Austria-Hungary And France: Enemies Or Allies?

Austria-Hungary and France did fight each other during World War I. The conflict between the two countries was part of a complex web of alliances and hostilities that characterised the war.

Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers, along with the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire. On the opposing side, France was allied with Russia and Britain.

The conflict between Austria-Hungary and France was triggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife on June 28, 1914. This event led to a series of diplomatic and military escalations, resulting in the outbreak of World War I.

Austria-Hungary, with German encouragement, declared war on Serbia, which was backed by Russia. This, in turn, brought Russia's ally, France, into the conflict. Germany then declared war on Russia and France, and Britain joined the war soon after.

During the war, Austria-Hungary and France fought each other on multiple fronts, including Serbia, the Eastern Front, Italy, and Romania. The fighting resulted in heavy casualties on both sides and ultimately contributed to the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of the war.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

On the day of the assassination, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were visiting Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had been annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908. The assassins, armed with bombs, pistols, and cyanide suicide capsules, had gathered along the motorcade route. Nedeljko Čabrinović threw a bomb at the Archduke's car, but it missed and injured some bystanders. The other assassins failed to act as the motorcade passed by quickly.

Later that day, when Franz Ferdinand was returning from a visit to the Sarajevo Hospital, his convoy took a wrong turn and ended up on the same street where Gavrilo Princip was standing. Princip shot and killed Franz Ferdinand and his wife at point-blank range. The assassination sparked a rapid descent into World War I, as Austria-Hungary, with German support, took punitive action against Serbia, which eventually led to a series of declarations of war among European powers.

The July Crisis

The assassination excessively intensified the existing traditional religion-based ethnic hostilities in Bosnia. However, in Sarajevo itself, Austrian authorities encouraged violence against the Serb residents, which resulted in the Anti-Serb riots of Sarajevo, in which Catholic Croats and Bosnian Muslims killed two and damaged numerous Serb-owned buildings.

The Austro-Hungarian government immediately 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, demanding that Serbia formally and publicly condemn the "dangerous propaganda" against Austria-Hungary, the ultimate aim of which, it claimed, is to "detach from the Monarchy territories belonging to it". Moreover, 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.

On 28 July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. This marked the beginning of World War I, as Russia mobilised in support of Serbia, setting off a series of counter-mobilisations.

The Ottoman Empire's relations with France and Austria-Hungary

The Fifteenth Century

The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 established the Ottomans as a world empire. The victorious Sultan Mehmed II, "the Conqueror", wanted to preserve the city's role as a centre for world trade. Mehmed's campaigns into the Balkans began to concern the Austrian Habsburgs, but initially, there was little direct contact.

The Sixteenth Century

The sixteenth century opened with a period of Ottoman expansion that greatly affected the Porte's relationships with France and Austria. Sultan Selim "the Grim" defeated Shah Ismail Safavi at Chaldiran in 1514, bringing the central Islamic lands under Ottoman rule. Under Selim's son, Süleyman "the Magnificent", the Ottoman Empire became a major participant in European diplomacy. Süleyman was deeply interested in events and developments in Europe, and quickly moved to expand the empire to the west, especially into Hungary. This brought the Ottomans into direct conflict with the Habsburgs in Austria. At the same time, Süleyman developed closer economic and diplomatic ties with France.

In 1526, Süleyman's advances into Hungary led to the Battle of Mohács, where the Hungarians were no match for the Ottomans. Over 10,000 Hungarian foot soldiers were killed, along with most of the nobility and bishops. Within days, Ottoman forces occupied Buda and Pest.

In 1528, Francis I of France and the Hungarian king Zapolya formed a Franco-Hungarian alliance, with Zapolya becoming a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. In the same year, Francis used the pretext of the protection of Christians in the Ottoman Empire to again enter into contact with Süleyman, asking for the return of a mosque to a Christian Church. In his 1528 letter, Süleyman politely refused but guaranteed the protection of Christians in his states. He also renewed the privileges of French merchants, which had been obtained in 1517 in Egypt.

