Austria's Invasion Of Serbia: Mourning Franz's Death

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, on 28 June 1914, was the catalyst for a series of events that led to World War I. The couple was shot by 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb and member of Young Bosnia, a secret revolutionary society. Princip was part of a group of assassins coordinated by Danilo Ilić and supported by the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist group. The political objective of the assassination was to free Bosnia and Herzegovina from Austrian-Hungarian rule and establish a common South Slav state. The assassination led to the July Crisis, resulting in Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia a month later, on 28 July 1914. This declaration set off a chain reaction, with each country's allies joining the fight, ultimately leading to World War I.

Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, on 28 June 1914, was the immediate catalyst for World War I. The assassination was carried out by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip, a member of Young Bosnia, a secret revolutionary society of peasant students. The political objective of the assassination was to free Bosnia and Herzegovina of Austria-Hungarian rule and establish a common South Slav ("Yugoslav") state.

Austria-Hungary sought to inflict a military blow on Serbia, to demonstrate its own strength and to dampen Serbian support for Yugoslav nationalism, viewing it as a threat to the unity of its multi-national empire. However, wary of the reaction of Russia (a major supporter of Serbia), Austria-Hungary sought a guarantee from its ally, Germany, that Berlin would support Austria in any conflict. Germany guaranteed its support through what came to be known as the "blank cheque".

On 23 July 1914, Austria-Hungary made its ultimatum to Serbia, demanding that Serbia formally and publicly condemn the "dangerous propaganda" against Austria-Hungary, the ultimate aim of which, it claimed, was to "detach from the Monarchy territories belonging to it". Belgrade should "suppress by every means this criminal and terrorist propaganda". Most European foreign ministries recognised that the ultimatum was formulated in terms so harsh that the Serbs would be unable to accept it. Additionally, Serbia was only given 48 hours to comply.

Serbia was only given until 25 July to respond to the ultimatum. The Serbian Cabinet worked out a compromise, but historians disagree on the extent to which the Serbs genuinely compromised. Some argue Serbia accepted all of the terms of the ultimatum except for the demand that would have allowed Austro-Hungarian police to operate in Serbia. Others argue that the Serbs drafted their reply to give the impression of making significant concessions but that, in reality, this was a rejection of most points.

On 28 July 1914, exactly one month after Franz Ferdinand's assassination, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. That evening, Austro-Hungarian artillery shelled the Serbian capital of Belgrade from the border town of Semlin (modern-day Zemun), effectively starting World War I.

The July Crisis

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand was one of the key events that led to World War I. Following the murder, Austria-Hungary sought to inflict a military blow on Serbia, to demonstrate its own strength and to dampen Serbian support for Yugoslav nationalism, viewing it as a threat to the unity of its multi-national empire. However, Vienna, wary of the reaction of Russia (a major supporter of Serbia), sought a guarantee from its ally, Germany, that Berlin would support Austria in any conflict. Germany guaranteed its support through what came to be known as the "blank cheque", but urged Austria-Hungary to attack quickly to localise the war and avoid drawing in Russia.

On 23 July 1914, Austria-Hungary made its ultimatum to Serbia. Before Serbia replied, Russia ordered a secret, but noticed, partial mobilisation of its armed forces. Though Russia's military leadership knew they were not yet strong enough for a general war, they believed that the Austro-Hungarian grievance against Serbia was a pretext orchestrated by Germany, and considered a forceful response to be the best course of action. Russia’s partial mobilisation—the first major military action not undertaken by a direct participant in the conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia—increased the willingness of Serbia to defy the threat of an Austro-Hungarian attack; it also alarmed the German leadership, having not anticipated the idea of needing to fight Russia before France.

On 28 July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The political objective of the assassination was to free Bosnia and Herzegovina of Austria-Hungarian rule and establish a common South Slav ("Yugoslav") state. The assassination precipitated the July Crisis, which ultimately led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia and the start of World War I.

On the day of the assassination, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were being driven through Sarajevo, the provincial capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had been formally annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908. The motorcade's route had been published in advance, and the assassins had fanned out along the Appel Quay, a main avenue in Sarajevo. Nedeljko Čabrinović threw a bomb at the car, but it bounced off and rolled underneath the wrong vehicle, wounding two army officers and several bystanders but leaving the Archduke and his wife unharmed. Čabrinović was apprehended while attempting to flee, and the motorcade continued on to city hall.

After the conclusion of the events at city hall, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie got back into the motorcade, with the intention of visiting the wounded officers in the hospital. However, the driver of their car accidentally took a wrong turn, and while attempting to reverse, the car stalled close to where Princip was standing. Princip stepped up to the car and shot Franz Ferdinand and Sophie at point-blank range. The Archduke and his wife were both dead within minutes.

The assassination set off a rapid descent into World War I. Austria-Hungary, with German support, issued an ultimatum to Serbia, which was deemed unacceptable, and on 28 July 1914, exactly a month after the assassination, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. This declaration of war set off a series of cascading declarations that drew other European powers into the conflict, ultimately leading to World War I.

The Austro-Hungarian ultimatum

On 23 July 1914, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia, demanding that the Serbian government:

• Condemn the propaganda directed against Austria-Hungary and pledge to suppress it.
• Publish a declaration in the official state newspaper condemning the propaganda and expressing regret for the "dreadful consequences" of the recent assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
• Dissolve the Serbian nationalist organisation Narodna Odbrana and all other such societies in Serbia.
• Eliminate from schoolbooks and public documents all propaganda against Austria-Hungary.
• Remove from the Serbian military and civil administration all officers and functionaries deemed to be involved in the assassination plot.
• Allow Austro-Hungarian officials to take part in the investigations and trials of those involved in the plot.
• Arrest Major Vojislav Tankosić and civil servant Milan Ciganović, who were named as participants in the assassination plot.
• Cease the cooperation of Serbian authorities in the smuggling of arms and explosives across the frontier.
• Dismiss and punish the officials of Šabac and Loznica frontier service, who were found to have assisted the perpetrators of the Sarajevo crime.
• Provide explanations to Austria-Hungary regarding the "unjustifiable utterances" of high Serbian functionaries expressing hostility toward Austria-Hungary following the assassination.
• Notify Austria-Hungary of the execution of the above measures without delay.

The ultimatum was formulated in extremely harsh terms and Serbia was given only 48 hours to comply. It was designed to be rejected, and indeed, despite some concessions, Serbia's reply was deemed unsatisfactory by Austria-Hungary, leading to the outbreak of World War I.

The Serbian response to the ultimatum

On 25 July 1914, the Serbian government responded to the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum, agreeing to most but not all of Vienna's demands.

The Royal Serbian Government stated that it could not be held responsible for the actions of private individuals, such as newspaper articles and the work of societies, which were commonplace in other countries and not under state control. The Serbian government was surprised by the assertions that Serbian citizens had been involved in the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and was ready to cooperate with the investigation. The Serbian government was willing to surrender any Serbian citizen involved in the crime to the court and pledged to publish an official statement condemning propaganda against Austria-Hungary.

However, the Serbian government refused to allow Austro-Hungarian officials to operate within Serbia, stating that this would violate the constitution and criminal procedure. The Serbian government also agreed to investigate all those who had participated in the outrage of 28 June but refused to accept Austro-Hungarian officials in this investigation.

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