The U.S.–Austrian Peace Treaty is a

peace treaty A peace treaty is an treaty, agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually country, countries or governments, which formally ends a declaration of war, state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an ag ...

between the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, signed in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

on August 24, 1921, in the aftermath of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. This separate peace treaty was required because the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

refused to advise and consent to the ratification of the multilateral Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of 1919. Ratifications were exchanged in Vienna on November 8, 1921, and the treaty became effective on the same day. The treaty was registered in ''League of Nations Treaty Series'' on November 22, 1921.

Background

During the First World War, Austria – which formed the nucleus of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

– was defeated by the Allied Powers, one of which was the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. The US government declared war on Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917. At the end of the war in 1918, Austria-Hungary disintegrated and Austria was established as an independent republic. In 1919, the victorious Allied Powers held a peace conference in Paris to formulate peace treaties with the defeated

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

. At the conference, a peace treaty with the Austrian government was concluded. Although the US government was among the signatories of that treaty, the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

refused to

ratify Ratification is a principal's legal confirmation of an act of its agent. In international law, ratification is the process by which a state declares its consent to be bound to a treaty. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usuall ...

the treaty due to opposition to joining the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

. As a result, the two governments started negotiations for a bilateral peace treaty not connected to the League of Nations. Such a treaty was concluded on August 24, 1921.

Terms of the treaty

Article 1 obliged the Austrian government to grant to the US government all rights and privileges enjoyed by the other Allied Powers who ratified the St. Germain treaty. Article 2 specified which articles of the St. Germain treaty shall apply to the United States. Article 3 provided for the exchange of ratifications in Vienna.

Aftermath

The treaty laid the foundations for a US-Austrian cooperation not under the strict supervision of the League of Nations. As a result, the US government embarked on a path of partially assisting the government of the Austrian Republic to ease the burden of

war reparations War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war. War reparations can take the form of hard currency, precious metals, natural resources, in ...

imposed in the Treaty of St. Germain. The treaty was supplemented by a treaty signed in Washington on November 26, 1924, which provided for the establishment of a mixed US-Austrian-Hungarian commission to decide amount of reparations to be paid by the Austrian and Hungarian governments to the US.Text in ''League of Nations Treaty Series'', vol. 48, pp. 70-75.

Notes

* * '' Treaty Series'' 659 * 5 Bevans 215 * 7 LNTS 156

External links

Text of the peace treaty

{{DEFAULTSORT:Us-Austrian Peace Treaty (1921) Aftermath of World War I in Austria Partition (politics) Peace treaties of Austria Treaties of the First Austrian Republic World War I treaties Treaties concluded in 1921 Treaties entered into force in 1921 Peace treaties of the United States

Background

Terms of the treaty

Aftermath

See also

Notes

External links