The Republic of German-Austria (German: Republik Deutschösterreich or Deutsch-Österreich) was a country created following World War I as the initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking and ethnic German population within what had been the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The territories covered an area of 118,311 km2 (45,680 sq mi), with 10.4 million inhabitants. In practice, however, its authority was limited to the Danubian and Alpine provinces which had been the core of the Austrian Empire.
Attempts to create German-Austria under these auspices were ultimately unsuccessful, and the new state of the First Austrian Republic was created in 1919.
In Habsburg Austria-Hungary, "German-Austria" was an unofficial term for the areas of the empire inhabited by Austrian Germans.
On 12 October 1918 Emperor Charles I met with the leaders of the largest German parties. German Nationalists wanted a constitutional monarchy of free nations; Christian Socialists wanted to maintain monarchy and a federation of nations; Social Democrats wanted a republic that would either be a part of a federation of nations or join Germany.
On 16 October 1918 Emperor Charles I published a manifesto which offered to change Austria-Hungary into a federation of nationalities. This came too late as Czechs and Southern Slavs were well on their way to creating independent states. However, this gave an impulse to the Reichsrat (Austrian parliament) of German-inhabited areas to meet.