Peace Treaties: St. Germain, Trianon, Neuilly, Sevres, Versailles

Treaty of St. Germain

Officially signed on September 10, 1919 and came into force on July 16, 1920.
The treaty officially registered the breakup of the Habsburg Empire, recognizing the independence of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) and ceding eastern Galicia, Trento, southern Tirol, Trieste, and Istria.
Reduced Austria to a small state of 8 million people and allocated former non-German speaking territories to the new states of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
The union of Austria with Germany was expressly forbidden without the consent of the Council of the League Of Nations. Because the allied powers wanted Germany to remain weak.
The Austrian Army was reduced to 30 000 men and broke up Austro-Hungarian navy, distributing it among the Allied powers.
Austria created by the treaty was financially and militarily weak and therefore a chronic force of instability in Europe between the two World Wars.

Officially signed on June 4th 1920
Germany lost 13 % of its former territory… Hungary had been compelled to cede 72 % of the territory held by her for thousand years. Of 20 million inhabitants of Hungary, 13.4 million i.e. 64% of the original population were torn away.
The Hungarian Army cannot exceed 35,000 men.
Against 35,000 men of the Hungarian-Trianon army stood 542,000 soldiers at the disposal of the newly developed hostile states.
Hungary was deprived of 62.2 % of its railroad network, 73.8 % of its public roads 64.6 % of its canals, 83 % of its iron ore mines.
Citizens of former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy differing in race and language from the majority of the population of the territory, shall within six months [join a state], if the majority of the population of the State has the same race and language as the person exercising the right to opt.
Hungary lost over 2/3 of its territory to Yugoslavia, Romania, and Czechoslovakia.

Neuilly, Treaty of, November 27, 1919, the peace treaty signed by defeated Bulgaria and the World War I victors.
Bulgaria was forced to reduce its army to 20,000 men, cede lands to Yugoslavia and Greece that involved the transfer of 300,000 people.
The Bulgarian army was limited to 20,000 men.
Bulgaria was commanded to pay reparations exceeding $400 million, and recognize the existence of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
This treaty was not effective because Bulgaria did not follow the treaty until 75% was remitted from it.

Signed on Aug. 10, 1920, by Turkey and the Allied Powers
The treaty abolished the Ottoman Empire and obliged Turkey to renounce all rights over Arab Asia and North Africa.
Its Middle Eastern Territories were handed to the British and the French as League of Nations mandate. Britain gained the mandate of Iraq and Palestine. France gained the mandate of Lebanon and Syria.
Led to the treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
The Ottoman Army was to be restricted to 50,000 men; the Ottoman navy could only preserve seven sloops and six torpedo boats, and the Ottoman state was prohibited from obtaining an air force.
Turkey’s territory was reduced from 613,724 before the war to 174,900 as a result of the treaty.
Created a new nation called Saudi Arabia in the Middle East.

Signed on June 28 1919.
It contained a “war- guilt clause” under Article 231 which forced the Germans to accept all responsibility for damages caused to any of the allied countries during the war.
It forced demilitarization of the Rhine, elimination of the German air force and near elimination of the German navy, and a maximum allowance of 100,000 troops in the German army.
Germany ceded Alsace-Lorraine to France and gave control of the Saar Basin to France for 15 years, crippling the German economy as these lands had industrial resources such as coal, iron mines.
Eupen and Malmedy (given to Belgium), Northern Schleswig (given to Denmark), Hultschin (given to Czechoslovakia), West Prussia, Posen and Upper Silesia (given to Poland)

Germany was allowed only 6 capital naval ships and no submarines The west of the Rhineland and 50 kms east of the River Rhine was made into a demilitarised zone.
The Germans were told to write a blank cheque which the Allies would cash when it suited them. The figure was eventually put at £6,600 million – a huge sum of money well beyond Germany’s ability to pay.
Created the League of Nations.