preview

Balkan Nationalism

Decent Essays

Balkan nationalism is not an underlying long-term cause of World War I, but it is definitely what set everything that happened in the years 1914-1918 into motion. In the early 20th century, Balkan was inhabited by numerous ethnic groups (referred to as Slavs), where most of them lived in Serbia. The Balkans is located between the two great powers Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, something that led to a lot of tension and unstableness. When the Ottoman Empire crumbled in the late 19th century, Austria-Hungary saw this as a chance to expand her influence and borders. However, a lot of Slavs wanted to form a Greater Serbia or Yugoslavia for all Slavs, rather than to be a part of Austria-Hungary. Because of this, the pan-Slavic nationalist …show more content…

After this, Austria-Hungary wanted to crush pan-Slavic nationalism once and for all, and issued an ultimatum to Serbia. They also received Germany’s unlimited support, the so-called Blanc Cheque. Even though the Serbs capitulated to almost all of the demands, Austria-Hungary mobilized and went to war with them. Russia saw this mobilization as a threat, something that led to their full mobilization along the entire length of Russia’s eastern border. This again led to panic in Germany, who also ordered full mobilization. They wanted to eliminate the threat of a two-front war, and therefor attacked France, hoping to crush their army before Russia made their move (known as Schliefen Plan). However, the plan failed, and only led to the involvement of Great Britain. One could argue that this is something that eventually would have happened anyway, as the tension in Europe was so big. However, it is doubtful that it would have happened to such an extent without Balkan nationalism. If Gavrilo Princip hadn’t shot the Archduke, Austria-Hungary wouldn’t have gone to war with Serbia. This would have meant that there was no reason for Russia and Germany to get involved, and the Schliefen Plan wouldn’t have been necessary.

Even though pan-Slavic nationalism was one of the immediate causes for the outbreak of World War I, it was not one of the long-term background causes. Economic motives, on the other hand,

Get Access