Transcript World War I: The Balkan Problem

Causes of World War I
Part 3
Causes of the War
The “isms”
– Nationalism
– Imperialism
– Militarism
Entangling alliances
– Triple Alliance – Germany, AustriaHungary, Italy
– Triple Entente – Britain, France,
Russia
Failed Diplomacy
The Balkans had many
ethnicities with different
language, culture, religions,
etc.
In 1908, talks between
Russian Foreign Minister
Alexander Izvolski
(eezvolskee) and Habsburg
Foreign Minister Count
Aehrenthal led to the Balkan
fuse being lit
Aehrenthal
Failed Diplomacy
Russia – wanted to change the “rule” of the
Straits of Constantinople, which was closed to
all warships when Turkey was at peace, to a
new rule which would allow Russian warships
to pass them
Austria-Hungary – wanted to convert the
occupation of the two Turkish provinces of
Bosnia and Herzegovina into an actual
annexation
Failed Diplomacy
They promised each other mutual support…the
basis of the talks were to increase Austro-Russian
cooperation
Aehrenthal collected his side of the bargain, before
Izvolski could speak to the Tsar or Britain
Slav Serbia, resenting the annexation, appealed to
Russia for support; Austria relied on Germany
To save face, Izvolski claimed he had been tricked
by Aehrenthal
Good relations between Austria and Russia were
ended. They would no longer settle their imperial
rivalries in the Balkans together
Russian Support of Serbia
Serbia’s nationalist feelings
had been wildly aroused by
the Monarchy’s annexation
of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
which was inhabited by
mostly Serbs
Russia backed Serbia and
Germany backed Austria
The Russians backed down
as they weren’t ready for
war
Russian Support of Serbia
Russia had been more concerned with
Constantinople than with supporting Serbia
The Russian government in 1914 knew they
had failed to support Serbia in the previous year
as warmly as the Serbs had expected and
hoped
Failure to support Serbia again would mean the
end of Russian prestige in the Balkans and the
beginning of a possible new diplomatic
alignment there
First and Second Balkan Wars
The small Balkan states were greedy
and wanted Turkish territory in Europe
They were ready to fight each other over
the spoils
In 1912 and 1913, the Balkan states
went to war with each other
As a result, Serbia greatly increased her
territory, to the alarm of Austria
Effects of the Balkan Wars
Greece, Serbia, Albania, Macedonia,
Romania, Montenegro gained
independence
Serbia gained a much greater sense of
nationalism because they won both and
gained territory
Russia and Austria-Hungary felt equally
threatened by each other’s diplomatic
policies
Cause #5 – Assassination
The emperor going into WWI was
Francis Joseph, who had won the
affection of his subjects simply by
always having been there:
– Braved family misfortunes
– Was simple and honest
– Had pride in his old age
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was
his only heir to the throne
Cause #5 –
Assassination
Occurred on June 28, 1914
The assassins received their weapons from the
Serbian terrorist organization called the Black
Hand. It was headed by Colonel Dragutin
Dimirijevic, who was also in charge of army secret
intelligence in Serbia
The Bosnian youths had also been helped by
Serbian agents across the border
Despite a warning by the PM of Serbia, Nikola
Pasic, Archduke Francis Ferdinand went to Bosnia
anyhow
When the chauffeur hesitated which way to go,
Gavrilo Princip, assassinated the Archduke
The Assassins Locations: 28th June, 1914
1 Muhamed
Mehmedbasic
5 Gavrilo Princip
(morning)
2 Nedjelko Cabrinovic
6 Gavrilo Princip
(afternoon)
3 Vaso Cubrilovic
7 Trifko Grabez
4 Cvijetko Popovic
8 Danilo Ilic
Gavrilo Princip
The
Archduke’s
Uniform
The
Archduke’s
Car
Cause #5 – Assassination
Austria-Hungary’s Reaction
They believed that:
–
–
–
–
Serbia and Russia would be restrained by
Austria backed by Germany
A diplomatic offensive was no longer enough
Serbia needed to be “punished or the empire’s
role as a great power would be at an end”
If they didn’t do something, ethnicities in their
country would stand up to the Austrian gov’t
and push for independence
Cause #5 –
Assassination:
Blank Check
Bethman Hollweg (the German
chancellor), the Kaiser, and the
military decided to back AustriaHungary with German military
support if necessary, should Russia
intervene
The Austrian ministers were given a
free hand to settle with Serbia in any
way they thought appropriate
Cause #5 – Assassination:
The Wait For War
Even after the German assurances, there was
still hesitation:
– A-H PM was opposed to war and did NOT
want Serbia annexed because he didn’t
want any more Slavs
– The army asked for more time to prepare
– A-H decided to wait until the French
President and PM had ended their visit to
St. Petersburg, making it more difficult to
consult her French ally
On July 23rd, an ultimatum was presented
Cause #5 – Assassination:
War Begins
On July 25th, although Serbia submitted to all
the demands except Austrian investigators,
Serbia mobilized her army
Later that evening, the Austro-Hungarian army
mobilized against Serbia
Although the Austro-Hungarian army wouldn’t
be ready for another 3 weeks, they declared
war on the 28th of July
On July 29th, they bombarded Belgrade
Cause #5 – Assassination:
Russia’s Reaction
The Tsar hoped that Germany and
the other powers would stand aside
while Russia supported Serbia to
prevent Austria-Hungary from
attacking Serbia
Russia “partially” mobilized against
Austria-Hungary on July 29th
The French urged for FULL
mobilization
Cause #5 – Assassination:
Russia’s Reaction
The Tsar wanted to avoid pushing
Germany into mobilization by his partial
mobilization, but eventually he was told
this was technically impossible, so he
consented to a general mobilization on
July 31st
This triggered the military in Berlin, which
was now in a frenzy
Cause #5 – Assassination:
Germany’s Reaction
The Schlieffen Plan was dependent on
quick mobilization and defeat of
France. Any country that mobilized
meant that the plan would have to be
executed or it would be too late
As soon as the policy of frightening
Russia into acquiescence had failed,
the Germans mobilized. France had
to be defeated before Russia fully
mobilized
Cause #5 – Assassination:
War Is Declared By Germany
On August 1st, 1914, war
was declared on Russia
On August 3rd, 1914, war
was declared on France
On August 4th, 1914,
Germany invaded neutral
Belgium; Britain declared
war on Germany the same
day
Why Diplomacy Failed
Alliances divided the world and made it more
likely for a large war to develop
Countries couldn’t settle their imperial disputes
and created competition/rivalries
The blank check issued by Germany bolstered
Austria’s confidence
The ultimatum failed to settle the SerbianAustria conflict peacefully
British attempts to call for a conference for
peace after the assassination failed