Beiträge zur Rechtsgeschichte Österreichs, 9. Jahrgang, Heft 2/2019

The disintegrative effects which the Paris Peace Treaties had on Europe should not be underestimated. In the centreof the continent in particular, they established a set of scattered states that resulted from the disintegration of severalimperial orders. The years 1917/18 to 1920 not only reflect lines of development in European, but also in manyareas of world history, as will be illustrated by the examples of the USA, Russia, Japan and China.

Schlagworte: Consequences of War, Paris Peace Treaties, End of Imperial Orders, Disintegration of Europe, International History, Changes in the Global Power System

The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919, the same day on which the League of Nations was founded withthe principal goals of safeguarding world peace and promoting international cooperation. The League of Nations Covenant,which was included in all of the Paris peace treaties, is regarded as the instrument for monitoring these treaties.The Covenant of the International Labour Organization (ILO) is also part of all Paris peace treaties – its primary aimis to promote universal social justice. Whereas the League failed in securing peace, the ILO continues to be an agencyof the UN.

Schlagworte: Globalization, ILO, League of Nations, Peace, Treaty of St. Germain

The relations between France and Austria at the time of the negotiations leading to the signing of the Saint-GermainTreaty reveal the French preoccupations after the demise of Austria-Hungary. The new situation of a power vacuumin Central Europe disturbed the traditional French conception – in order to cope with bolshevism on one side andGermany on the other, France had to "reinvent" her geopolitical thinking about the region. Stabilizing Austria aswell as Hungary was the expression of this necessity.

Schlagworte: Austria-Hungary, First World War, France, Peace Treaties, Treaty of St. Germain

British policy concerning the Treaty of St Germain devolved from Prime Minister David Lloyd George. In developingwar aims during the Great War, the British looked to maintain Austria-Hungary as a post-war Great Power, admittedlydiminished, to balance between Germany and Russia. This goal evaporated by October 1918 as the HabsburgMonarchy collapsed and successor states arose in Central-Eastern Europe. The Allies handled Germany’s settlement,the Treaty of Versailles, first at the Paris Peace Conference. Its three-part focus – territorial adjustments, reparations,and disarmament – provided the model for British policy towards Austria. A key to Lloyd George’s ideas – his pragmatismobviated clear strategy – was to avoid future British military commitments for European security. ArthurBalfour, the foreign secretary, and Eyre Crowe, a Foreign Office mandarin, received responsibility for negotiating St.Germain; they played a major role in giving new Austria sensible borders and reasonable security. Doing so, however,they followed Lloyd George’s dictates about military commitments. The British subsequently used effective economicdiplomacy to assist Austria’s financial reconstruction that allowed influence over its shape and democratic – that iscapitalist – structure.

Schlagworte: 1914–1920, Austria, Arthur BALFOUR, Eyre CROWE, Great Britain Foreign Policy, David LLOYD GEORGE, Treaty of St. Germain, Treaty of Versailles

During World War I U.S. President Wilson called for a liberal world order based on the principle of national selfdetermination.Within this order, Austria‐Hungary, which Wilson referred to as an artificial empire, had no place.In September of 1919, the Treaty of Saint German became testament to the empire’s destruction. The successorstates had to fulfil an important strategic role as a barrier against a revival of German imperialistic ambitions fromBerlin to Bagdad.

Schlagworte: Austria‐Hungary, empires, League of Nations, self‐determination, South Tyrol

On 10th September 1919, the Austrian government ratified the peace treaty of St. Germain and thereby also confirmedthe division of the county of Tyrol into three (two Austrian and one Italian) parts. This decision, negotiated andfixated between Italy and its allies in the First World War, had a long history rooted in the 19th century as well aswide-ranging consequences after the First World War. This article will analyse the complex developments in Tyrolbefore and after the peace treaty with a focus on the immediate post-war-period.

Schlagworte: Division of Tyrol, minority rights, Nationalism, Post-World War I history, Tyrol

The reconstruction of the Polish state after the First World War is commonly associated with the date of 11 November1918. However, this date is primarily symbolic. The process of rebuilding an independent Poland began on an internationalbasis with the publication by the Central Powers of the so-called Act of 5 November 1916. It announced theresurrection of the Kingdom of Poland and started the process of creating the Polish state institutions. The newlycreated Polish Kingdom was not an independent state. The Central States treated the Poles instrumentally and thebest proof of this was their attitude towards Poland during the negotiations with the Ukrainians and the Soviets inBrest Litovsk. On the international stage, Polish sovereignty was de facto guaranteed by the Treaty of Versailles inJune 1919. This Treaty definitely ended the process that had begun with the Act of 5 November 1916. Nevertheless,the Treaty of Versailles did not meet all the expectations of Polish society, especially as far as boundaries were concerned.The peace treaty with the Austrian Republic in Saint Germain in September 1919 went unnoticed in Poland.

