Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss was assassinated in the Chancellery here today by a band of Nazi putschists, whose unrelenting foe he was, and potentially one of the most explosive situations since the end of World War was thereby precipitated.
The killers, who gained entry wearing the uniforms of a Vienna regiment, took possession of the Chancellery and made prisoners of members of the Cabinet, including Emil Fey, former Vice Chancellor.
Late tonight, by agreement, the ministers were released and the Nazis departed for Passau, just across the Austro-German border. Martial law was proclaimed and the putsch was believed crushed.
(Premier Mussolini was reported in dispatches from Rome to have ordered all Italian military forces to hold themselves in readiness for any eventuality. Troops were said to be massed at the border, prepared to cross.
(It was reported also that Great Britain has decided upon diplomatic intervention under a recent declaration, guaranteeing the independence of Austria, entered into by France, Italy, Germany and Britain. The London government will demand of the Reich what it proposes to do, it was asserted.)
Dr. Kurt Schuschnigg, Minister of Justice and Education, took over control of the government after the assassination, according to well-informed sources. Shortly be-
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
