Hungary's Violent Past: Shooting At Austria

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie on 28 June 1914 by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo was the catalyst for a series of events that led to the outbreak of World War I. Austria-Hungary, with the support of its powerful ally Germany, presented Serbia with a list of ten demands, known as the July Ultimatum, expecting that Serbia would refuse to comply. When Serbia accepted nine of the ten demands but only partially accepted the remaining one, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914. This declaration of war set off a chain reaction of military mobilisations and counter-mobilisations, ultimately resulting in the outbreak of World War I.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

On 28 June 1914, the couple were shot at close range while being driven through Sarajevo, the provincial capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip. Princip was part of a group of six Bosnian assassins, all but one of whom were Bosnian Serbs and members of a student revolutionary group that later became known as Young Bosnia. 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 assassins were helped by the Black Hand, a Serbian secret nationalist group, and received bombs, pistols, and cyanide suicide capsules from members of the group. The day of the assassination was also the feast of St. Vitus in Serbia, commemorating the 1389 Battle of Kosovo against the Ottomans. Princip and other members of the Young Bosnia were inspired by the heroism of Miloš Obilić, reenacting the Kosovo Myth.

The assassination precipitated the July Crisis, during which Austria-Hungary sought to inflict a military blow on Serbia, demonstrating its own strength and attempting to dampen Serbian support for Yugoslav nationalism, which it viewed as a threat to the unity of its multi-national empire. Vienna also sought a guarantee from its ally, Germany, that Berlin would support Austria in any conflict. This guarantee, later known as the "blank cheque", urged Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia quickly to localise the war and avoid drawing in Russia.

On 23 July 1914, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia, demanding that it formally and publicly condemn the "dangerous propaganda" against Austria-Hungary, suppress all publications that "incite hatred and contempt" of the monarchy, dissolve the Serbian nationalist organisation Narodna Odbrana, arrest Major Vojislav Tankosić and civil servant Milan Ciganović, who were named as participants in the assassination plot, and accept Austro-Hungarian delegates to take part in the investigations. Serbia proposed arbitration to resolve the dispute, but Austria-Hungary instead declared war on 28 July 1914, exactly a month after Ferdinand's death. By the following week, Germany, Russia, France, Belgium, Montenegro and Great Britain had all been drawn into the conflict, and other countries like the United States would enter later. Overall, more than 16 million people—soldiers and civilians—died in fighting that lasted until 1918.

The July Ultimatum

The ultimatum was issued with the full support of Germany, and was designed to force a military conflict with Serbia that would end quickly and decisively with an Austrian victory before the rest of Europe, particularly Russia, had time to react.

The ultimatum demanded that Serbia:

• Condemn the "dangerous propaganda" against Austria-Hungary.
• Suppress all publications that "incite hatred and contempt" of Austria-Hungary.
• Dissolve the Serbian nationalist organisation Narodna Odbrana.
• Eliminate anti-Austrian propaganda from schoolbooks and public documents.
• Remove from the Serbian military and civil administration all officers and functionaries whose names Austria-Hungary will provide.
• Accept "representatives of the Austro-Hungarian Government" for the "suppression of subversive movements".
• Bring to trial all accessories to the Archduke's assassination and allow "Austro-Hungarian delegates" 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 the Serbian authorities in the "traffic in arms and explosives across the frontier".
• Provide "explanations" to Austria-Hungary regarding "Serbian officials" who have expressed themselves in interviews "in terms of hostility" to Austria-Hungary.
• Notify Austria-Hungary "without delay" of the execution of the measures.

Serbia was given 48 hours to respond to the ultimatum. However, before Serbia replied, Russia ordered a secret partial mobilisation of its armed forces. This increased the willingness of Serbia to defy the threat of an Austro-Hungarian attack.

On 25 July, the Serbian Cabinet worked out a compromise, accepting all of the terms of the ultimatum except for the demand that Austro-Hungarian police be allowed to operate in Serbia.

On 28 July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, beginning the First World War.

The Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia

The First Campaign

The first campaign began after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914. The campaign, dubbed "punitive expedition" by the Austro-Hungarian leadership, was under the command of Austrian General Oskar Potiorek. It ended after three unsuccessful Austro-Hungarian invasion attempts were repelled by the Serbians and their Montenegrin allies. The victory of the Royal Serbian Army at the battle of Cer is considered the first Allied victory in World War I, and the Austro-Hungarian Army's defeat by Serbia has been called one of the great upsets of modern military history.

The Second Campaign

The second campaign was launched, under German command, almost a year later, on 6 October 1915, when Bulgarian, Austro-Hungarian, and German forces, led by Field Marshal August von Mackensen, successfully invaded Serbia from three sides, pre-empting an Allied advance from Salonica to help Serbia. This resulted in the Great Retreat through Montenegro and Albania, the evacuation to Greece, and the establishment of the Macedonian front. The defeat of Serbia gave the Central Powers temporary mastery over the Balkans, opening up a land route from Berlin to Constantinople, allowing the Germans to re-supply the Ottoman Empire for the rest of the war. Mackensen declared an end to the campaign on 24 November 1915. Serbia was then occupied and divided between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Bulgaria.

The declaration of war on Russia

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.

On 28 July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Following instructions from the German chancellor, the German ambassador did not present the Kaiser's "Stop in Belgrade" proposal until noon. At 1:00 a.m. on 29 July 1914, the first shots of the First World War were fired by the Austro-Hungarian monitor SMS Bodrog, which bombarded Belgrade in response to Serbian sappers blowing up the railway bridge over the river Sava which linked the two countries.

On 6 August 1914, Emperor Franz Joseph signed the Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Russia.

The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was a military and diplomatic alliance consisting of two sovereign states with a single monarch, who was titled both Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. The Empire was geographically the second-largest country in Europe and the third most populous worldwide.

The Empire's collapse was catalysed by the onset of World War I, which began with an Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on the Kingdom of Serbia on 28 July 1914. The war was incited by the 28 June 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie. The assassination was carried out by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist. Austria-Hungary sought to inflict a military blow on Serbia to demonstrate its own strength and to dampen Serbian support for Yugoslav nationalism, which it viewed as a threat to the unity of its multi-national empire.

Austria-Hungary was already effectively dissolved by the time the military authorities signed the armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. The Kingdom of Hungary and the First Austrian Republic were treated as its successors de jure. The collapse of the empire was formalised in the September 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye with Austria, and the June 1920 Treaty of Trianon with Hungary.

The war exposed the incompetence of the Austrian high command, which had no plans for a continental war and an ill-equipped army and navy. The Austrian army suffered defeats in its invasion of Serbia in 1914, and at the Battle of Lemberg. The Austro-Hungarian army was outnumbered by the Imperial Russian Army, and was defeated in the Brusilov Offensive. The Italian front was also a disaster, with four battles taking place over five months. The Austro-Hungarian army was left alone on the battlefields as the multiethnic empire started to disintegrate.

By 1918, the economic situation had deteriorated, and the government had failed badly on the home front. The empire's multi-ethnic army lost its morale and was increasingly hard-pressed to hold its line. Nationalists within the empire were becoming embittered as, under expanded wartime powers, the military routinely suspended civil rights and treated different national groups with varying degrees of contempt. The Allies encouraged breakaway demands from minorities, and the Empire faced disintegration.

In October 1918, Emperor Karl I issued a proclamation altering the empire into a federal union to give ethnic groups decentralisation and representation. However, this was rejected by the United States Secretary of State, Robert Lansing, who stated that autonomy for the nationalities was no longer enough. Lansing's response was the death certificate of Austria-Hungary. The South Slavs in both halves of the monarchy had already declared in favour of uniting with Serbia in a large South Slav state. The Croatians had begun disregarding orders from Budapest. The Czechoslovaks and Southern Slavs declared their independence. With defeat in the war imminent, Czech politicians peacefully took over command in Prague, followed by the Slovaks, who did the same. On the same day, the Slavs in both portions of what remained of the empire proclaimed the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, declaring their intention to unite with Serbia and Montenegro. On 17 October 1918, the Hungarian Parliament voted to terminate the union with Austria. The most prominent opponent of continued union with Austria, Count Mihály Károlyi, seized power in the Aster Revolution on 31 October. One of his first acts was to repudiate the compromise agreement, effectively dissolving the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

Frequently asked questions