St. Germain Treaty: Austria's Fate Sealed

The Treaty of St Germain, signed on 10 September 1919, had a significant impact on Austria. The treaty reduced Austria's population, territory and resources, causing havoc to its economy. Austria was forced to cede 60% of its territory, losing Bohemia and Moravia to Czechoslovakia, Dalmatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina to Yugoslavia, Galicia to Poland, and Trentino, Istria, Trieste and parts of South Tyrol to Italy. The treaty also forbade the union of Austria with Germany without the consent of the Council of the League of Nations.

Austria's population, territory and resources were reduced

The Treaty of Saint-Germain, signed on 10 September 1919, reduced Austria's population, territory and resources. Austria lost Bohemia and Moravia to Czechoslovakia, Dalmatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina to Yugoslavia, Galicia to Poland, Bukovina to Romania, Trentino, Istria, Trieste and parts of South Tyrol to Italy. This reduced Austria to 25% of its pre-war land and made it a landlocked state. Three million German speakers were placed in Czechoslovakia, and Austria's population was reduced to 6.5 million people. The treaty also ceded Austria's industrially productive areas to Poland and Czechoslovakia, which severely restricted the country and meant that it would heavily rely on trade and would not be able to recover its economy easily.

The treaty also limited Austria's army to 30,000 men, just enough to defend itself should it face an attack from Communist Russia. The Austro-Hungarian navy was also broken up and distributed among the Allies. The vast reduction in population, territory and resources wreaked havoc on the economy of the old nation, most notably in Vienna, an imperial capital now without an empire to support it. For a time, the country's very existence was called into question.

Austria was forbidden from uniting with Germany

The Treaty of Saint-Germain was signed with Austria on 10 September 1919. The treaty expressly forbade the union of Austria with Germany without the consent of the Council of the League of Nations. Austria was also made liable for reparations, although no money was ever actually paid. The treaty reduced Austria's population, territory and resources, wreaking havoc on its economy. Austria lost Bohemia and Moravia to Czechoslovakia, Dalmatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina to Yugoslavia, Galicia to Poland, Bukovina to Romania, and Trentino, Istria, Trieste and parts of South Tyrol to Italy. This reduced Austria to 25% of its pre-war land and made it a landlocked state. Its industrially productive areas were ceded to Poland and Czechoslovakia, severely restricting its economy. Three million German speakers were placed in Czechoslovakia and Austria's population was reduced to 6.5 million people. The treaty also broke up the Austro-Hungarian navy, distributing it among the Allies, and limited Austria's long-service volunteer army to 30,000 men.

Austria's army was reduced to 30,000 men

The Treaty of Saint-Germain was signed with Austria on 10 September 1919. It reduced Austria's army to 30,000 men, which was just enough manpower to defend itself should it face an attack from Communist Russia. The treaty also broke up the Austro-Hungarian navy, distributing it among the Allies. Austria was made liable for reparations, but no money was ever actually paid.

Austria was treated in a similar way to Germany by the Treaty of Versailles, but the terms were not quite as harsh. The Treaty of Saint-Germain set the amount Austria had to pay, with payments due to start in May 1921. However, Austria did not make a single monetary reparation, although specific payments in animals were set out and Austria was expected to give a certain number of livestock to the Allied Powers each month.

The vast reduction of population, territory and resources of the new Austria relative to the old empire wreaked havoc on the economy of the old nation, most notably in Vienna, an imperial capital now without an empire to support it. Austria lost Bohemia and Moravia to Czechoslovakia, Dalmatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina to Yugoslavia, Galicia to Poland, Bukovina to Romania, Trentino, Istria, Trieste and parts of South Tyrol to Italy. This reduced them to 25% of pre-war land and made them a land-locked state. Their industrially productive areas were ceded to Poland and Czechoslovakia, which severely restricted Austria and meant that they would heavily rely on trade and would not be able to recover their economy easily. Three million German speakers were placed in Czechoslovakia and their population was reduced to 6.5 million people.

Austria had to pay reparations

The Treaty of St Germain, signed on 10 September 1919, had a significant impact on Austria. Austria was required to accept responsibility for the war and pay reparations. Although the treaty set the amount Austria had to pay, no money was ever actually paid. Instead, Austria was expected to give a certain number of livestock to the Allied Powers each month.

The treaty also reduced Austria's population, territory and resources, wreaking havoc on the economy. Austria lost Bohemia and Moravia to Czechoslovakia, Dalmatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina to Yugoslavia, Galicia to Poland, Bukovina to Romania, and Trentino, Istria, Trieste and parts of South Tyrol to Italy. This reduced Austria to 25% of its pre-war land and made it a landlocked state. Three million German speakers were placed in Czechoslovakia, and Austria's population was reduced to 6.5 million people.

The industrially productive areas of Austria were ceded to Poland and Czechoslovakia, severely restricting the country and making it heavily reliant on trade. The treaty also broke up the Austro-Hungarian navy, distributing it among the Allies. The Austrian army was reduced in size to 30,000 men, just enough manpower to defend itself against an attack from Communist Russia.

The terms of the Treaty of St Germain were similar to those of the Treaty of Versailles, which was signed with Germany, but they were not quite as harsh. The union of Austria with Germany was expressly forbidden without the consent of the Council of the League of Nations. Austrian officials protested the violation of the principle of self-determination in the treaty, the placement of so many ethnic Germans under Czechoslovak and Italian rule, and the forbiddance of unity with Germany. The Austria created by the treaty was financially and militarily weak and therefore a chronic force of instability in Europe between the two World Wars.

Austria lost land to Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary and Italy

The Treaty of St Germain, signed on 10 September 1919, reduced Austria to 25% of its pre-war land area. The country lost Bohemia and Moravia to Czechoslovakia, Dalmatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina to Yugoslavia, Galicia to Poland, Bukovina to Romania, and Trentino, Istria, Trieste and parts of South Tyrol to Italy. Austria also lost the Sudetenland in 1919, which placed three million German speakers under Czechoslovak rule. The treaty also recognised Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland and Hungary as independent countries.

The loss of land severely restricted Austria and meant that it would heavily rely on trade. The industrially productive areas ceded to Poland and Czechoslovakia meant that Austria would not be able to easily recover its economy. The treaty also broke up the Austro-Hungarian navy, distributing it among the Allies. Austria's population was reduced to 6.5 million people, and the country became landlocked.

The terms of the treaty were not as harsh as those imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles, but Austria was still required to accept responsibility for the war and pay reparations. The treaty set the amount Austria had to pay, but the country never made a monetary reparation. Instead, Austria was expected to give a certain number of livestock to the Allied Powers each month.

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