The Treaty of Saint-Germain (1919)

The Treaty of Saint-Germain was signed with Austria on 10th September 1919.

Territorial Terms:

• 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. 

Population:

• Three million German speakers were placed in Czechoslovakia and their population was reduced to 6.5 million people.

Military Terms:

• Their army was to be limited to 30,000 men.

Others:

• A high reparations sum was set, but due to their severe financial problems, they never had to pay any as Austria went bankrupt before the sum was officially set.

• Anschluss between Germany and Austria was forbidden. Both Germans and Austrians were angered by this, believing it would solve their financial problems, while also wishing to unite German speakers.

Situation prior to the Treaty

• The Habsburg empire had broken up before armistice was signed despite Emperor Karl I trying to keep the empire together. However, the Treaty did formally break it up.

• Before, and after the treaty was signed, Austria faced significant levels of food insecurity.