Germany 's Stance Towards Serbia Essay

Relations between the French and Germans were additionally beset, while France and Russia likewise had their disparities. The leaders of Austria-Hungary considered Serbia in charge of Archduke Francis Ferdinand 's demise in a terrorist assault in 1914. Leaders of Austria-Hungary wanted to rally the people of their vanishing empire going to war against the minuscule Serbia, trusting a

Serbia was upset of Bosnia being placed under Austrian rule because of their devotion to Slavic nationalism, and Austria was aware of their disappointment and unhappiness. Austria suggested eliminating Pan-Slavism because they were worried about the idea of Serbian terrorists in their country because of Serbia's aggression towards them. Austria was aware that Bosnia favored Slavic nationalism just like Serbia. Austria-Hungary could have avoided intervening in the social and political ideas of getting rid of Slavic nationalism and being oppressive to the Serbian people. By sending an Austrian political figure to Serbia during the turmoil was an unintelligent action for Austria to make because it was a fact that the Archduke's life would be put in danger and that he would most likely be killed. The Austrian government even expressed how the atmosphere created by the malicious agitation in Serbia sprang up a series of murderous attacks on high functionaries of the Monarchy, which ended in the execrable crime against the exalted person of the heir to the throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which had been carefully prepared in Serbia(The Austro-Hungarian Red Book). Austria knew that Serbia

One of the youngest nations of Europe, Yugoslavia was created after World War I as a homeland for several different rival ethnic groups. The country was put together mostly from remnants of the collapsed Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. Demands for self-determination by Slovenes, Croats, Serbs, and others were ignored. Yugoslavia thus became an uneasy association of peoples conditioned by centuries of ethnic and religious hatreds. World War II aggravated these rivalries, but Communist dictatorship after the war controlled them for 45 years. When the Communist system failed, the old rivalries reasserted themselves; and in the early 1990s the nation was rent by secessionist movements and civil war. Within several years these conflicts

This leads to the conclusion that the European powers were ready for war in 1914. It is important to realize that since the European powers made alliances with each other, small arguments concerning one power might lead to a war involving all the powers. In the case of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, this situation created a serious misunderstanding between Austria-Hungary and Serbia and as a result, the other nations in Europe involved in alliances with either 2 countries were obligated to support them. Alliances were originally created strictly for defensive purposes but by 1910, many of the alliances had changed their character like the Austro-German alliance. Germany promised to give military aid to Austria-Hungary to invade Serbia and on the other hand, Russia provided Serbia with military assistance. As alliances had become instruments of national aggression, the chances of war doubled. The probability of Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia due to the death of their heir increased because Austria-Hungary could rely on the support of Germany to help achieve its goal. In addition, this fragile interlock of alliances relied on the leaders of the European countries to act reasonably however, this was not the case in the situation of World War 1. The Kaiser of Germany felt his country was being denied the chance to unleash its full potential by Britain so the power hungry ruler was determined to

A young generation was emerging within Serbia and Bosnia whose experience of national and social struggles had taught them the effectiveness of violence as a means to achieve goals (as seen in the Balkan Wars 1912-13). It was a generation that demanded action and sacrifice instead of words and political wisdom (Cirkovic 246). Russia repeatedly assured their Slav brethren that they only had to wait (MacKenzie 58). Serbian agitation against Austria-Hungary was increased and the more the Austro-Hungarians attempted to subvert it, the more violent and fanatical it became. The fearlessness that was born from the support of Russia led those seeking Slavic unity to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, thereby triggering the cascade that began WWI.

The huge national investment in military helped the countries to prepare for the war. In actuality, all the countries had known that the war was unavoidable. (Doc 9) French writer Emile Zola thinks that “The world can live only by eating and being eaten. And it is only the warlike nations that have prospered; a nation dies when it disarms.” (Doc 2) Countries made meticulous plan to defend themselves by increasing militarism. The expenditures of the great powers on armaments of the European countries increased dramatically. (Doc 10) However, the political leaders did not make efforts to prevent the war. Instead, they increased the mobilization of their armies for war. (Doc 11) Countries were aware of that the world war must bring out, the only thing was a trigger, the assassination of Ferdinand. The relationship between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was terrible before the assassination. In the ultimatum sent to Serbia on July 23, 1914, Austria-Hungary condemned the movement against the Monarchy and asked for collarboration against these subversions. (Doc 8) However, the tensions became uncontrollable when on July 28, Ferdinand was assassinated by a a nationalist Serbian young

While many nations were involved in alliances against Germany, few were involved in alliances with Germany. As a result of Italy’s lack of dedication to the Triple Alliance, Germany became paranoid of losing their vital alliance with the Austria-Hungary, causing them to go to any length to preserve Austria-Hungary, according to Document Nine. This assurance of support was a fatal error by Germany, giving Austria-Hungary the infamous ‘Blank Cheque’ that guaranteed full support to Austria-Hungary for any actions they would take in response to the assassination. Upon receiving the blank cheque, Austria-Hungary acted as stupidly and aggressively as possible without regard for diplomatic repercussions, as indicated by their unreasonable (if not impossible) requests in their ultimatum to Serbia demonstrated in Document Three, resulting in an Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia which prompted the domino effect leading to the outbreak of the Great War. As Germany was responsible for pushing the first domino, they were held responsible for the start of the war by the

