Austria-Hungary's Control Over Serbia: A Complex History

Austria-Hungary and Serbia had a complex relationship in the years leading up to World War I. While Serbia was an independent state, it was bordered by Austria-Hungary to the north and had a large Serb population living within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This led to tensions between the two nations, particularly over Serbia's desire to incorporate ethnic Serb-majority territories, such as Bosnia, into its kingdom. Serbia's independence and growing nationalism also threatened Austria-Hungary, which feared the rise of 'panslavism' and the potential loss of its South Slav territories. These tensions came to a head in 1908 when Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia, sparking outrage in Serbia and contributing to rising nationalism in both countries. Ultimately, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip in 1914 provided the spark for Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia, marking the beginning of World War I.

Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia in 1908

Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 was a significant event that had far-reaching consequences for the region and ultimately contributed to the outbreak of World War I. Here is a detailed account of this event and its context:

Background

Bosnia and Herzegovina were strategically important provinces in the Balkan region of Europe. For centuries, the region had been under the control of the Ottoman Empire. However, by the late 19th century, the Ottoman rule in the Balkans was facing a series of violent rebellions and uprisings. This presented an opportunity for the great powers of Europe to assert their influence in the region.

The Congress of Berlin (1878)

In 1878, the Congress of Berlin was convened to resolve the issues arising from the Russo-Turkish War. As a result, the European powers awarded the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary the right to occupy and administer Bosnia and Herzegovina. While the legal title to the provinces remained with the Ottoman Sultan, this decision marked the beginning of Austria-Hungary's influence in the region.

The Bosnian Crisis (1908)

In 1908, a rebellion known as the Young Turks movement took control of the Ottoman government. Baron Aloys von Aerenthal, the foreign minister of Austria-Hungary, saw this as an opportunity to solidify his empire's dominance in the Balkans. With the Ottoman Sultan weakened and Russia reeling from its defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, Aerenthal felt the time was right to make a bold move.

Annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

On October 5, 1908, Austria-Hungary announced its unilateral decision to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina. This sparked immediate protests from its Balkan neighbours, particularly Serbia and Montenegro, as well as the Great Powers of Europe. Serbia, which shared geographic and ethnic ties with Bosnia and Herzegovina, was outraged by the annexation and saw it as a threat to its own ambitions in the region.

Impact and Consequences

The annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina upset the fragile balance of power in the Balkans. It inflamed Serbian nationalists and permanently damaged relations between Austria-Hungary and its neighbours, especially Serbia, Italy, and Russia. This annexation was a key factor in the deterioration of relations between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, ultimately leading to the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

In summary, Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 was a pivotal moment in European history. It disrupted the delicate power dynamics in the Balkans, inflamed nationalist sentiments, and set in motion a series of events that ultimately contributed to the catastrophic conflict of World War I.

The 'Pig War'

The Pig War was a trade war between Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbia from 1906 to 1908 (some sources state 1909). It was also known as the Customs War.

In the early 20th century, Serbia was economically dependent on the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with pork being its major export, most of which was bought by Austria-Hungary. When Serbia began to seek economic and political independence from the empire, the Hungarian government decided to punish the Serbs with economic sanctions. In April 1906, Austria-Hungary closed its borders to Serbian pork.

Serbia refused to back down. They gained French investment to build new packing plants for international trade, began to order materials from the Austro-Hungarian rival, Germany, and pressured the Austrian-administered provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina for a trade outlet on the Adriatic Sea.

By March 1908, Austria-Hungary conceded defeat. The 'Pig War' ended Serbian economic dependence on Austria-Hungary and exacerbated tensions between the two neighbours.

Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on Serbia

On the 28th of June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb and member of a Serbian-backed secret paramilitary organisation. This assassination was the culmination of years of tensions between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, which had grown since Austria's annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908.

Austria-Hungary, with German encouragement, issued an ultimatum to Serbia on the 23rd of July 1914, with the intention of starting a war. The ultimatum was designed to be unacceptable to Serbia, and its terms included the suppression of publications inciting hatred against Austria-Hungary, the dissolution of Serbian nationalist organisations, and the arrest of Major Vojislav Tankosić and civil servant Milan Ciganović, who were believed to be involved in the assassination plot.

Serbia's reply to the ultimatum conceded to all the terms except one: the involvement of Austro-Hungarian officials in the investigation of the assassination. On the 28th of July 1914, exactly one month after Franz Ferdinand's assassination, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. That evening, Austro-Hungarian artillery shelled Belgrade, the Serbian capital, from the border town of Semlin (modern-day Zemun). This marked the beginning of World War I.

The Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia was not immediately successful, and the Royal Serbian Army liberated parts of the country and reached the banks of the Sava River. However, a combined Austro-Hungarian and German offensive eventually breached the Serbian front, and by January 1916, all of Serbia had been occupied. Serbia was divided into two separate occupation zones, with the goal of denationalising the Serb population and exploiting the country's economic resources. The occupation was marked by mass killings, martial law, and the deportation of between 150,000 and 200,000 men, women, and children to internment and concentration camps in Austria-Hungary.

The 'Sarajevo frenzy of hate'

The Sarajevo Frenzy of Hate

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in 1914, led to the Anti-Serb pogrom in Sarajevo. The writer Ivo Andrić referred to this event as the "Sarajevo frenzy of hate". The crowds directed their anger at Serb shops, residences of prominent Serbs, the Serbian Orthodox Church, schools, banks, the Serb cultural society Prosvjeta, and the Srpska riječ newspaper offices. Two Serbs were killed that day.

The anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo consisted of large-scale anti-Serb violence in Sarajevo on 28 and 29 June 1914 after the assassination. Encouraged by the Austro-Hungarian government, the violent demonstrations assumed the characteristics of a pogrom, which led to unprecedented ethnic divisions in the city's history. Two Serbs were killed on the first day of the demonstrations, and many others were attacked. Numerous houses, shops, and institutions owned by Serbs were razed or pillaged.

On the night of the assassination, countrywide anti-Serb riots and demonstrations took place, particularly in the territory of modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. As Princip's co-conspirators were mostly ethnic Serbs and members of an organisation of Serbs, Croats, and Muslims called Young Bosnia, the Austro-Hungarian government soon became convinced that the Kingdom of Serbia had been behind the assassination. Pogroms against ethnic Serbs were organised immediately after the assassination and lasted for days.

Anti-Serb demonstrations in Sarajevo began on 28 June 1914, a little later than those in Zagreb. Ivan Šarić, the assistant of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Bosnia, Josip Štadler, scratched anti-Serb verse anthems in which he described Serbs as "vipers" and "ravening wolves". A mob of Croats and Bosnian Muslims first gathered at Štadler's palace, the Sacred Heart Cathedral. Then, at around 10 o'clock in the evening, a group of 200 people attacked and destroyed the Hotel Evropa, the largest hotel in Sarajevo, which was owned by the Serb merchant Gligorije Jeftanović. The crowds directed their anger principally at Serb shops, residences of prominent Serbs, Serbian Orthodox places of worship, schools, banks, the Serb cultural society Prosvjeta and the Srpska riječ newspaper offices. Many members of the Austro-Hungarian upper class participated in the violence, including many military officers. Two Serbs were killed. The bishop of Mostar-Duvno Alojzije Mišić was one of the very few Catholic priests to denounce the anti-Serb violence.

On 29 June 1914, more aggressive demonstrations began at around 8 o'clock in the morning and quickly assumed the characteristics of a pogrom. Large groups of Muslims and Croats gathered on the streets of Sarajevo, shouted, sang and carried black-draped Austrian flags and pictures of the Austrian emperor and the late archduke. Local political leaders held speeches to these crowds. Josip Vancaš was one of those who gave a speech before violence had erupted. His exact role in the events is unknown, but some of the political leaders certainly played an important role in bringing crowds together and directing them against shops and houses belonging to Serbs. Political leaders disappeared after their speeches, and many fast-moving smaller groups of Croats and Muslims began attacking all property belonging to Sarajevo Serbs that they could reach. They first attacked one Serb school and then shops and other institutions and private houses owned by Serbs. A bank owned by a Serb was sacked while goods taken from shops and houses of Serbs were spread on the sidewalks and streets.

The Aftermath

The assassination became the casus belli for World War I. Taking advantage of an international wave of revulsion against this act of "Serbian nationalist terrorism," Austria-Hungary gave Serbia an ultimatum which led to World War I. Although the Serbs of Austria-Hungary were loyal citizens whose majority participated in its forces during the war, anti-Serb sentiment systematically spread and members of the ethnic group were persecuted all over the country. Austria-Hungary soon occupied the territory of the Kingdom of Serbia, including Kosovo, boosting already intense anti-Serbian sentiment among Albanians whose volunteer units were established to reduce the number of Serbs in Kosovo.

The Road to War

Serbia was swiftly blamed by Austria for Franz Ferdinand’s death. Serbia had a reputation for encouraging the Black Hand and had also given them weapons, hoping that Serbia and Bosnia would unite to form a new Balkan State. It set off a chain of reactions across Europe. Austria promised to retaliate by invading and conquering the Serbs. Out of panic, Serbia reignited her old friendship with Russia in an attempt to get help. Alliances were now being formed in preparation for what was to come. Each country found themselves on one of two sides, which only served to worsen the situation.

The July Ultimatum

On the evening of 23 July 1914, nearly a month after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to Serbia, Baron Giesl von Gieslingen, delivered an ultimatum to the Serbian foreign ministry. The ultimatum was issued with the full support of Austria-Hungary's allies in Berlin, and was designed to provoke a military conflict that would end quickly and decisively with an Austrian victory before Serbia's powerful ally, Russia, had time to react.

The ultimatum contained six concrete demands:

• The Serbian government was required to officially distance itself from the political campaign to unite the southern Slav peoples under Serbian leadership, which was seen as a challenge to the territorial integrity of Austria-Hungary.
• The purging of the Serbian army and civil service of anti-Austrian agitators.
• The suppression of anti-Austrian propaganda in the Serbian press.
• The tracking down and prosecution of extremist secret organisations operating against Austria, including the Black Hand, which was believed to have aided the assassins by providing weapons and safe passage.
• The prosecution of Serbian officials believed to have been involved in the assassination.
• The participation of Austrian officials in the investigation and prosecution of the ringleaders on Serbian territory, which would infringe on Serbia's state sovereignty.

Serbia was given 48 hours to respond to the ultimatum, and the initial consequence of non-compliance was to be the breaking off of diplomatic relations. Although there was no explicit threat of war, it was clear that this would be the next step.

On 24 July, Russia, Serbia's most important ally, ordered a partial mobilisation, making it clear that any further steps would lead to an escalation with catastrophic results. On 25 July, Serbia's response arrived, accepting most of the demands but rejecting the sixth point concerning Austrian officials' participation in investigations on Serbian territory. This response appealed to international observers, but to Vienna, it made little difference. Gieslingen broke off diplomatic relations and left Serbia, and on 28 July, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, beginning World War I.

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