Therefore, the six European empires were divided into two blocs in confronting positions. The Triple Alliance linked Austria-Hungary with Germany and Italy. The Triple Entente was based on a Franco-Russian alliance, formed in 1891(Stevenson, David. 1997a, p.2), with which Britain normally co-operated. In the mean time, the once powerful and prosperous Ottoman Empire was nearing its end.
In October 1912, Serbia together with its neighbors on the Balkan Peninsula formed an alliance and declared war against the Ottoman Empire. In May 1913, the old territory of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans was completely divided into the Balkan countries.
The victory of the war strengthened the confidence of Serbia, also spurred nationalism of the Bosnian Serbs. The drive for national self-determination seemed one of the dominating trends of modern European history, and it was natural to assume that a South Slav breakaway would set the dominoes tumbling (Stevenson, David. 1997a, p.4). So Austria-Hungary was prepared to risk a general European conflict in order to put an end to the Greater Serbia movement. Then, Bosnia became the crux of the conflict between Serbia and Austro-Hungarian Empire. Germany which supported the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia which was behind Serbia were also ready to fight. The war was just on the verge of breaking out.
Austria-Hungary and Serbia
The First World War actually began over a local war, launched by the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary against Serbia. Then the local war immediately led to the confrontation between the two blocs. Thus the important catalyst was also a key factor that finally resulted in the general war.
Bosnia was coterminous with Serbia. Bosnian Serbs were ruled by the Habsburg dynasty of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and were trying assiduously to shake off its control to finally combine with Serbia. However, in 1908, supported by Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bosnia. This action certainly infuriated Serbia, so, Serbia and Austria-Hungary both mobilised large numbers of forces on the border.
The immediate cause of the war between Austria - Hungary and Serbia was the murders of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, on 28 June 1914, by Gavrilo Princip, a Serb nationalist from a secret Black Hand society favouring the union between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia (Duffy, Michael，2001). In an ultimatum on 23 July the government in Vienne accused Serbia of harboring terrorist organizations that aimed to deprive the Habsburgs of Bosnia and their other territories inhabited by South Slavs. The Serbian reply, on 25 July, unequivocally accepted all the punishment of those implicated that Vienne demanded in the ultimatum and rejected only the point that let Austrian representatives take part in a judicial inquiry.
Nonetheless, Austria-Hungary at once broke off diplomatic relations and on July 28 declared war against Serbia. It also bombarded the Serbian capital, Belgrade, on the following day. Vienne, in the view of the risk of Russian involvement immediately sought German backing. Because they knew a Balkan war was almost certain to expand into a wider conflict, it is extremely unlikely that they would have started one without the assurance on 5-6 July of German Support, the so-called ‘Potsdam blank cheque’(Stevenson, David. 1997b, p.8). Germany’s emphatic response settled the matter for most of the Monarchy’s leaders, and from now on the Austro-Hungarian authorities barely hesitated in their drive towards hostilities. In addition, they were told that the German General Staff was confident of victory over France, and expected (wrongly) a German supporting offensive against Russia.
Germany and the Tangle of Alliances
Bismarck, first Prime Minister of Prussia and then Chancellor of the German Empire, created a unified Germany which was of direct relevance to the outbreak of war some 43 years later, since it resulted in the assembly of the key alliances that later came into play (Duffy, Michael，2006).
Bismarck’s policy was originally to keep France isolated however with William refusing to renew the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia. France now had an ally thus resulting in the signing of the Franco-Russian Entente in 1891. But Bismarck did not initially fear an alliance between France and Britain, for the latter was at that time in the midst of a self-declared 1870s policy of "splendid isolation", choosing to stay above continental European politics. None the less, with a rising Germany, Britain adjusted its belief. In 1904 Britain and France formed a non-military alliance called the Entente Cordial.
One thing led to another. When Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with Serbia's response to her ultimatum, declared war on Serbia, Russia, which was bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilisation of its vast army in its defense. Then, Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, regarded the Russian mobilization as an act of war against Austria-Hungary. Germany then declared war on Russia on 1 August when warnings delivered to St Petersburg was ignored. France, which was bound by treaty to Russia, consequentially found itself at war against Germany and, also on Austria-Hungary following a German declaration on 3 August. Germany was swift in invading neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the shortest possible route. Britain which was allied to France by a more loosely worded treaty, declared war against Germany on 4 August. Its reason for entering the conflict lay in another direction: it was obligated to defend neutral Belgium by the terms of a 75-year old treaty. With Germany's invasion of Belgium on 4 August, and the Belgian King's appeal to Britain for assistance, Britain committed herself to Belgium's defense later that day. Like France, it was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary.
It is worth pointing out that although Italy opted to stay neutral, Germany encouraged Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia, and was willing to risk and fight a general war rather than settle the issue peacefully. Russia was prepared to fight Triple Alliance rather than see Serbia crushed; France to fight the Triple Alliance rather than see repudiate its alliance with Russia (Stevenson, David. 1997c, p. 28); and Britain to fight rather than see France overwhelmed.
"The shifting balance of world forces"
War is believed to be the most drastic and devastating way of sorting out human conflict ever. When we examine the world’s history, we can see that wars were invariably accompanied by the collapsing and rising of world’s “Great Powers”, which was called "the shifting balance of world forces" (Kennedy, Paul M. 1984). Europe in 1900 featured both concentration of military power of colonial empires (Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia) and the prolonged declining of several territorial empires (the Habsburg Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Tsarist Russia, Imperial China). This kind of instability cannot be just traced back to the creation of a unified Germany in the 1870s as its one and only source. It was both the rising and collapsing that resulted in disrupting the world’s balance of power. At the same time, Nationalism’s rapid expansion in both Austria-Hungary and Serbia reached a point where both sides awaited a showdown (Carruthers, S. L. 2006 p.65). Moreover, the endless clashes among these imperial great powers over either colonies or overseas markets were also foreboding a war.
By 1914 the system of diplomacy in Europe had broken down. Statesmen were thinking of war as a preventative measure rather than a last resort. Therefore, the First World War was a result of aggression and tension in Europe; all of Europe played a part in the outbreak of war not just Germany. It was by no means a “recognized” main reason, but a series of complex causes that were entangled and twisted together that led Europe to stumbled and staggered into war.
References
Carruthers, S. L. 2006, ‘International history, 1900-1945’ in Baylis, J & Smith, S, The Globalization of World Politics, Oxford University Press, New York, p. 64
Duffy, Michael，2001，Michael Duffy，viewed 20 October 2008, <http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/princip.htm>
Duffy, Michael，2006，Michael Duffy，viewed 21 October 2008, <http://www.firstworldwar.com/origins/causes.htm>
Kennedy, Paul M. 1984, ‘The First World War and the International Power System’, in International Security, MIT Press, Boston, Vol. 9, No. 1. (Summer, 1984), pp. 7-40
Stevenson, David. 1997a, ‘Austria-Hungary and Serbia’, in The Outbreak of The First World War 1914 in Perspective, Macmillan Press Ltd., Hong Kong
Stevenson, David. 1997b, ‘Germany and the Blank Cheque’, in The Outbreak of The First World War 1914 in Perspective, Macmillan Press Ltd., Hong Kong
Stevenson, David. 1997c, ‘Towards World War’, in The Outbreak of The First World War 1914 in Perspective, Macmillan Press Ltd., Hong Kong
