Serbia In Ww1

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

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 political/geographic situation in Europe at the beginning of World War I was full of conflict and strife with nations already seeped in rivalry and hatred, bidding for power with military might and seeking to obtain it no matter what the cost or how much human life it would take to attain. Alliances are formed in a amalgamation of shared hatred for equal enemies and desire for power , Europe is abound with chaos. European borders seem to be ever changing like that of a snaking river. Austria-Hungary is full of minorities each vying for its own independence and country. Germany and France have an undying enmity for one another. Russia also hated by the Germans is seeking to protect its interests in the Balkans,while creating alliances with France and England. The continent is as a sleeping volcano waiting to erupt in a violent cataclysm of war and destruction with its epicenter between Serbia and Austria-hungry, pulling each of its respected allies into the First world war. It seems every country has some disposition towards another country over disputes not its own but of its allies. The great powers of Europe came to War after The Archdukes assassination in response to each of its respected allies becoming engulfed in a conflict between the Serbian people and Austrian-hungry nation. With both sides drawings in their alliances made prior to the war initial beginning like a domino effect, reigniting flames on animosity. Germany declaring war on Russia soon after, siding

World War I was known as the “war to end all wars,” and led to mass devastation throughout Europe. The four years of war all started with tension forming between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. After taking over Bosnia and Herzegovina, two regions Serbia wanted, Serbia vowed to take them away while Austria-Hungary vowed to destroy any effort made. Soon after, the nationalistic Black Hand who wanted to rid Bosnia of the Austrian control, shot Austria’s heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Afterwards, Austria wanted to punish Serbia and declared war on them. The assassination seemed to be what sparked the war, but rather there were much greater causes hidden beneath the surface. Instead, the underlying causes of World War I was

This concept leads to the assassination of Austria’s archduke, Franz Ferdinand. This single event is known as the spark of World War I. Serbia wanted independence and freedom from Austria-Hungary. A Serbian nationalist by the name of Gavrilo Princep assassinated the archduke and his wife as they drove by him in a car. The Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist group, orchestrated the attack, causing Austria to declare war on Serbia who was backed by the Russians. Russia, who secretly wanted to have control over Serbia, claimed be motivated by Pan Slavism. Pan Slavism is essentially Slavic nationalism, or the belief that all Slavs should support each other. According to Document 3, Austria-Hungary then made many demands for Serbia to comply with. Serbia accepted almost all demands, but this was not acceptable to Austria-Hungry, who declared war on Serbia soon after. The rest of the European Powers followed due to the Alliance system. Another event, called the Moroccan crisis, also lead to the outbreak of World War I. Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany publicly declared his support for Morocco, angering of France and Britain. The visit was intended to serve as a demonstration that Germany would back Morocco against French expansion. Great Britain and France were extremely angry over what they considered to be their business. Germany had to take most of the blame for World War I as a condition of the Versailles Treaty. According to Document 4, the Treaty forced Germany to pay all reparations for the war and limit it’s boundaries and military size. Germany resented the Treaty and the countries involved. This would eventually lead to the Second World War. Russia left World War I to focus more on internal conflict (revolution). As Russia left the conflict, the United States was pulled into it. The Zimmerman telegram was a secret telegram sent from Germany asking Mexico to enter the war to weaken

World War I, or the Great War, was one of the largest widespread wars in all of world history. However, it set the path for World War II when other countries came to blame Germany and thus crushing their government and economy, and amassed large destruction over multiple countries in Europe, such as Britain, France, and Germany, especially. It is important to understand how these wars came to be. During a dispute between Austria-Hungary and Serbia,which led to the assassination of the Austria-Hungarian leader Archduke Franz Ferdinand, years of separate alliances, bad international relations, and growth of arms all brought up the then inevitable outbreak of World War I.

Jean-Jacques Becker and Gerd Krumeich state that the attack on the Archduke would provide Austria-Hungary’s “political and military leaders with a convenient reason for dealing conclusively with the Serbian threat.” It was Austria-Hungary whom sent an ultimatum that they knew Serbia would not agree to. They did this knowingly, counting on Serbia to reject the ultimatum. Austria-Hungary took Serbia’s one reservation to the ultimatum as a declaration of war. Additionally, they are the reason why Germany became involved in the conflict. Although Germany provided Austria-Hungary a blank check, it was Austria-Hungary who decided that they would begin a conflict with Serbia. Austria-Hungary is ultimately whom should be held responsible for initiating World War I.

