Map Description

Two historical maps of WWI: Europe in 1919

Illustrating Europe's national boundary realignments resulting from the First World War

This is an inset of the map of the World in 1919

Illustrating:

The First World War radically redrew the map of Europe through several treaties, with the Treaty of Versailles (1919) being the most significant.

The German Empire lost substantial territory: Alsace-Lorraine returned to France; Eupen and Malmedy were ceded to Belgium; Northern Schleswig went to Denmark following a plebiscite; and significant eastern territories were surrendered to the newly reconstituted Poland, including most of Posen, West Prussia, and parts of Upper Silesia. The Saar Basin was placed under League of Nations administration for 15 years.

The collapse of Austria-Hungary via the Treaties of Saint-Germain (1919) and Trianon (1920) produced the greatest territorial reorganization.

The dual monarchy disintegrated into several successor states: Austria and Hungary (both significantly reduced), Czechoslovakia (combining Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia), and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia). Romania gained Transylvania, Bukovina, and part of Banat, while Italy acquired South Tyrol, Trieste, Istria, and parts of Dalmatia through the Treaty of Rapallo.

Under the terms of the Treaty of Neuilly (1919), Bulgaria was compelled to cede Western Thrace (to Greece), lost access to the Aegean Sea, and parts of Macedonia were ceded to the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

The Russian Empire, having withdrawn from the war after the Bolshevik Revolution, lost Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and parts of Belarus and Ukraine through the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918). Though later nullified, these losses were largely confirmed as these regions established independence.

Poland was reconstituted from territories previously held by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia, fulfilling a key Allied war aim.

The Ottoman Empire's European holdings were severely reduced through the Treaty of Sèvres (1920), though many provisions were later revised by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) after the Turkish War of Independence.

Greece temporarily gained Eastern Thrace and claims to Smyrna, though most were later reversed.

Credits

Courtesy of the United States Military Academy Department of History.

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