Wilhelm Miklas

president of Austria
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Quick Facts
Born:
Oct. 15, 1872, Krems, Austria
Died:
March 20, 1956, Vienna (aged 83)

Wilhelm Miklas (born Oct. 15, 1872, Krems, Austria—died March 20, 1956, Vienna) was a statesman who served as president of the first Austrian republic (1928–38).

A member of the Christian Social Party, Miklas sat in the Reichsrat (parliament) during the late years of empire (1907–14), and, after 1919, in the Nationalrat (lower house) of the new Austrian republic. He was president of the Nationalrat when he was elected to the federal presidency. Despite the increased powers granted the president by the constitutional revision of 1929, he remained little more than a figurehead, drifting unprotestingly with the rightward, anti-constitutional current of Austrian politics after 1930. When Austria was united with Nazi Germany, in 1938, he was forced to resign from office, and thereafter he retired from public life.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.