The Communist Party of Austria (Kommunistische Partei Österreichs, KPÖ) is a communist party in Austria. Established in 1918 as the Communist Party of German-Austria (KPDÖ), it is one of the world's oldest communist parties. The KPÖ was banned between 1933 and 1945 under both the Austrofascist regime and the Nazi German administration of Austria after the 1938 Anschluss. The party currently holds two seats in the Styrian and four seats in the Salzburg's Landtag (state parliament), but has not had representation in the National Council (Nationalrat, Austria's federal parliament) since 1959. In the legislative election held on 29 September 2019, it won only 0.7% of the votes (32,736 out of a total of 4,835,469), well below the 4% minimum to obtain seats in the National Council. At the local level, the KPÖ has held the mayorship of Graz, Austria's second largest city, since 2021, and holds over 130 seats on district and municipal councils across the country. It is part of the New European Left Forum (NELF) and the Party of the European Left. The KPÖ was officially established on the 3 November 1918. Due to the Allies' sea blockade during the First World War, there was a supply shortage in Austria, resulting in workers protests. Such actions included strikes such as the 1918 "Jännerstreik". In 1917, concurrent with the Russian October Revolution, the left wing of the workers' movement established the KPÖ. Ruth Fischer, Karl Steinhardt, Franz Koritschoner, and Lucien Laurat were among the co-founders. Attempts to establish a Räterepublik (council republic) in Austria resulted in developments different from those in Germany or Russia, as the Räte were only able to establish themselves in isolated, high-population density areas such as Vienna and the industrial areas of Upper Austria. However, a "Red Guard" (Rote Garde) was formed and soon integrated with the Volkswehr (People's Resistance Army). On 12 November 1918, the party attempted a coup d'état, which was not professionally organised and not authorised by the Soviet government.
Pierino Lestuzzi, Clotaire Michel, Lorenzo Diana
Anton Schleiss, Mário Jorge Rodrigues Pereira Da Franca, Carmelo Juez Jiménez, Matthias Thalmann