Austria-Hungary had many reasons to go to war, and many historians believe that the assassination of Austria’s Arch-duke was used as an “excuse” to go to war. The Habsburg government clearly over-reacted the Serbian threat. It did not take a long time after receiving the “blank cheque” from Germany for Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia. Austria-Hungary had several reasons to go to war. Not too long before 1914 had the Serbian empire doubled its sizes after the war with Turkey (Ottoman Empire). Austria’s imperialistic aims were to crush Serbia to expand the empire. Austria-Hungary also wanted more control in the Balkans. The war in the Balkans was all about countries who wished to expand the influence of their empire into a wider area- Austria-Hungary wasn’t the only one who wanted this.
The situation in Austria-Hungary was that the empire wanted to be persevered. The empire was struggling to keep the many ethnic groups together (people from 11 nations were under Austro-Hungarian rule). War was an option to distract the internal problems.
It took many years of tension for the First World War to come about. Many events and alliances by countries caused tension between powers. In 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. This was an example of Austro-Hungarian expansion policy towards the Balkans. The Bosnian crises did not cause a war, but it increased tension between the Habsburg Empire and the nationalistic Serbian government. The Bosnian crises of 1908 was described as a “dress rehearsal for the first world war,” which showed the people at the time that war was rapidly becoming inevitable.
Four years later, in 1912, war broke out in the Balkans. When the war was over, Austria-Hungary insisted on the creation of Albania as an independent nation, cutting Serbia off from the coast line. Russia opposed the idea, as Russia supported Serbia. Although the issue did not cause a war, it again increased tension as Russia came close to mobilizing the empire’s army to show support towards Serbia.
If one takes into consideration all of Austria-Hungary’s actions, it can be said that the outbreak of World War One could well have been Austria-Hungary’s fault, however it is incorrect to blame Austria-Hungary for all the causes leading to war over the many years. Austria-Hungary sought to benefit from the Sarajevo murder of the Arch-duke Franz Ferdinand. Austria-Hungary only needed the blank check from Germany to declare war on Serbia. Austria-Hungary was the first power to resort to force in such a situation.
Whether Austria wanted it or not, or whether Austria was aware of it. The small conflict with Serbia turned into the First World War, which dragged in 32 countries causing over 37 million deaths in 4 years and 3 months.
I believe that Austria-Hungary alone could not be the only European power to cause a world war. I agree that Austria caused a lot of tension. Events such as the Moroccan crises and the Naval race had nothing to do Austria, and were also causes to the way the alliances were formed for World War One. To a certain extent I agree that Austria was responsible for causing the war due to the tensions it raised with other countries. However I definitely agree that the outbreak was Austria’s fault. On the other hand, tension level in Europe in 1914 was high and escalating. The trigger for the outbreak could have been by any power, it just happened to be from Austria-Hungary. When Gavrilo Princip pulled the trigger to ill Franz Ferdinand, he also pulled the trigger to World War One.
Bibliography
- Microsoft® Encarta® Premium Suite 2003. (CD Encyclopedia)
- Bob’s essay, “What Was the Significance of Nationalism in the Balkans in the Outbreak of World War One?”
- “Modern European History 1890 – 1990,” by Alan Farmer
Published by Hodder & Stoughton
Printed in Great Britain in the year 2000
Imanuel Geiss, quoted in: Morris, T.A. European History 1848-1945
Taken from Microsoft Encarta Premium Suite 2003.