When the German protesters attacked the Slovenian police commissioner Ivan Senekovič, Maister's soldiers fired shots into the air and later at the people, causing few casualties.

In response, German Austria launched a military offensive which expelled the Yugoslavs from several small towns in Central Styria [de] along the Mur River.

According to the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, signed on 10 September 1919, Maribor and the rest of Lower Styria became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

[8] To resolve the question of the ownership of Carinthia, the greater region of which Lower Styria formed a part, the U.S.-administered Coolidge Mission in Vienna proposed a demographic investigation of the territory.

The mission was led by Archibald Cary Coolidge, professor of history at Harvard College, and operated under the American Commission to Negotiate Peace.

[12] On 23 November 1918, Maister and his soldiers disarmed and disbanded the "Green Guard" (German: Schutzwehr, Slovene: Zelena Garda) security force maintained by the Maribor city council.

[13] Maister captured several villages and towns north of the Mur River, including Lichendorf, Bad Radkersburg, Mureck and Marenberg.

[citation needed] Subsequently, on 4 February 1919, German Austria commenced a military offensive to recover the regions of Central Styria controlled by Maister's troops.

[24][25] In Slovenia, by contrast, Maister remains well-regarded; numerous societies[26] institutions and streets[27] are named in his honour and he is commemorated in several monuments.