Schlagworte: First World War, Poland, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of St. Germain, Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Saint Germain (1919) and the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law (1920) were the two legal pillowsof the First Austrian Republic. The Treaty demarcated in terms of international law the limits within which theconstitution could evolve, whereas the latter made direct references to individual Treaty provisions, thus giving themthe special status of constitutional clauses. Austria’s federal structure, in particular, is closely linked to the ‘Anschlussverbot’,i.e. the Treaty provision that prevented Austria from joining the German Reich. This contributionemphasizes the significance of the Treaty for Austrian constitutional history and the current Austrian constitutionallaw.

Schlagworte: ‘Anschlußverbot’, federal constitution, minority rights, organisation of armed forces

In the interwar period, Austria slipped twice into a heavy budget crisis: in the early 1920s due to the collapse of thecurrency; and at the beginning of the 1930s due to the effects of the Great Depression. Creditworthiness on the internationalcapital markets was no longer assured. In both cases, the Federal Government turned to the League of Nationsin search of help, whereupon individual League of Nations states assumed guarantees for the necessary governmentbonds. The bonds helped Austria out of its worst budget problems but were a burden on the domestic political climate.They were linked to a strict restructuring package with drastic social and economic consequences. The ban on territorialunification with Germany (Anschluss) laid down in the Treaty of Saint Germain was also confirmed. Thus, theso-called League of Nations loans not only represent a significant piece of economic and financial history, but alsoreflect burning socio-political questions of the interwar period, which can be roughly outlined with slogans such asideology, radicalization and authoritarianism.

Schlagworte: Austria, budget crisis, economic crisis, interwar period, League of Nations

This paper examines the origins of the provisions of the Versailles Treaty. It argues that, more than its material provisions,its moral-ideological thrust helped to discredit this peace settlement and undermined chances for a more durablepeace after World War One.

Schlagworte: democratic impact on peacemaking, Democratic Peace, Justice in peacemaking, political credibility

The Treaty of Versailles of 1919 at first greatly limited the possibilities of German foreign policy, but a little later itsleading figures (Rathenau, Stresemann, von Schubert) found new scope to defend German interests. However, theend of the reparations and the arms restrictions (1932/33) came too late for the Weimar Republic; Hitler was alreadyat the gates of power.

Schlagworte: Foreign Policy, Treaty of Versailles, Weimar Republic

The peace treaty ending the First World War signed on June 4, 1920 at the Trianon Palace has had the most decisiveand lasting impact on modern Hungary. This study outlines the controversial path of the Kingdom of Hungary fromthe ceasefire in November 1918 to the ratification of the peace treaty. In addition, it discusses the contemporary governmentcommunications and the remembrance of the peace treaty.

Schlagworte: Antisemitism, Hungary, Peace Treaty, Trianon

The article offers a brief overview of the preconditions for Bulgaria’s involvement in the First World War on the sideof Germany and Austria-Hungary and for its defeat in 1918. Further, the attempts of the Bulgarian delegation inNeuilly-sur-Seine to achieve a “fair” peace treaty with the Allied and Associated Powers and the motives in supportof the Bulgarian claims are addressed. In the last part, the article contemplates the consequences of the treaty for thecountry’s development in the 1920s as well as the leanings towards a new rapprochement with Germany.

Schlagworte: Balkans, Bulgaria, First World War, Treaty of Neuilly 1919

The Peace Treaty of Sèvre aimed to create an Armenian, Greek and Kurdish nation-state on the former soil of theOttoman Empire. At the same time the Treaty enabled the Allies to achieve their geostrategic goals by weakening theSublime Ports political sovereignty. This essay focusses narrowly on the content of the Treaty and how the last IslamicDynasty struggled to achieve better political conditions to safeguard its future.

Schlagworte: Christian Minorities, First World War, Ottoman Empire, Treaty of Sèvre, Turkey

Population transfers have throughout history served governments as an instrument to achieve national or regimesecurity objectives. Population exchanges are a special case of such transfers. Here, states enter an intergovernmentalagreement in which the contracting parties decide on a reciprocal voluntary or involuntary transfer of populations.The perhaps most crucial precedent for such a measure is the Greco-Turkish population exchange agreed atLausanne in 1923. The present paper recalls the events that led to the agreement, which essentially legitimised expost one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes of its time in order to solve the thorny Greco-Turkish minorityproblem once and for all. Relying mainly on the conference protocols I argue that the compulsory nature of the exchangewas imposed under duress, but against the wishes of the affected minorities, and in clear violation of thenascent international system of human rights.

