The Treaty of Saint-Germain

The dissolution of the Habsburg Monarchy is decided in a Paris suburb

19th-century German nationalists could not decide whether they wanted a “large” nation state incorporating Austria or a “small” Germany under Prussian leadership. In the end, Prussia managed to exclude Austria from the new German state formed in 1871, whilst Austria-Hungary continued as a separate empire. Despite their recent falling out, the two powers remained allies. After their joint defeat in the First World War, they were forced to negotiate separate peace treaties, in which Great Britain and France stipulated that Germany and Austria-Hungary bore joint responsibility for the recent war. Whilst negotiations with the German delegation were held at Versailles, Austria-Hungary met its fate in the Paris suburb of Saint-Germain.

The Treaty of Saint-Germain signed on 10 September 1919 split Austria from Hungary and separated the dual monarchy from its imperial possessions. Austria lost territory inhabited by German-speakers and began life as a much smaller alpine republic. This meant that more than three million Sudeten Germans became citizens of the new state of Czechoslovakia, and South Tyrol was ceded to Italy. The German-speaking core state, which wanted to call itself the “Republic of German Austria”, was forced to take the name the “Republic of Austria” and was prohibited from unifying with Germany. Nearly 20 years later, Hitler exploited the widespread discontent in Austria when he violated the Treaty of Saint-Germain and forcibly annexed Austria to the Third Reich.