Austria's Fall From Grace: The Loss Of World War I

Austria lost some of its wealthiest lands after the First World War. It lost territory to Italy, Slovenia, Czechoslovakia and Poland, and also lost a small trading concession in the Chinese city of Tianjin. Despite this, Moscow treated Austria as a defeated Axis power, and it avoided some of the worst aspects of Germany's fate. Austria was split between the USSR and the western powers after World War Two, but the US almost immediately began to rebuild it, and it is now one of the most developed countries in the world.

Austria lost territory to Italy, Slovenia, Czechoslovakia and Poland

Austria lost some of its wealthiest lands after the First World War, including territory to Italy, Slovenia, Czechoslovakia and Poland. It also lost a small trading concession in the Chinese city of Tianjin.

Austria, or rather the dynastic collection of what had been the Austrian Habsburg monarchy, was seriously dismembered after the First World War. The monarchy lost territory in what had been the former Bohemian crown, which had previously been a source of wealth. The Hungarian half of the Habsburg monarchy lost more, but given the largely non-Magyar character of Hungary’s losses in territory and population, Hungary continues to raise this as a grievance.

After the Second World War, Austria was split between the USSR and the western powers. Russia had hoped to turn it into a bargaining chip by empowering the Austrian communists, but the plundering Russia did basically made it too hated by the people for that to happen. The US almost immediately began to rebuild Austria to prevent Russia's plan, and both sides more-or-less preferred a neutral country.

Austria was split between the USSR and the western powers

Austria lost some of its wealthiest lands after the First World War. It lost territory to Italy, Slovenia, Czechoslovakia and Poland. It also lost a small trading concession in the Chinese city of Tianjin. However, it did not lose any territory to the USSR after the Second World War, despite Moscow treating it as a defeated Axis power. Instead, Austria was split between the USSR and the western powers. The US almost immediately began to rebuild Austria to prevent Russia's plan to empower Austrian communists. Both sides preferred a neutral country.

Austria lost some of its wealthiest lands in the former Bohemian crown

Despite these losses, Austria avoided some of the worst aspects of Germany's fate after the war. It did not lose any territory, despite Yugoslavia's claims to Carinthia, a province in the south of the country. Austrians also avoided the fate of the Volksdeutsche, ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe who were expelled to Germany or rounded up and deported to the Soviet Union for slave labour.

Austria was treated as a defeated Axis power

Although Moscow treated Austria as a defeated Axis power, it was generally considered a victim of Germany. As a result, Austria avoided some of the worst aspects of Germany’s fate. It did not lose any territory, despite Yugoslavia’s claims to Carinthia, a province in the south of the country. Austrians also avoided the fate of the Volksdeutsche, ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe who were expelled to Germany or rounded up and deported to the Soviet Union for slave labour.

Austria did, however, lose territory to Italy, Slovenia, Czechoslovakia and Poland. It also lost a small trading concession in the Chinese city of Tianjin, about 800 metres square.

Austria was split between the USSR and the western powers after World War Two. While Russia had hoped to turn it into a bargaining chip by empowering the Austrian communists, the plundering Russia did basically made it too hated by the people for that to happen. By contrast, the US almost immediately began to rebuild Austria to prevent Russia's plan, and rather than create yet another possible flash point of no use to anyone, both sides more-or-less preferred a neutral country.

Austria avoided the fate of the Volksdeutsche

Although Austria lost territory to Italy, Slovenia, Czechoslovakia and Poland, it avoided some of the worst aspects of Germany’s fate. Moscow treated Austria as a defeated Axis power, but it also adhered to the general line that Austria was a victim of Germany. Therefore, Austrians did not become victims of ethnic cleansing, like Germans from the Third Reich’s territories incorporated into Poland and the Soviet Union.

Austria also avoided the fate of the Volksdeutsche, ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe. The Volksdeutsche were expelled to Germany or rounded up and deported to the Soviet Union for slave labour. By contrast, Austria did not lose any territory, despite Yugoslavia’s claims to Carinthia, a province in the south of the country.

Austria was split between the USSR and the western powers after World War Two, but it was not used as a bargaining chip by either side. Instead, both sides preferred a neutral country. This may have been because the US immediately began to rebuild Austria, and the plundering Russia did basically made it too hated by the people for that to happen.

Overall, although Austria lost territory and struggled to recover after World War One, it avoided some of the worst fates of the Volksdeutsche and other Germans.

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