save Austria's traditional social order by enabling—or forcing—the “bourgeois” parliamentarians to stand firm against the socialists.