In 1532, the French ambassador Antonio Rincon presented Süleyman with a magnificent four-tiered tiara in Belgrade. Rincon also described the Ottoman camp:

> "Astonishing order, no violence. Merchants, women even, coming and going in perfect safety, as in a European town. Life as safe, as large and easy as in Venice. Justice so fairly administered that one is tempted to believe that the Turks are turned Christians now, and that the Christians are turned Turks."

In 1533, Süleyman sent Francis I 100,000 gold pieces so that he could form a coalition with England and German states against Charles V. In 1534, a Turkish fleet sailed against the Habsburg Empire at the request of Francis I, raiding the Italian coast. The fleet went on to capture Tunis in August 1534 and continued raiding the Italian coast with the support of Francis I.

In 1535, the defeat in Tunis at the hands of Andrea Doria motivated the Ottoman Empire to enter into a formal alliance with France. Ambassador Jean de La Forêt was sent to Istanbul, and for the first time was able to become a permanent ambassador at the Ottoman court and to negotiate treaties. De La Forêt negotiated the capitulations in 1536, which allowed the French to obtain important privileges, such as the security of the people and goods, extraterritoriality, and freedom to transport and sell goods. These capitulations would in effect give the French a near trade monopoly in seaport towns.

The Seventeenth Century

The seventeenth century opened and closed with major Ottoman wars with Austria. Border raiding escalated into a full-scale imperial war in 1592, usually called the Long War, which lasted until 1606. The Habsburgs took a number of Ottoman fortresses and won several major victories in the early years of the war, and anti-Ottoman rebellions broke out in Transylvania and Wallachia. The tide shifted after the Ottoman victory at Mezo Keresztes in 1596, yet the Ottomans were unable to press their advantage and the war devolved into a stalemate.

France remained a major trading partner with the Ottomans in the seventeenth century but began to face serious competition from the rising trade powers of England and the Netherlands. Despite the growing competition, French merchants remained a vital part of the Ottoman economy, and the relationship between France and the Porte remained cordial.

The Eighteenth Century

The Ottoman Empire and France maintained their close relations throughout most of the eighteenth century. Because of their own conflicts with Austria, the French often encouraged the Ottomans to fight the Austrians. Austria, for its part, was not averse to trying to take territory in the Balkans, but was usually unable to successfully fight the Ottomans on its own. Most often, Austria allied with Russia, which emerged in this century as the major threat to the Ottoman Empire.

The Nineteenth Century

In the nineteenth century, the dominant issue of Ottoman relations with France, Austria, and the other European powers was the "Eastern Question". In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the European states worried about Ottoman expansion. Now the concern was what would happen if the Ottomans withdrew from the Balkans or if the empire completely broke apart. As the nineteenth century progressed, nationalist movements in the Balkans worked to secure their independence from the Ottomans.

The Twentieth Century

The Ottoman Empire did not survive long into the twentieth century, nor did its long-time opponent, Austria-Hungary. Both multiethnic empires were broken apart in the aftermath of World War I. France emerged from the war a victor and, together with Britain, oversaw the dismantling of both empires.

In summary, the Ottoman Empire's relations with France and Austria-Hungary were complex and multifaceted, involving military alliances, economic ties, and cultural exchanges. The relationship between the Ottoman Empire and France was generally amicable, while the rivalry between the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary was a defining feature of European diplomacy for centuries.

The Balkan Crisis

The First Balkan War had several main causes, including the Ottoman Empire's inability to reform itself, govern satisfactorily, or address the rising ethnic nationalism among its diverse peoples. The Italo-Ottoman War of 1911 and the Albanian Revolts in the Albanian Provinces also demonstrated the Empire's weakness and inability to strike back. Additionally, the Great Powers quarrelled among themselves and failed to ensure that the Ottomans implemented the necessary 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, further fuelling the conflict.

