Austria's Border Closure: A Ww1 Conflict Prevention Strategy

The First World War began when Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia in July 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip. Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers, along with the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Austro-Hungarian forces fought the Allies in Serbia, on the Eastern Front, in Italy, and in Romania. With heavy aid and support from its allies, the empire managed to occupy Serbia in 1915 and force Romania out of the war in 1917. On the other fronts, it suffered severe casualties, culminating in the collapse of the Italian front, which led the Austrians to accept the Armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918.

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 led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia and the start of World War I.

The assassination team was helped by the Black Hand, a Serbian secret nationalist group; support came from Dragutin Dimitrijević, chief of the military intelligence section of the Serbian general staff, as well as from Major Vojislav Tankosić and Rade Malobabić, a Serbian intelligence agent. Tankosić provided bombs and pistols to the assassins and trained them in their use.

The assassins and key members of the clandestine network were tried in Sarajevo in October 1914. In total twenty-five people were indicted. All six assassins, except Mehmedbašić, were under twenty at the time of the assassination; while the group was dominated by Bosnian Serbs, four of the indictees were Bosnian Croats, and all of them were Austro-Hungarian citizens, none from Serbia. Princip was found guilty of murder and high treason; too young to be executed, he was sentenced to twenty years in jail, while the four other attackers also received jail terms. Five of the older prisoners were sentenced to be hanged.

The Balkan crisis

The Balkan Wars were a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. The First Balkan War saw the four Balkan states of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria declare war on the Ottoman Empire, resulting in the loss of its European provinces. The Second Balkan War saw Bulgaria fight against the other four original combatants of the first war, as well as an attack from Romania from the north.

The First Balkan War had several causes, including the inability of the Ottoman Empire to reform itself or govern satisfactorily, rising ethnic nationalism among its diverse peoples, and the Italo-Ottoman War of 1911, which revealed the Empire's weakness. The Great Powers also failed to ensure that the Ottomans carried out the needed reforms, leading the Balkan states to impose their own solution.

The Christian populations of the European part of the Ottoman Empire were oppressed by Ottoman rule, forcing the Christian Balkan states to take action. The formation of the Balkan League, with members confident that a simultaneous declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire was the only way to protect their compatriots and expand their territories, further escalated tensions.

The Balkan Wars brought an end to Ottoman rule in the Balkan Peninsula, except for Eastern Thrace and Constantinople (now Istanbul). The Young Turk regime was unable to reverse the Empire's decline but remained in power, establishing a dictatorship in June 1913.

The July Crisis was a series of diplomatic and military escalations among the major powers of Europe in the summer of 1914, which ultimately led to the outbreak of World War I. The crisis began on 28 June 1914, when Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie. A complex web of alliances, coupled with miscalculations by political and military leaders, resulted in hostilities among most of the major European states by early August 1914.

Austria-Hungary sought to inflict a military blow on Serbia and 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 it in any conflict. Germany provided its support through what became known as the "blank cheque."

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie sparked the July Crisis, which ultimately led to the outbreak of World War I. The complex web of alliances and miscalculations by political and military leaders resulted in hostilities among most of the major European states, with far-reaching consequences for the Balkans and the world.

The ultimatum to Serbia

The Austro-Hungarian government waited three weeks following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand before issuing its formal response. The ultimatum was presented by the Austrian government to Belgrade on Thursday 23 July 1914 at 6 p.m. A response was demanded within two days, by Saturday 25 July at 6 p.m. The ultimatum was a lengthy list of demands made upon the Serbian government. It took as its basis an assumption that the Serbian government was implicated in events at Sarajevo. The demands included:

• Serbia must condemn the propaganda directed against Austria-Hungary and suppress all anti-Austrian propaganda and to take steps to root out and eliminate terrorist organizations within its borders.
• Serbia must dissolve the society styled "Narodna Odbrana" and all other such societies in Serbia.
• Serbia must eliminate from public instruction, both as regards the teaching body and also as regards the methods of instruction, everything that serves, or might serve, to foment the propaganda against Austria-Hungary.
• Serbia must remove from the military service, and from the administration in general, all officers and functionaries guilty of propaganda against the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.
• Serbia must accept the collaboration in Serbia of representatives of the Austro-Hungarian Government for the suppression of the subversive movement directed against the territorial integrity of the Monarchy.
• Serbia must take judicial proceedings against accessories to the plot of the 28th of June who are on Serbian territory; delegates of the Austro-Hungarian Government will take part in the investigation relating thereto.
• Serbia must proceed without delay to the arrest of Major Voija Tankositch and of the individual named Milan Ciganovitch, a Serbian State employee, who have been compromised by the results of the magisterial inquiry at Serajevo.
• Serbia must prevent by effective measures the cooperation of the Serbian authorities in the illicit traffic in arms and explosives across the frontier.
• Serbia must dismiss and punish severely the officials of the frontier service at Shabatz Loznica guilty of having assisted the perpetrators of the Serajevo crime by facilitating their passage across the frontier.
• Serbia must furnish the Austro-Hungarian Government with explanations regarding the unjustifiable utterances of high Serbian officials, both in Serbia and abroad, who, notwithstanding their official position, have not hesitated since the crime of the 28th of June to express themselves in interviews in terms of hostility to the Austro-Hungarian Government.
• Serbia must notify the Austro-Hungarian Government without delay of the execution of the measures comprised under the preceding heads.

The declaration of war on Serbia

On 28 July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, effectively beginning the First World War. This declaration came a month after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, by a Bosnian Serb nationalist, Gavrilo Princip.

The declaration of war was the culmination of a series of diplomatic and military escalations among the major powers of Europe in the summer of 1914, known as the July Crisis. The crisis began on 28 June 1914, when Princip assassinated the Archduke and his wife.

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, 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", but urged Austria-Hungary to attack quickly to localise the war and avoid drawing in Russia.

Austria-Hungary made its ultimatum to Serbia on 23 July. 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.

On 28 July 1914, at 11:00 a.m., Count Leopold von Berchtold, the Austro-Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs, sent the following telegram from Vienna to M. N. Pashitch, Serbian Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs:

> The Royal Serbian Government not having answered in a satisfactory manner the note of July 23, 1914, presented by the Austro-Hungarian Minister at Belgrade, the Imperial and Royal Government are themselves compelled to see to the safeguarding of their rights and interests, and, with this object, to have recourse to force of arms. Austria-Hungary consequently considers herself henceforward in state of war with Serbia.

The invasion of Belgium

The German invasion of Belgium, which began on 4 August 1914, was part of the Schlieffen Plan, designed to bring a quick end to the war with a decisive German victory. The invasion was intended to bring the 1st, 2nd and 3rd German Armies into positions in Belgium from which they could invade France.

On 2 August, the German government sent an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding passage through the country. Two days later, the Belgian government refused the German demands and the British government guaranteed military support to Belgium. The German government declared war on Belgium on 4 August; German troops crossed the border and began the Battle of Liège. Liège fell on 7 August, and the German invasion continued through Belgium, much more slowly than the German high command had originally hoped.

The Belgian government had announced on 24 July that if war came, it would uphold its neutrality. The Belgian government mobilised its armed forces on 31 July and a state of heightened alert (Kriegsgefahr) was proclaimed in Germany.

The German invasion of Belgium was a violation of Belgian neutrality, to which Germany, France, and Britain were all committed by treaty. This violation of Belgian neutrality provided the casus belli for Britain's declaration of war.

The German invaders treated any resistance as illegal and subversive, shooting offenders and burning buildings in retaliation. The German occupation of Belgium lasted until late 1918.

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