Austria

===Early 20th century ===
{{See also|Republic of German-Austria|First Austrian Republic}}

As the [[Second Constitutional Era]] began in the [[Ottoman Empire]], Austria-Hungary took the opportunity to annex [[Bosnia and Herzegovina in Austria-Hungary|Bosnia and Herzegovina]] in 1908.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina 1908 |url=https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/boshtml/bos127.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323152047/https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/boshtml/bos127.htm |archive-date=23 March 2013 |access-date=25 March 2013 |publisher=Mtholyoke.edu }}</ref> The [[Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|assassination]] of Archduke [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|Franz Ferdinand]] in [[Sarajevo]] in 1914 by Bosnian Serb [[Gavrilo Princip]]<ref>Johnson 52–54</ref> was used by leading Austrian politicians and generals to persuade the emperor to declare war on Serbia, thereby risking and prompting the outbreak of World War I, which eventually led to the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Over one million Austro-Hungarian soldiers died in World War I.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Grebler |first1=Leo |title=The Cost of the World War to Germany and Austria-Hungary |last2=Winkler |first2=Wilhelm |publisher=Yale University Press |date=1940 |isbn=0-598-94106-1}}</ref>

[[File:GermanAustriaMap.png|thumb|left|upright=1.4|German-speaking provinces claimed by [[German-Austria]] in 1918: The border of the subsequent Second Republic of Austria is outlined in red]]

On 21 October 1918 the elected German members of the ''Reichsrat'' (parliament of Imperial Austria) met in Vienna as the Provisional National Assembly for German Austria (''Provisorische Nationalversammlung für Deutschösterreich''). On 30 October the assembly founded the [[Republic of German-Austria]] by appointing a government, called ''Staatsrat''. This new government was invited by the Emperor to take part in the decision on the planned armistice with Italy, but refrained from this business.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shepard |first=Gordon |title=The Austrians |date=1996 |publisher=Avalon Publishing Group Inc. |isbn=978-0-7867-3066-7}}</ref>

This left the responsibility for the end of the war, on 3 November 1918, solely to the emperor and his government. On 11 November, the emperor, advised by ministers of the old and the new governments, declared he would not take part in state business any more; on 12 November, German-Austria, by law, declared itself to be a democratic republic and part of the new German republic. The constitution, renaming the ''Staatsrat'' as ''Bundesregierung'' (federal government) and ''Nationalversammlung'' as ''Nationalrat'' (national council) was passed on 10 November 1920.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Austria: notes |url=http://www.archontology.org/nations/austria/au_rep1/01_laws.php |access-date=4 February 2021 |website=Archontology |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416090109/http://www.archontology.org/nations/austria/au_rep1/01_laws.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Treaty of Saint-Germain]] of 1919 (for Hungary the [[Treaty of Trianon]] of 1920) confirmed and consolidated the new order of Central Europe which to a great extent had been established in November 1918, creating new states and altering others. The German-speaking parts of Austria which had been part of Austria-Hungary were reduced to a rump state named the Republic of German-Austria (German: ''Republik Deutschösterreich''), though excluding the predominantly German-speaking [[South Tyrol]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Moos |first=Carlo |title=A Land on the Threshold. South Tyrolean Transformations, 1915–2015 |pages=27–39 |date=2017 |editor-last=Georg Grote and Hannes Obermair |contribution=Südtirol im St. Germain-Kontext |place=Oxford-Berne-New York |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-3-0343-2240-9}}</ref><ref>In Habsburg Austria-Hungary, "German-Austria" was an unofficial term for the areas of the empire inhabited by Austrian Germans.</ref><ref>Alfred D. Low, ''The Anschluss Movement, 1918–1919, and the Paris Peace Conference'', pp. 135–138.</ref> The desire for the annexation of Austria to Germany was a popular opinion shared by all social circles in both Austria and Germany.<ref>Alfred D. Low, ''The Anschluss Movement, 1918–1919, and the Paris Peace Conference'', pp. 3–4</ref> On 12 November, German-Austria was declared a republic, and named Social Democrat [[Karl Renner]] as provisional chancellor. On the same day it drafted a provisional constitution that stated that "German-Austria is a democratic republic" (Article 1) and "German-Austria is an integral part of the German reich" (Article 2).<ref>Mary Margaret Ball, ''Post-war German-Austrian Relations: The Anschluss Movement, 1918–1936'', pp. 11–15</ref> The Treaty of Saint Germain and the [[Treaty of Versailles]] explicitly forbade union between Austria and Germany.<ref>Roderick Stackelberg, ''Hitler's Germany: Origins, Interpretations, Legacies'', pp. 161–162</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Treaty of Peace between the Allied and Associated Powers and Austria; Protocol, Declaration and Special Declaration [1920&#93; ATS 3 |url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/dfat/treaties/1920/3.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000917221810/http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/dfat/treaties/1920/3.html |archive-date=17 September 2000 |access-date=15 June 2011 |publisher=Austlii.edu.au }}</ref> The treaties also forced German-Austria to rename itself as "Republic of Austria" which consequently led to the first [[First Austrian Republic|Austrian Republic]].<ref>Mary Margaret Ball, ''Post-war German-Austrian Relations: The Anschluss Movement, 1918–1936'', pp. 18-19</ref><ref>Montserrat Guibernau, ''The Identity of Nations'', pp. 70–75</ref>

Over three million German-speaking Austrians found themselves living outside the new Austrian Republic as minorities in the newly formed or enlarged states of [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Yugoslavia]], [[Hungary]], and Italy.<ref>Brook-Shepherd 246</ref> These included the provinces of [[South Tyrol]], and [[German Bohemia]]. The status of German Bohemia and [[Sudetenland]] later played a role in World War II.<ref name="a1">Brook-Shepherd 245</ref>

The border between Austria and the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]] was settled with the [[Carinthian Plebiscite]] in October 1920 and allocated the major part of the territory of the former Austro-Hungarian Crownland of [[Carinthia]] to Austria. This set the border on the [[Karavanke]] mountain range, with many Slovenes remaining in Austria.