Because of the archduke’s assassination and the fact that Serbia rejected some of the ultimatums given by Austria-Hungary in order to preserve its sovereignty, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. After the takeover of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary, Russia and Austria-Hungary’s allies were committed to supporting their respective allies more effectively in the event of another crisis. Therefore, since Russia was determined to fully support Serbia, Czar Nicholas II ordered partial mobilization, the process of assembling troops and supplies and making them ready for war, of the Russian army against Austria-Hungary. Today, mobilization would not necessarily be considered as an act of war; however, at

It is hard to believe that such a grand war broke out due to a quarrel between just two nations, and the “blank check” is a noteworthy factor in the escalation of this war. Its significance to history is due to the fact that war between two countries and Germany’s support to Austria-Hungary quickly erupted into one of the most memorable and major wars in the world. For this very reason is why I myself became interested in this topic. In school we have learned a lot about World War I and the formation of alliances, but Germany’s pledge to support Austria-Hungary in their decision to attack Serbia was something I never took into account as a possible cause to World War I. Therefore this topic caught my attention as I began to question what position the “blank check” had in triggering such a massive war and if war could have been avoided if it was never issued. I believe for this very reason it is worthy of investigation and would attract the attention of others since it was a key aspect in the timeline of the world’s history. During my research I will be looking at primary and secondary sources, with respect to any biases that may be present.

The Scramble for Africa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries encouraged many different nations to become involved in colonialism. In this time period, competing European powers carved up the continent of Africa between themselves, due to a variety of political and economic motives. Generally, these powers benefited from these land acquisitions. However, Germany’s neo-imperialist experience was unlike that of the other powers. Within the colony of Namibia, located in South West Africa, the real advantages that Germany received were far outweighed by the disadvantages the German empire faced. Although Germany received elevated political status from occupying colonies, the economic and military efforts that were invested in

The assassination gave Austria-Hungary a good reason to form a plan against Serbia, but Austria-Hungary first got Germany’s promise to support them in any action they took against Serbia. Then Austria-Hungary sent Serbia a list of demands on July 23. Serbia accepted most of the demands and offered to have the rest settled by an international conference. Austria-Hungary rejected the offer and declared war on Serbia on July 28 1914("World War I History." ).

Germany expected Austria to respond quickly to the assassination but Austria waited for a few weeks. When the Serbians rejected the Austrian ultimatum on July 25, Russia declared itself to be in a period of preparatory to war which seemed like mobilization although technically, it wasn’t. Russia’s foreign minister tried to emphasize this to the Germans. Tsar Nicholas II proved that measure on July 25, and it went into effect on July 26. Austria officially declared war on July 28. Then very quickly on July 30, Russia actually did mobilize. Germany warned Russia to stand down but on August 1, France decided to mobilize its forces in support of Russia. On the same day, Germany mobilized and declared war on Russia. August 3, Germany declared war

One of the reasons led to World War One was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by a Serbian (Fromkin 121). Although multiple reasons have been affiliated to his assassination, most of those reasons revolve around upholding Serbia’s power. On the one hand, Austria-Hungary had planned to attack Serbia since it was at its weakest point due to the adverse effects of the Balkan War they had just undergone (Fromkin 122). On the other hand, Serbia was making an effort to regain control over Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was under the control of Austria-Hungary (Fromkin 122). Before the assassination of Franz, the Bosnia-Herzegovina crisis had heightened to a point where Austria intended to invade Serbia (Fromkin 74). It was evident that Serbia, through the assassination of Franz, was seeking to retain its independence and protect its regions from Austria-Hungary’s influence by intimidating

As it began, our century drew to a close, with Germany once again the economic powerhouse and political hub of Europe. What is remarkable is how quickly this happened, how unbidden and unanticipated: the toppling of the Berlin Wall in November 1989; the reunification a year later; the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in late December 1991; a resurgent impetus to West European integration in 1992; and NATO enlargement, which was consecrated in April 1999. Unquestionably, this chain of events has profoundly affected Germany’s situation over the past decades. For the first time since the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in 1949 and the painstaking process of

The land of Kosovo has been plagued with tension for hundreds of years being claimed by several surrounding countries. The two biggest contenders, Albanians in Kosovo and Serbia have been fighting for the land, which culminated in a full war from 1998-1999. The war brought international attention to the war crimes committed by both sides, and proved that the two countries had years to go before coming to a solution. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) led by Kosovo Albanians, and the Serbian militia led by President Slobodan Milošević committed heinous crimes against their enemies. Crimes range from ethnic cleansing to rape and destruction of whole villages. The violence created a serious refugee problem that is still relevant today.