Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye/Preamble

Treaty of Peace between the Allied and Associated Powers and Austria

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THE BRITISH EMPIRE, FRANCE, ITALY AND JAPAN, these Powers being described in the present Treaty as the Principal Allied and Associated Powers,

BELGIUM, CHINA, CUBA, GREECE, NICARAGUA, PANAMA, POLAND, PORTUGAL, ROUMANIA, THE SERB-CROAT-SLOVENE STATE, SIAM, and CZECHOSLOVAKIA, these Powers constituting with the Principal Powers mentioned above the Allied and Associated Powers, of the one part;

And AUSTRIA of the other part;

WHEREAS on the request of the former Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Government an Armistice was granted to Austria-Hungary on 3 November 1918 by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers in order that a Treaty of Peace might be concluded, and

WHEREAS the Allied and Associated Powers are equally desirous that the war in which certain among them were successively involved, directly or indirectly, against Austria-Hungary, and which originated in the declaration of war against Serbia on 28 July 1914 by the former Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Government, and in the hostilities conducted by Germany in alliance with Austria-Hungary, should be replaced by a firm, just and durable Peace, and

WHEREAS the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy has now ceased to exist, and has been replaced in Austria by a republican government, and

WHEREAS the Principal Allied and Associated Powers have already recognized that the Czecho-Slovak State, in which are incorporated certain portions of the said Monarchy, is a free, independent and allied State, and

WHEREAS the said Powers have also recognised the union of certain portions of the said Monarchy with the territory of the Kingdom of Serbia as a free, independent and allied State, under the name of the Serb-Croat-Slovene State, and

WHEREAS it is necessary, while restoring peace, to regulate the situation which has arisen from the dissolution of the said Monarchy and the formation of the said States, and to establish the government of these countries on a firm foundation of justice and equity;

FOR THIS PURPOSE the High Contracting Parties represented as follows:
 * The President of the United States of America, by:
 * The Honorable Frank Lyon Polk, Under Secretary of State;
 * The Honorable Henry White, formerly Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States at Rome and Paris;
 * General Tasker H. Bliss, Military Representative of the United States on the Supreme War Council;
 * His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, by:
 * The Right Honourable Arthur James Balfour OM, MP, His Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs;
 * The Right Honourable Andrew Bonar Law MP, His Lord Privy Seal;
 * The Right Honourable Viscount Milner GCB, GCMG, His Secretary of State for the Colonies;
 * The Right Honourable George Nicoll Barnes MP, Minister without portfolio;
 * And for the Dominion of Canada, by:
 * The Honourable Sir Albert Edward Kemp KCMG, Minister of the Overseas Forces;
 * for the Commonwealth of Australia, by:
 * The Honourable George Foster Pearce, Minister of Defence;
 * for the Union of South Africa, by:
 * The Right Honourable Viscount Milner GCB, GCMG, His Secretary of State for the Colonies;
 * for the Dominion of New Zealand, by:
 * The Honourable Sir Thomas Mackenzie KCMG, High Commissioner for New Zealand in the United Kingdom;
 * for India, by:
 * The Right Honourable Baron Sinha KC, Under Secretary of State for India;
 * The President of the French Republic, by:
 * Mr Georges Clemenceau, President of the Council, Minister of War;
 * Mr Stephen Pichon, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
 * Mr Louis Lucien Klotz, Minister of Finance;
 * Mr André Tardieu, Commissary General for Franco-American Military Affairs;
 * Mr Jules Cambon, Ambassador of France;
 * His Majesty the King of Italy, by:
 * The Honourable Tommaso Tittoni, Senator of the Kingdom, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
 * The Honourable Vittorio Scialoja, Senator of the Kingdom;
 * The Honourable Maggiorino Ferraris, Senator of the Kingdom;
 * The Honourable Guglielmo Marconi, Senator of the Kingdom;
 * The Honourable Silvio Crespi, Deputy;
 * His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, by:
 * Viscount Chinda, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of HM the Emperor of Japan at London;
 * Mr K. Matsui, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of HM the Emperor of Japan at Paris;
 * Mr H. Ijuin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of HM the Emperor of Japan at Rome;
 * His Majesty the King of the Belgians, by:
 * Mr Paul Hymans, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister of State;
 * Mr Jules van den Heuvel, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Minister of State;
 * Mr Emile Vandervelde, Minister of Justice, Minister of State;
 * The President of the Chinese Republic, by:
 * Mr Lou Tseng-Tsiang, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
 * Mr Chengting Thomas Wang, formerly Minister of Agriculture and Commerce;
 * The President of the Cuban Republic, by:
 * Mr Antonio Sánchez de Bustamante, Dean of the Faculty of Law in the University of Havana, President of the Cuban Society of International Law;
 * His Majesty the King of the Hellenes, by:
 * Mr Nicholas Politis, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
 * The President of the Republic of Nicaragua, by:
 * Mr Salvador Chamorro, President of the Chamber of Deputies;
 * The President of the Republic of Panama, by:
 * Mr Antonio Burgos, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Panama at Madrid;
 * The President of the Polish Republic, by:
 * Mr Ignace J. Paderewski, President of the Council of Ministers, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
 * Mr Roman Dmowski, President of the Polish National Committee;
 * The President of the Portuguese Republic, by:
 * Dr Affonso da Costa, formerly President of the Council of Ministers;
 * Dr Augusto Luiz Vieira Soares, formerly Minister for Foreign Affairs;
 * His Majesty the King of Roumania, by:
 * M. Nicolas Misu, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Roumania at London;
 * Dr Alexander Vaida-Voevod, Minister without portfolio;
 * His Majesty the King of the Serbs, the Croats, and the Slovenes, by:
 * Mr Nicholas P. Pachitch, formerly President of the Council of Ministers;
 * Mr Ante Trumbic, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
 * Mr Ivan Zolger, Doctor of Law;
 * His Majesty the King of Siam, by:
 * His Highness Prince Charoon, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of HM the King of Siam at Paris;
 * His Serene Highness Prince Traidos Prabandhu, Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs;
 * The President of the Czeco-Slovak Republic, by:
 * Mr Karel Kramář, President of the Council of Ministers;
 * Mr Eduard Beneš, Minister for Foreign Affairs;


 * The Republic of Austria, by:
 * Mr Charles Renner, Chancellor of the Republic of Austria;

Who having communicated their full powers found in good and due form have agreed as follows:

From the coming into force of the present Treaty the state of war will terminate.

From that moment and subject to the provisions of this Treaty, official relation will exist between the Allied and Associated Powers and the Republic of Austria.