The Reasons for the Hostility Between Austria-Hungary and Serbia During 1878 and 1914

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

Nationalism was strong during the 19th century. The Slavic peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovinia no longer wanted to be a part of the Austria Hungary nation, but a part of Serbia. All the

On June Twenty Eighth Archduke was traveling with his wife, when the driver got lost and went down the wrong road. Gavrilo Princip was a Serbian assassin who shot and killed Archduke and his wife. The assassination was used to start a rebellion that would create a much larger Serbian nation. Austrian ambassador was very unsettled by that, so he decides to get a friendship with Germany. They become allies on July fifth. Austrian wanted an apology from Serbia. But did not receive one. Austria-Hungary then declared war on Serbia. Therefore caused a giant war to break out (DBQ Project Essay Background).

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

WWI. This tension was caused by the threat Pan-Slavism posed on Austria-Hungary due to its high Slavic population and its recent annexation of Bosnia Herzegovina. Another tension-builder was that Russia, a Slavic nation and a super-power at the time, was fully supporting this movement, thereby indirectly challenging Austria-Hungary

Similarly, Austria Hungary made alliance with Serbia to stop Russia from gaining control of Serbia. While, in 1882 Germany and Austria-Hungary had an alliance with Italy to stop taking sides with Russia.

In the middle of all that, Bulgaria and Serbia are allied with Russia, Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary, this was called The Web of alliances. In 1914 there weren’t really any “big” conflicts, Africa becoming fully claimed by the European nations. Imperialism and competition for the worlds resources could have played a big role in the start of World War I.

Austria-Hungary was not ready to let Serbia, under the protection of Russia, take over territories. Balkan was one of the most unstable areas at the time, due to its turbulent history and ethnic diversity. Along the increase of nationalism, arms race was creating growing tensions that eventually escalated into war. Germany was enlarging their military power, and France followed up with doubling their army. These actions could be taken as the preparation for what was about to happen.

Serbia agreed to most but not all of these demands. This resulted in Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. Due to the alliance with Serbia, Russia entered the war.

One cause of the war, as suggested by historians, was the previous relationships and tensions amongst countries, especially Serbia and Austro-Hungary. The tension between these nations dates back to 1815 when the Serbs successfully rebelled against the Ottoman Empire (to which at this point, the Serbs were ruled

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." ).

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

The alliance system, which at that time was used to prevent any war, has caused this huge war when Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia, and making it ineluctable. This proves that the blank cheque that was given to Austria was reasonable, for Austria was Germany’s ally, and as allies, they should support each other. The same was done with Russia with countries in the Balkans. As Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Serbia, Russia mobilizes her army and prepares her troops to help the Serbs to protect themselves from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Germany,

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