Schober, Johann

(yō´hän shō´bər), 1874–1932, Austrian chancellor (1921–22, 1929–30). A respected career civil servant, he held the key post of head of the Vienna police after July, 1918. As chancellor, he gained passage (1929) of constitutional reforms that strengthened the presidency, though the changes were far more liberal than those urged by Ignaz Seipel. As vice chancellor and foreign minister (1930–32) he promoted the customs-union pact with Germany, a project that failed because of French opposition.