Austria-Hungary's Post-Wwi Fate: A Geopolitical Shift

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 was the main short-term cause of World War I. Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers, along with Germany, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was a multi-ethnic state ruled by Emperor Franz Joseph I. The empire was already facing internal pressures from nationalist movements within its many ethnicities. The war only exacerbated these issues, as the Austro-Hungarian army was ill-equipped and struggled in many of its most important conflicts. The empire was also facing economic issues, with food shortages and soaring inflation. The Italian front marked the start of rebellion for the various ethnicities within the empire, who refused to keep fighting for a lost cause. The empire was facing disintegration from within, and the Emperor had lost much of his power. The Hungarian Parliament voted to terminate the union with Austria, and the empire was dissolved in October 1918.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

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 aided by the Black Hand, a Serbian secret nationalist group, and received support 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.

On the day of the assassination, the motorcade carrying the Archduke and his wife passed by the assassins, who had been positioned along the route. One of the assassins, Nedeljko Čabrinović, threw a bomb at the car, but missed. About an hour later, when the motorcade took a wrong turn, Princip shot and killed the Archduke and his wife.

The assassination intensified existing ethnic hostilities in Bosnia and led to the Anti-Serb riots of Sarajevo, in which Catholic Croats and Bosnian Muslims killed two and damaged numerous Serb-owned buildings. Austro-Hungarian authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina imprisoned and extradited approximately 5,500 prominent Serbs, 700 to 2,200 of whom died in prison.

The assassination also precipitated the July Crisis, which ultimately led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia and the start of World War I. In the aftermath of the assassination, Austria-Hungary, with the support of Germany, presented Serbia with a list of ten demands, known as the July Ultimatum, expecting that Serbia would refuse to accept them. When Serbia accepted nine of the demands but only partially accepted the remaining one, Austria-Hungary declared war. This set off a series of counter-mobilizations, resulting in the start of World War I.

Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia

On 23 July 1914, the Austro-Hungarian government issued Serbia with an ultimatum containing concrete demands in order to prevent an escalation of conflict. The ultimatum came almost a month after the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by a young Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia. The terms of the ultimatum were as follows:

• 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 legal proceedings against extremist secret organizations operating against Austria.
• Austrian officials were to take part in the investigation into the assassination and in the hunting down and prosecution of the ringleaders on Serbian territory, which would infringe upon Serbia's state sovereignty.

Serbia was given 48 hours to respond to the ultimatum. While there was no explicit threat of war, it was clear that breaking off diplomatic relations would be the next step.

On 25 July, Serbia responded to the ultimatum within the 48-hour deadline, accepting the majority of the demands but rejecting the final point concerning the participation of Austrian officials in investigations on Serbian sovereign territory. This response did much to appeal to international observers, but Vienna was uninterested in a diplomatic solution. Three days later, on 28 July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, marking the beginning of World War I.

The July Crisis

The month-long period following the assassination became known as the July Crisis. It drew in most of the major political leaders of Europe, some of whom sought to avoid war while others seemed hell-bent on firing the first shots. There was a flurry of meetings between Austro-Hungarian and German diplomats, debating how to proceed and what might happen with regard to Russia if Vienna declared war on Serbia.

On 5 July, Kaiser Wilhelm II issued his famous 'blank cheque' to the Austro-Hungarians: they could proceed as they saw fit, and Germany would back them if Russia intervened. Privately, Wilhelm and his military chief, von Moltke, wanted war with Russia and France sooner rather than later. Both believed Germany to be much better prepared than the Russians and French; they wanted to strike early before both could adequately mobilise. The Kaiser urged his Austrian allies to deal with Serbia promptly and ruthlessly. He did not believe the Russians would declare war on Austria-Hungary, but if they did, Germany would reciprocate with a declaration of war against Saint Petersburg.

On 23 July, almost one month after the assassination, the Serbian government received an ultimatum from Austria-Hungary. It included a set of ten firmly worded demands, plus a requirement for the Serbs to respond in agreement within 48 hours. Winston Churchill, then in charge of Britain's Royal Navy, called the ultimatum "the most insolent document of its kind ever devised".

