Who Supported Serbia? The Road To World War I

The showdown between Serbia and Austria-Hungary, which ultimately led to the First World War, was backed by several countries. After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. This was encouraged by Germany, who promised full support for a severe response against Serbia. Russia, a supporter of Serbia, stepped in, bringing France into the conflict. Germany then declared war on Russia and France, and invaded Belgium, prompting Britain to declare war on Germany.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated by a Bosnian Serb nationalist, Gavrilo Princip. The assassination was one of the key events that led to World War I.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was deeply in love with Sophie Chotek, whom he married in 1900 despite opposition from his uncle, the sitting Emperor Franz Joseph. As Sophie was not from a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty in Europe, their children were declared ineligible for the throne, and she became the victim of countless petty slights.

In June 1914, the Archduke and his wife visited the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. Austria-Hungary had annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina a few years earlier against the wishes of neighbouring Serbia, which also coveted them. The population of Bosnia-Herzegovina was roughly 40% Serb, 30% Muslim and 20% Croat, with various other ethnicities making up the remainder. The Young Bosnians, a secret revolutionary society of peasant students, began plotting to assassinate the Archduke.

In May 1914, Gavrilo Princip, Trifko Grabez and Nedeljko Cabrinovic travelled to Belgrade, where they received six handheld bombs, four semi-automatic pistols and cyanide suicide capsules from members of the so-called Black Hand, a terrorist group with close ties to the Serbian army. After practising with their pistols in a Belgrade park, the three men journeyed back to Bosnia-Herzegovina, receiving help from Black Hand associates to smuggle their weapons across the border. It remains unclear whether the Serbian government participated in the scheme.

On 28 June, the day of the assassination, the Archduke and his wife boarded a train for the short ride into Sarajevo. For once, Sophie was permitted to walk alongside Ferdinand during a brief troop inspection, after which the couple got in an open-topped car for a motorcade ride to city hall. The motorcade's route had been published in advance, and seven Young Bosnians had fanned out along the Appel Quay, a main avenue in Sarajevo. When the motorcade passed by, Cabrinovic threw his bomb at the car, only to watch it bounce off the roof and roll underneath the wrong vehicle. The subsequent explosion wounded two army officers and several bystanders but left the Archduke and his wife essentially unharmed. Cabrinovic swallowed his cyanide pill and jumped into the river, but the attempt failed, and he was severely beaten by the crowd before being taken into custody.

Rather than immediately flee Sarajevo, the Archduke decided to continue on to the planned event at city hall. After finishing that up, he insisted on visiting the wounded officers in the hospital. In order to dissuade any other bomb throwers, the motorcade zipped down the Appel Quay at high speeds. By mistake, however, the first three cars turned onto a side street right where Princip happened to be standing. As the cars attempted to reverse back onto the Appel Quay, Princip whipped out his pistol and fired two shots at the Archduke from point-blank range, piercing him in the neck and also striking Sophie's abdomen. Within minutes, both had passed away. Princip, a slender, 19-year-old Serbian army reject, later admitted to killing the Archduke but said he had not meant to hit Sophie.

With tensions already running high among Europe's powers, the assassination precipitated a rapid descent into World War I. First, Austria-Hungary gained German support for punitive action against Serbia. It then sent Serbia an ultimatum, worded in a way that made acceptance unlikely. Serbia proposed arbitration to resolve the dispute, but Austria-Hungary instead declared war on 28 July 1914, exactly a month after the Archduke'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 Crisis

The crisis was a result of a complex web of alliances, coupled with the miscalculations of numerous political and military leaders. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife was the trigger for the crisis, but the underlying causes were more complex and involved the interplay of diplomatic and military alliances, as well as the miscalculations of political and military leaders.

The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist. This event set off a chain reaction of diplomatic and military escalations that ultimately led to the outbreak of World War I.

The Crisis in Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary sought to inflict a military blow on Serbia, seeing the assassination 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 of support from its ally, Germany. Germany gave its unconditional support, urging Austria-Hungary to attack quickly to localise the war and avoid drawing in Russia.

The Blank Cheque

On 5 July 1914, Germany gave Austria-Hungary a "blank cheque" of support, promising to back its actions against Serbia. This assurance from Germany was a crucial factor in Austria-Hungary's decision-making during the crisis.

