Rump Austrian Empire in World War Two

With the end of the First World War the Nations of europe settle down to recover from the devastion that the war had caused. Emperor Karl's peace agreement with the western allies has given him the breathing room he needed to reform the country. He has appointed a Czech as the new Prime Minster and the reforms begin.
Karl visits all parts of his empire and by his actions to improve his subjects lives wins the loyalty of the people. The country is slowly adjusting to the reforms that he has administered. The 1920's see the economic recoverly of the empire and the Imperial military is in far better shape than it was in 1914. While Hungary has slide in chaos the Empire has managed to establish good relations with the new Polish state and even Romania. Still Karl feels concern at the chaos that is in the former southern provinces of the Empire, where his cousin the Archduke died and triggered the war. The new Yugoslav state that replaced Serbia seems to be having problems.
 
Chaos in Central Europe:
The ending of the First World war resulted in a lot of instability in Central and Eastern Europe. The Russian Revolution had totaly distablised that country as the Civil War continued. The Olish state that had been created by the Central Powers had grown and was involved in a great struggle with the Soviets. The splitting of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1917 had resulted in the collapse of Hungary a year latter as Romania rentered the war.
The Hungarians had lost territory and the Red Revolution had seen the rest of Croatia break away and join the Austrian Empire.Romania and Hungary had clashed and the Reds had been crushed but still Hungary was unstable.
The Italians and Greeks seemed to be involved in land grabs of the former Ottoman Empire but it appeared that both countries may have bitten off more than they could chew.
Austria was more concern with its northern neighbor Germany. The Imperial Austrian Government had used what good will it had with the allies to try to save the Imperial Monarchy of that state arguing that if it was not kept the country might slide into chaos and the Red menance might spread.
 
The 1920's
Europe had just started on the path to recovery from the first World War. France was under the great financial burden that was a result of the war's damage to the french economy . The English government of David Lloyd George was unhappy at the prospect of the french dragging them in another war and had finally put the brakes on the demands to punish Germany.
Indeed the fleeing of the Kaiser to Holland and his abbuication from the throne had turn Germany into chaos. The political forces of the left and the right seem to be battling for control of the state and the British government was wondering if conditions would ever stablize.
The Poles were being pushed back by the Soviets but Austria had begung to allow arms from France and even from its own factories to be sold or allowed passage through the empire. While Karl had no desire to see his nation go to war he was also not eager to see the Red Monster that had Killed the Czar to be allowed to move futher westward.
 
The 1920's PartII:
The 1920's say the new Austrian Federal Empire go through a series of reforms. The country had a new parliament with member from the german, czech, slovenian and croatian parts of the empire. Karl appointed a Czech as the first new Prime Minster of the new Empire. As a result of his actions the country spent money improving the schools, medical care and argiculture of the Empire. The loss of Hungary had caused food problems briefly but thing improved.
The empire saw the emergence of a number of different political parties. The Christain Democratic Party , Cratian Peoples Party, Bohmian Social democratic Party, Catholic Centerist Party, Socialist Party were just a few. The Empire had its first election in 1921 when the Christain Democrats and the Catholic Centerist parties joined to form a coliation governmnet.
 
The Depression:
the aftermath of the war left a lot of countries suffering serious economic difficulties. France and Great Britan as well as Germany were suffering from the massive debtcaused by the war and the damage to those countries economies. The shocking conditions had created chaos in Hungary leading to a left wing government. Germany was forced to pay damages to France and Belgium for loses suffered by those countrie due to German occupation. The sudden down turn of the economies of France, Belgium, Italy, Germany led to growing unemployment in each of those states. The Prime Minster of Great Britain called for a meeting of all of the government to be held in London on July 1,1930. There delegations from: Italy, France, Germay, Poland, Belgium, Norway, Austria, Greece, Serbia, Sweden, Spain , Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands met to try to hammer out a way out of the mess.
The Austrian Chancellor urged that the war debts be reduced by all countries and that trade barriers between the countrie be lowered to stimulate the economy. A vote was held and the Austrian proposal was passed with some modifications
Austria then hels a private meeting with the British Prime Minister about the restoration of the Monarchy in Germany. The Austrian Government was very concern at the growth of extremist in Germany and believed that it was the only way to permanently check them. He had gained the support of the Polish government ( no doubt helped by the aid that the Imperial Government had given to Poland duirng the Polish-Soviet War).
 
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