Treaty of Saint-Germain

Treaty of Saint-Germain, peace treaty between the Allied powers and Austria after World War I, signed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, on September 10, 1919. The treaty required Austria, the only remaining part of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, to recognize the sovereignty of Hungary; to cede territories to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later renamed Yugoslavia), Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, and Italy; and to accept regulations protecting ethnic minorities within the new Austrian borders. The military clauses allowed Austria a volunteer force of 30,000 men, but the Austro-Hungarian navy was destroyed or distributed among the Allies. Financial reparations for war damages were called for, but the money was never paid. Article 88, which forbade any compromise of Austrian independence, was designed to prevent any future union with Germany. This article was responsible for the Austro-German tensions of the 1930s, and it was discarded by Adolf Hitler, who annexed Austria in 1938.