Map of Austria Immediately After WW1

Map found on reddi

The map above shows a map of Austria in the immediate aftermath of World War 1. Basically, all the German speaking bits of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Here’s what the map legend says:

Gebiete, die 1919 Teile des heutigen österreichischen Bundeslandes waren: “Territories that, in 1919, were part of what are now Austrian federal states”
andere vom deutsch‐österreichischen Staat 1919 geforderte Gebiete: “Other territories demanded by the German‐Austrian state in 1919”
vom deutsch‐österreichischen Staatsrat 1919 geforderte österreichische Grenze: “Austrian border demanded by the German‐Austrian State Council in 1919”
Volksabstimmungen 1920: “Referendums (plebiscites) in 1920”
1921 von Österreich an Ungarn abgetretene Gebiete: “Territories ceded by Austria to Hungary in 1921”
Gebiete mit deutschsprachiger Bevölkerung: bei Ungarn: “Territories with a German‐speaking population: part of Hungary”
neu österreichische Staatsgrenze seit 1923: “New Austrian national border since 1923”
weitere Staatsgrenzen 1923: “Other national borders in 1923”
Staatsgrenzen der Nachbarstaaten nach 1921: “National borders of neighboring states after 1921”

Dissolution of Austro-Hungary

Collapse of the Empire (1918):

Austria-Hungary was made up of various nationalities, and wartime losses, together with growing nationalist movements, led to its collapse.

By late 1918, many regions declared independence, such as Czechoslovakia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. This left only the predominantly German-speaking provinces (around Vienna, Salzburg, Tyrol, Styria, Carinthia, and Upper and Lower Austria).

Establishment of “German-Austria”:

A new republic, initially called Deutschösterreich (“German-Austria”), was proclaimed in November 1918, intending to unite all the German-speaking regions of the former Habsburg Empire into a single state.

Territorial Demands

Claims to German-Speaking Lands:

The new German-Austrian state demanded territories where ethnic Germans made up a significant majority (for instance, parts of Bohemia and Moravia, and South Tyrol in the south).

They also looked to include border regions of what became Hungary that had German-speaking communities.

Allied Intervention and Redrawing of Borders:

The Allied powers—Britain, France, the United States, and others—opposed many of these claims. Under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919), Austria was compelled to cede most of these contested regions:

– South Tyrol went to Italy,
– other territories went to Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Hungary.

Why Austria Did Not Simply Join Germany

Desire for Unification:

Many Austrians, seeing themselves as culturally and ethnically German, favored immediate Anschluss (unification) with the Weimar Republic. This idea had substantial popular support in the upheaval following WWI.

Prohibition in the Peace Treaties:

Despite this public support, the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919) explicitly forbade Austria from uniting with Germany without League of Nations approval. The victorious Allied powers wanted to prevent the emergence of a larger, more powerful German state that might destabilize the region once again.

Long-Term Impact:

As a result, Austria continued as an independent (and significantly smaller) republic than it had been under the Habsburgs. The formal prohibition on unification with Germany remained until Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938—an event driven by entirely different political forces.