On 28. June 1914, Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne,
was assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb student. Though World War I was
triggered by this assassination, the
war's origins lie further back, in the complex web of
alliances and counterbalances that developed between the various European powers over the course
of the nineteenth century.
Outbreak of World War 1
Austrian regional security concerns grew with the near-doubling of neighbouring Serbia's territory
as a result of the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913. Many in the Austrian leadership, not least Habsburg
Emperor Franz Joseph, and Conrad von Hötzendorf, worried about Serbian nationalist agitation in
the southern provinces of the Empire. They were still haunted by the memories of the Piedmontese
inspired campaigns against the Austrian Italian provinces in 1859.
Just as France had backed
Piedmont in the campaign, culminating in the Battle of Solferino, they worried that Russia would
back Serbia to annex Slavic areas of Austria. The feeling was that it was better to destroy Serbia
before they were given the opportunity to launch a campaign.
Austria-Hungary vs. Serbia
Some members of the Austrian government also felt that a campaign in Serbia would be the perfect
remedy to the internal political problems of the Empire. Many of them were frustrated by the power
of the Hungarian government in the Empire. In 1914 the government of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
had a "dualistic" structure.
Austria and Hungary had essentially separate governments under one
monarch. The Austrian government retained control over foreign policy, but was still dependent
on the Hungarians for such things as budgetary approval. Often the Hungarian leadership, under
István Tisza refused Austrian requests for things such as increased military spending.
In hopes
of ending the political gridlock that this caused, many hoped to form a federation, or at least
triadic monarchy. The solution was seen in increasing the numbers of Slavs in the Empire to balance
the Magyar population.
Franz Ferdinand's assassination in June 1914 provided the opportunity sought by some Austrian
leaders for a reckoning with the smaller Slav kingdom. The Sarajevo conspirators were alleged by
the Austro-Hungarian authorities to have been armed by the Black Hand, a pan-Serb nationalist
grouping with alleged links to Serbian ruling circles.
These links have proven to be somewhat
dubious since then. In fact, Serbian government officials were eager not to antagonize their
stronger northern neighbour and had ordered border officials to ensure Serbian radicals could
not enter Bosnia or other portions of Austria-Hungary. However, since they were looking for an
excuse for war, these considerations mattered little to Austro-Hungarian politicians.
The 10 Point Ultimatum
With German backing, Austria-Hungary, acting primarily under the influence of Foreign Affairs
Minister Leopold von Berchtold, sent an effectively unfulfillable 10-point ultimatum to Serbia
(23. July 1914), to be accepted within 48 hours.
The Serbian government agreed to all but one of the demands, noting that participation in its
judicial proceedings by a foreign power would violate its constitution. Austria-Hungary nonetheless
broke off diplomatic relations (25. July) and declared war (28. July) through a telegram sent to the
Serbian government.
The Russian government, which had pledged in 1909 to uphold Serbian independence in return for
Serbia's acceptance of the Bosnia annexation, mobilized its military reserves on 30. July following
a breakdown in crucial telegram communications between
Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II (the famous
"Willy and Nicky" correspondence), who was under pressure by his military staff to prepare for war.
German mobilisation in Bavaria , 1914 |
Germany demanded (31. July) that Russia stand down her forces, but the Russian government persisted,
as demobilization would have made it impossible to re-activate its military schedule in the short
term. Germany declared war against Russia on 1. August and, two days later, against the latter's
ally France.
The Chain reaction of alliances and guarantees
The outbreak of the conflict is often attributed to the alliances established over the previous
decades — Germany-Austria-Italy vs. France-Russia; Britain and Serbia being aligned with the
latter. In fact, none of the alliances were activated in the initial outbreak, though Russian
general mobilization and Germany's declaration of war against France were motivated by fear of
the opposing alliance being brought into play.
Britain's declaration of war against Germany (4. August) was officially the result not of her
understandings with France and Russia (Britain was technically allied to neither power), but of
Germany's invasion of Belgium on 4. August 1914, whose independence Britain had guaranteed to
uphold in the Treaty of London of 1839, and which stood astride the planned German route for
invasion of Russia's ally France.
Unofficially, it was already generally accepted in government
that Britain could not remain neutral, since without the co-operation of France and Russia her
colonies in Africa and India would be under threat, while German occupation of the French Atlantic
ports would be an even larger threat to British trade as a whole.
Opening battles of WW1
Some of the very first actions of the war occurred far from Europe, including Africa and the
Pacific Ocean. On 8. August 1914 the German protectorate of Togoland was invaded by a combined
French and British force. On 10. August German forces based in South-West Africa attacked South
Africa, and on 11. August Australian forces landed on the island of Neu-Pommern, which was part
of German New Guinea. Within several months German forces in the Pacific had surrendered, or had
been driven out, whereas sporadic and often fierce fighting continued in Africa for the remainder
of the war.
In Europe, Germany and Austria-Hungary suffered from miscommunication regarding each army's
intentions. Germany had originally guaranteed to support Austria-Hungary's invasion of Serbia,
but the interpretations of this idea differed. Austro-Hungarian leaders thought that Germany
would cover their northern flank against Russia, but Germany had planned for Austria-Hungary
to focus the majority of its troops on Russia, while Germany dealt with France on the Western
Front.
Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war in Russia, 1915 |
This confusion forced the Austro-Hungarian army to split its troop concentrations from
the south in order to meet the Russians in the north. The Serb army, which was coming up from
the south of the country, met the Austrian army at Cer on 12. August 1914.
The Serbians were set up in defensive positions against the Austrians. The first attack came on
16. August, between parts of the 21st Austro-Hungarian division and parts of the Serbian Combined
division. In harsh night-time fighting, the battle ebbed and flowed, until the Serbian line was
rallied under the leadership of Stepa Stepanovic.
Three days later the Austrians retreated across
the Danube, having suffered 21,000 casualties against 16,000 Serbian casualties. This marked the
first allied victory of the war. The Austrians had not achieved their main goal of eliminating
Serbia, and it became increasingly likely that Germany would be forced to maintain forces on both
fronts.
Germany's invasion on the Western Front
Germany's plan (named the Schlieffen Plan) to deal
with the Franco-Russian alliance involved delivering a knock-out blow to the French and then
turning to deal with the more slowly mobilized Russian army. Rather than attack France directly,
it was deemed prudent to attack France from the north. To do so, the German army had to march
through Belgium.
Louvain, Belgium, 1915 |
Germany demanded this free passage from the Belgian government, promising that
Belgium would be Germany's firm ally if this was agreed to. When Belgium refused, Germany invaded
Belgium and began marching through it anyway, after first invading and securing tiny Luxembourg. It
soon encountered resistance before the forts of the Belgian city of Liège. Britain sent an army to
France, which advanced into Belgium.
The delays brought about by the resistance of the Belgian, French and British forces and the
unexpectedly rapid mobilization of the Russians upset the German plans. Russia attacked in East
Prussia, diverting German forces intended for the Western Front. Germany defeated Russia in a
series of battles collectively known as the (second) Battle of Tannenberg, but this diversion
allowed French and British forces to finally halt the German advance on Paris at the First
Battle of the Marne (September 1914) as the Central Powers were forced into fighting a war
on two fronts.
Read in the next article about the Russian, Austrian and Italian activities.
Please see some Banknotes from WW1
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