The war would only have been fought between the Serbians and the Austrians and the destructive consequences of the battle would most likely have been limited to those two nations; but because of the alliances that bonded many nations, an ordinary war became the first World War. Document 3 displays a graph that shows the main nations involved in the two “sides” of World War I. On one side was the Triple Alliance which included Russia, France, and Great Britain. The Triple Alliance supported the Serbian view of the situation going on; and Russia issued an informal alliance with Serbia, most likely because they were afraid of being targeted as an enemy of extremist-minded Serbia. On the other side of the argument was the Triple Alliance. The Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Italy, and Austria Hungary. All of this came together in a significant climax when Serbian extremists assassinated the Archduke of Austria Hungary, the heir to the Austrian throne. This was the event that officially started a war, and because the countries were united by alliances, it was a war fought by

All of these countries were well-off, Britain especially, with the Industrial Revolution increasing exports and Imperialism producing resources needed to keep their economy superior to other countries. In the middle of this alliance, there lay another. It consisted of Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. The Balkans to the south were considered neutral territory in 1914 (Document A), but the peoples of these lands were vastly unhappy. One such people were the Serbians. Now, the Serbians were not happy with how their lives were, and dreamed of revolution. So, a group known as The Black Hand devised a plan that they believed would bring the change they wanted to Serbia; killing the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Now when this happened, Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war on Serbia. However, when this did this, they alerted the Triple Entente. Russia, which was tied to the Triple Entente, was on good terms with Serbia. And so Russia declares war on Austria-Hungary, which causes Germany to join in, and invade Belgium. And so Britain, who was a friend of Belgium, declared war on Germany, and then France joined because England joined. So, in effect, because of one assassination, because of one death, all of Europe bursted into a long, bloody engagement in which ten million people

It was supposed to be implemented by 1916, when Schlieffen felt that Germany would be strong enough to be victorious; however, when Schlieffen designed his plan, he did not take politcs or the chaos that it would lead to into account. Two years before they were prepared to implement the Plan, in 1914, a Serbian nationalist killed the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. It is believed that the tension between Serbia and Austria-Hungary goes back to the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary. Serbia was infuriated because it ruined their hope of Slavic unity and freedom by using Bosnia to establish a large Serbian Kingdom.

The Serbian nationalists were the main cause of Franz Ferdinand’s assassination and aided in the start of World War I. After the Austria-Hungary Empire annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina, the country of Serbia encouraged Serbians living there to rebel “against Austria-Hungarian rule in frequent protests and civil disturbances” (Pendergast 16). The Serbians began to fight for independence against rule of Austria-Hungary which led to the assassination of the Archduke of the Austria-Hungary Empire, Franz Ferdinand. The Black Hand was the terrorist group that murdered Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. Not only was it “led by Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijevic, the head of Serbian military intelligence” but Austria’s Serbian ambassador is said to have known about the assassination beforehand (Pendergast 21). Serbian’s were sick of being ruled in an empire, so “militant groups like the Black Hand, wanted to untie the Slavic people in an independent pan-Slavic state” (Pendergast 45). They were determined to put all the Slavic people together as a separate nationality and destroyed people who got in their way, including Franz Ferdinand, the Archduke of the Austria-Hungary Empire. With Franz Ferdinand being the heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne, the Austria-Hungarian Empire began to call for a war against the Serbians but needed allies in order to have a chance of winning.

ABC-CLIO writes, “Other ethnic groups dreamed of forming their own homelands” (Unraveling the Causes of World War I). The German unification caused Germany became one of the strongest European countries in Europe. German’s were proud of their military power and industrial leadership. Other ethnic groups, like the French, longed to regain its place of Europe’s leading power. The French were bitter of their loss in the Franco-Prussian war and the German occupation of Alsace and Lorraine. They were eager for revenge against Germany and win back their lost provinces. The Slavs were another ethnic group that dreamed of forming their own homelands. The Balkans had a dream of unifying all of the Slavic states. In 1878, Serbia gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. At that time, Serbia decided to claim to several regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina which were inhabited primarily by Serbs. However, the Congress of Berlin granted permission to Austria-Hungary to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the other disputed Serbian areas. In 1908, Austria-Hungary officially annexed all of Bosnia and Herzegovina, adding more fuel to the fires of Serbian nationalism. So when the Archduke was assassinated in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria reacted quickly, as it was seen as the Empire's last chance to proclaim its superiority in the Balkans. Count Leopold von Berchtold, the Austrian foreign minister was determined to make use of the

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