Did the break up of the Austrian - Hungarian empire create more problems than it solved?
             The Balkans had always been a troublesome area as a result of repeated invasions by Turks, Greeks and Romans. It had become culturally and racially diverse. Austria-Hungary had dominated the region for many years, but people were unhappy. In order to decide whether the break up of the Austrian - Hungarian empire created more problems than it solved, it is important to analyse the good things and the problems it actually caused for each of the created countries initially and in the long-run.
             When the Austrian-Hungarian Empire broke up they became new countries which were economically weak. Austria's economic problems were mainly based on the Treaty of St. Germain in 1919. By this treaty, Austria lost most of its industrial wealthy provinces such as Bohemia and Moravia to Czechoslovakia and Galicia to Poland, causing a severe reduction of her population. In Addition to this, she was forbidden from ever joining with Germany and forced to disarm. She was also left out high and dry; surrounded by farming land, which could hardly support it and constantly being helped out by loans from the League of Nations. After this treaty, Austria was no longer a leading power in Europe. As regards Hungary, she was just as badly affected. The main terms of the Treaty of Trianon signed in 1920, involved the transfer of territories rich in corn like Ruthenia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia given to Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Moreover, business was complicated because it was a landlocked state and also when all the new states introduced tariffs because it blocked the flow trade through the whole Danube area and made the industrial recovery of Austria particularly difficult causing inflation.
             The break up of the Austrian Hungarian Empire caused political problems. Democracy had never existed on the new countries that were created after the break up of
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