Serbia immediately sought the counsel of the Russians. Tsar Nicholas II and his ministers offered to publicly condemn the ultimatum, but they were also aware that Russia's military readiness lagged behind Germany's, so refused to offer any military guarantees. The British foreign minister tried to avert war by organising a mediation conference between all nations with a stake in the crisis, but this was rejected by both Berlin and Vienna.

Serbia responded to the Austrian ultimatum just before the expiration of the deadline. It submitted to most of the demands but rejected the Austrian-led inquiry demanded by point six, which it considered a breach of Serbian sovereignty. The Serbs again reiterated that their government gave no moral or material support to Princip and the other assassins. The Austrian ambassador, on receiving the Serbian response, read it once, then immediately left Belgrade and returned to Vienna. After some cajoling from his advisors, Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph declared war on Serbia on 28 July.

The declaration of war triggered a chain reaction that quickly dragged in the nations of Europe. Bound by their alliances – or rather their leaders' commitment to these agreements – country after country was drawn into the spiral of war. Russia, a long-time protector of Serbia, responded by mobilising its forces against Austria-Hungary. Germany's rulers declared war on Russia on 1 August and lit the fuse for their much-anticipated Schlieffen Plan, a scheme to invade France, which began the following day. Germany's invasion of neutral Belgium triggered Britain's involvement, which in turn dragged British dominions – Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India and South Africa – to declare war on Germany. By the end of August, most of Europe was at war, though a few countries (Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Spain and the Netherlands) remained neutral for the duration.

The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

The Austro-Hungarian Empire, also known as the Dual Monarchy, was a union of two monarchies: the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. The Empire was one of the Central Powers in World War I, which began with its declaration of war on the Kingdom of Serbia on 28 July 1914. The war was triggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on 28 June 1914. The assassination heightened existing ethnic and religious hostilities in Bosnia, and the Austrian authorities encouraged violence against the Serb residents of Sarajevo. This resulted in the Anti-Serb riots, during which Catholic Croats and Bosnian Muslims killed two Serbs and damaged several Serb-owned buildings.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was already weakened by a widening gap between Hungarian and Austrian interests, and the war catalysed its collapse. The Empire's army was ill-equipped and struggled in many of its most important conflicts. It was also negatively impacted by its multi-ethnic nature, which created division within the ranks and made it difficult for commanders to organise troops. The Empire's economy was also struggling, with inflation rising by as much as 1000% during the war, and food shortages becoming common.

In 1917, Emperor Karl I attempted to save the Empire by turning it into a federal union, giving ethnic groups more decentralisation and representation. However, nationalist movements within the Empire, encouraged by the Allies, were calling for full independence. The Italian front, which began in 1915, was particularly significant in the Empire's collapse. The final battle at Vittorio Veneto was lost by 31 October 1918, and the armistice was signed at Villa Giusti on 3 November. On the same day, the Hungarian Parliament voted to terminate the union with Austria, and on 11 November, Karl I issued a proclamation recognising the Austrian people's right to determine the form of the state and relinquishing his right to participate in Austrian state affairs. The Republic of German Austria was proclaimed the following day.

The Armistice of Villa Giusti

The Terms of the Armistice

Under the terms of the armistice, Austria-Hungary's forces were required to evacuate:

• All territory occupied since August 1914.
• South Tyrol, Tarvisio, the Isonzo Valley, Gorizia, Trieste, Istria, western Carniola, and part of Dalmatia.

All German forces were to be expelled from Austria-Hungary within 15 days, and those who had not left within that time would be interned. The Allies were granted unrestricted use of Austria-Hungary's internal communications and were allowed to move their armies through the country to reach Germany from the south.

The Fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

The armistice marked the de facto end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had already been tearing itself apart along ethnic lines. The Empire was facing multiple challenges, including crop failure, starvation, economic crisis, and the rise of nationalist movements among its various ethnic groups. The Italian offensive in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, which began on 24 October 1918, proved to be the final straw, leading to the rapid collapse of the Empire.

The Aftermath

In the aftermath of the armistice, Italy annexed Southern Tyrol (now Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol), as well as Trieste, the Austrian Littoral, and part of Dalmatia. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, signed in September 1919, formally dissolved the Austro-Hungarian Empire and reduced Austrian territory to roughly 40% of its previous size. The Treaty of Trianon, signed with Hungary in June 1920, further cemented the breakup of the Empire, with Hungary losing over 70% of its pre-war territory.

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