This chapter analyses how Austria fell victim to increasing civil conflict that encompassed clashes between left and right, the rise of militias that were independent of the state and a realignment of the political right that saw the take-off of the Nazi Party in Austria. It shows how Christian Socials used political institutions to stage what was, in effect, a coup, taking control of state institutions for their own end. It demonstrates how attempts were made to rein in opposition, and then concludes with efforts made by Christian Social Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, openly supported by the clergy of Vienna, to refashion Austria along the lines of a corporate state, rather than a democracy, after a bloody Nazi coup failed to murder him.