Schlagworte: Eastern Question, Greco-Turkish War, Greece, Lausanne Conference, Ottoman Empire, Population Exchanges, Turkey

The important contribution of surveyors to the realisation of boundariesWhen we talk about boundaries between states it might be useful to think about other boundaries in our everydaylives. This will be elaborated using the ideas of internationally well-known personalities like the writer ClaudioMagris (born 1939 in Trieste) or the philosopher Konrad Paul Liessmann (born 1953 in Villach). But also “the lawcorrectly sets borders” which are necessary for the co-existence of and within communities.According to international law, a state has four essential features: population, territory, sovereignty, and government.Usually, a state’s boundaries are defined in bilateral boundary treaties between neighbours.This is the point where surveyors start their contribution – drawing maps for a first overview of the new boundary,then defining the course of the new boundary together with other experts and finally transforming this definitioninto nature, setting permanent monuments, making the boundary survey and a first draft of the boundary documents.Boundary commissions finalise these documents by signing a boundary treaty. Based on the Treaty of St.Germain some examples will be given for the first demarcations of the new boundaries and the final definitions laiddown in this treaty.If a country wants to join the European Union it is one of the preconditions that it has no territorial conflicts withits neighbours. Of course there may remain one or the other disputed section like between France and Italy in thehigh region of Mont Blanc or between Slovenia and Croatia in the Gulf of Piran. But there may also be problems ifone country wants to leave the EU, like Great Britain with the problematic boundary between Northern Ireland,which will leave the EU, and the Republic of Ireland, which will remain in the EU. In spite of the Government ofIreland Act from 1921, this boundary never has never been clearly defined or fixed.Finally, the most important details of the Austrian boundary are presented.

Schlagworte: bilateral boundary treaty, boundary documents, boundary survey, joining the European Union, the law correctly sets borders, leaving the European Union, maps, permanent monuments, realisation of boundaries, surveyors

When considering the contribution of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 to the development of international law,reference is usually made to the League of Nations and the ILO, whose founding documents formed an integral partof the peace treaties between the Allied and Associated Powers and the former Central Powers. While the creation ofthe League and the ILO indeed ushered in a new era of institutionalized international cooperation and, hence, may beseen as the most spectacular outcome of the Peace Conference from the point of view of international law, the implicationsof the peace settlements for the evolving international legal order do not stop here. Taking the Treaty of St.Germain (the “Austrian Treaty”) as a case in point, it will be shown, for instance, that provisions entailing an explicitattribution of guilt for the war (which was directly linked to the imposition of reparation payments by Austria) maywell be seen as a first step towards the eventual general outlawry of wars of aggression in international law. Likewise,stipulations as to the general prohibition of the use of certain categories of weapons, provisions on the prosecution ofindividuals accused of war crimes before military tribunals of the Allied and Associated Powers, as well as treatyarrangements designed to ensure the protection of national minorities, contributed significantly to the progressivedevelopment of important areas of contemporary international law.

Schlagworte: individual criminal responsibility for war crimes, international humanitarian law, ius ad bellum, Paris Peace Conference, protection of national minorities, Treaty of St. Germain

Since the time of Pope Leo XIII the Holy See had tried to promote a peacekeeping policy and to ease the tension ofinternational conflicts. The resulting political and moral prestige of the Holy See at the international level wouldhave compensated for the lost church state. Among the most important demands were the institution of courts ofarbitration and of supranational organizations, which were also proposed by Pope Benedict XV during the FirstWorld War. The Peace Note of August, 1st 1917 was in his eyes the most significant measure of his policy, but itwas not really successful internationally. As a result of the secret agreements of the London treaty, Italy hinderedthe Holy See from participating in the post-war negotiations. The papal diplomacy was forced to use other instruments,like lobbying. The Holy See was not allowed to become a member of the League of Nations either, althoughPope Benedict held this institution in high regard. Generally, the Holy See judged the Paris peace settlement rathernegatively, because according to the Roman Curia peace had not been established on the basis of conciliation, but asa peace dictated by the Allies.

Schlagworte: League of Nations, Middle East, Papal diplomacy, Peace policy