The Ultimatum to Serbia

On 23 July, Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with a harsh ultimatum, demanding, among other things, the suppression of anti-Austrian propaganda and the allowance of Austro-Hungarian officials to conduct investigations in Serbia. Russia, a major supporter of Serbia, responded by ordering a secret partial mobilisation of its armed forces.

The Response of the Entente Powers

The Entente Powers (France, Russia, and Britain) were alarmed by the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum and sought to prevent an escalation of the crisis. France and Russia reaffirmed their alliance and agreed to support Serbia against Austria-Hungary. Britain, which was semi-formally aligned with Russia and France, made repeated offers to mediate but was rebuffed by Germany, which urged Austria-Hungary to act quickly.

The Outbreak of War

On 28 July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, marking the beginning of World War I. The crisis escalated rapidly, with Russia ordering a partial mobilisation and Germany declaring war on Russia on 1 August. France and Britain also became involved, with France ordering a general mobilisation and Britain declaring war on Germany on 4 August.

The Balkan Wars

The First Balkan War

The First Balkan War began on 8 October 1912, when the Balkan League member states attacked the Ottoman Empire. It ended eight months later with the signing of the Treaty of London on 30 May 1913. The four Balkan states united to form the Balkan League, confident that a 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 Ottoman Empire was unable to reform itself or deal with the rising ethnic nationalism of its diverse peoples. The Great Powers failed to ensure that the Ottomans would carry out the needed reforms, leading the Balkan states to impose their own solution.

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 Bulgaria from the west and the south. Romania, which had taken no part in the first conflict, invaded Bulgaria from the north. The Ottoman Empire also attacked Bulgaria, regaining Adrianople. In the resulting Treaty of Bucharest, Bulgaria managed to regain most of the territories it had gained in the First Balkan War but was forced to cede the ex-Ottoman south part of Dobruja province to Romania.

Prelude to World War I

The Austro-Hungarian ultimatum

On 23 July 1914, the Austro-Hungarian government issued Serbia with an ultimatum, demanding a response within 48 hours. The ultimatum was formulated in six points:

Firstly, the Serbian government was required to officially distance itself from the political campaign to unite the southern Slav peoples under Serbian leadership, which was a challenge to the territorial integrity of Austria-Hungary. Secondly, the ultimatum demanded the purging of the Serbian army and civil service of anti-Austrian agitators. Thirdly, it demanded the suppression of anti-Austrian propaganda in the Serbian press. Fourthly, the Serbian government was called upon to track down and take legal proceedings against extremist secret organisations operating against Austria. Fifthly, it demanded that Austrian officials should take part in the investigation into the assassination and in the hunting down and prosecution of the ringleaders on Serbian territory, which would infringe Serbia's state sovereignty. Finally, Serbia was required to arrest Major Vojislav Tankosić and civil servant Milan Ciganović, who were named as participants in the assassination plot.

The ultimatum was designed to be unacceptable to Serbia, and was issued to provoke a military conflict. Although there was no explicit threat of war, it was clear that this would be the next step if Serbia did not comply.

The Serbian reply

On the 23rd of July, 1914, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia, demanding that it:

• Condemn the "dangerous propaganda" against Austria-Hungary.
• Suppress all publications that "incite hatred and contempt" towards the empire.
• Dissolve the Serbian nationalist organisation, Narodna Odbrana.
• Eliminate anti-Austrian propaganda from schoolbooks and public documents.
• Remove certain officers and functionaries from the Serbian military and civil administration.
• Accept "representatives of the Austro-Hungarian Government" to suppress subversive movements within Serbia.
• Arrest certain individuals allegedly involved in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
• Cease the cooperation of Serbian authorities in the "traffic of arms and explosives" across the frontier.
• Provide "explanations" regarding "Serbian officials" who had expressed hostility towards the Austro-Hungarian government.

Serbia's reply to the ultimatum was delivered on the 25th of July. It accepted all but one of the demands: that Austro-Hungarian officials be allowed to operate in Serbia to suppress subversive movements and investigate the assassination. This was seen as an unacceptable infringement of Serbian sovereignty.

Austria-Hungary rejected Serbia's reply and broke off diplomatic relations on the 25th of July, beginning military preparedness measures. On the 28th of July, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

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