The formation of the Balkan League was a significant development, as its members were confident that a coordinated and simultaneous declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire was the only way to protect their compatriots and expand their territories in the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan League was formed under Russian patronage, and its members included Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Greece. The First Balkan War was thus a war of aggression by these young nation-states against the internationally isolated Ottoman Empire, resulting in the loss of its territories in the Balkan Peninsula.

The conflict was also a proxy war between the major powers, who indirectly acted out their rivalries through treaties of alliance. Austria-Hungary, in particular, wished for the continuation of the Ottoman Empire, as both were troubled multinational entities, and the collapse of one might weaken the other. Additionally, a strong Ottoman presence in the area served as a counterweight to Serbian nationalist calls to their Serb subjects in Bosnia, Vojvodina, and other parts of the Habsburg Empire.

The First Balkan War ended with the Treaty of London, which ceded all European territory of the Ottoman Empire west of the Enos-Midiya (Enez-Kıyıköy) line to the Balkan League. However, the division of territory among the League members was not decided by the Treaty, leading to the formation of two 'de facto' military occupation zones in Macedonia. This event, along with Serbia's refusal to honour its commitments under the 1912 Serbo-Bulgarian Treaty, set the stage for the Second Balkan War.

The Second Balkan War began on 16 June 1913 when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its loss of Macedonia, attacked its former Balkan League allies. The combined forces of the Serbian and Greek armies, with their superior numbers, repelled the Bulgarian offensive and counter-attacked. Romania, which had remained neutral in the first conflict, invaded Bulgaria from the north, violating a peace treaty between the two states. The Ottoman Empire also advanced in Thrace, regaining Adrianople. The Second Balkan War ended with the Treaty of Bucharest, which partitioned Macedonia, changed Balkan borders, and established the independent state of Albania.

The Balkan Wars brought an end to Ottoman rule in the Balkan Peninsula, except for eastern Thrace and Constantinople (now Istanbul). The conflicts set the stage for the July Crisis of 1914 and served as a prelude to the First World War.

The Austro-Hungarian ultimatum

Background

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie, on 28 June 1914, was carried out by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist. This assassination sparked a series of events that led to the outbreak of World War I. Austria-Hungary sought to use the assassination as a justification to inflict military damage on Serbia, and to curb Serbian support for Yugoslav nationalism, which it saw as a threat to its multi-national empire.

The Ultimatum

On 23 July 1914, Austria-Hungary presented its ultimatum to Serbia. The ultimatum demanded that the Serbian government:

• Condemn the "dangerous propaganda" against Austria-Hungary, which it claimed was aimed at detaching territories from the Monarchy.
• Suppress all publications that "incite hatred and contempt" for Austria-Hungary and threaten its territorial integrity.
• Dissolve the Serbian nationalist organisation, Narodna Odbrana, and all other similar societies in Serbia.
• Eliminate propaganda against Austria-Hungary from schoolbooks and public documents.
• Remove from the Serbian military and civil administration, all officers and functionaries deemed detrimental to Austria-Hungary.
• Accept "representatives" from Austria-Hungary to suppress subversive movements in Serbia.
• Bring to trial all accessories to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and allow Austro-Hungarian officials to take part in the investigations.
• 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 "traffic of arms and explosives" across the frontier, and dismiss and punish the officials who assisted the assassins in crossing the border.
• Provide explanations to Austria-Hungary regarding "Serbian officials" who expressed themselves in interviews "in terms of hostility" towards the Austro-Hungarian government.

Serbia was given only 48 hours to comply with these demands. The ultimatum was intentionally harsh, as Austria-Hungary did not expect Serbia to agree to all the demands, and was using it as an excuse to go to war.

Aftermath

While Serbia agreed to all but one of the demands, its partial acceptance of the sixth demand, which would have allowed Austro-Hungarian police to operate in Serbia, was deemed insufficient. This rejection of Serbia's response led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on 28 July 1914, marking the start of World War I.

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