1919: Treaty of Saint Germain

On September 10, 1919, the leader of the Austrian delegation, Karl Renner, had to sign the peace treaty in Paris Saint-Germain. The treaty assigned Austria and its allies sole war guilt and contained harsh provisions. Use of the name German-Austria was forbidden and the unification of Austria and Germany, which had already been prohibited in the Treaty of Versailles, was banned again. Moreover, the Austrian army was reduced to 30,000 career soldiers. Reparation payments were imposed on Austria.

Particularly distressing were the new borders, especially since Austria had been at war with members of the (new) neighbouring states on one side. Above all, it was hoped that there would be new solutions under the title of “self-determination”. But three million German-speaking people migrated to the new Czechoslovak Republic, and this even spilled over beyond the borders of the old Crown land. South Tyrol and the Channel Valley fell to Italy, Lower Styria became part of the new State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. The border between Carinthia and the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs remained contested, as did the border with Hungary and the West Hungarian counties.