Chapter 10 - War in the Balkans and the July Crisis

• Who was Gavrilo Princip (1894-1918)?

  He was most likely recruited by the Black Hand to undertake Franz Ferdinand's assassination as he suffered from TB and so was willing to sacrifice the short amount of time he had left for the nationalist cause. Princip was arrested after the shooting before he could commit suicide, and since he was under 21, he received a 20 year prison sentence. However, he died of his TB in 1918
• Why did the Black Hand target Franz Ferdinand?

  Led by Colonel Dimitrijevic, they had attempted to murder Franz Josef in 1911, but by 1914, his nephew and heir, Franz Ferdinand, seemed a much bigger threat to Serbian nationalist aims as he hoped to instigate political reform, giving the nationalities within the empire far more influence and incorporating the neighbours of AH into the "United States of Great Austria".
• Why did Franz Ferdinand threaten Serbian independence?

  He would threaten Serbian independence by making the Slavs in the Habsburg Empire more loyal to AH, and therefore less interested in Slav nationalism. Ironically, if AH's anger with Serbia had not been exacerbated by a different crisis, Franz Ferdinand likely would have been one of the strongest voices calling for moderation and avoidance of war
• How did Emperor Franz Josef feel personally about the assassination of his nephew?

  He was far from devastated - he did not approve of Franz Ferdinand's ways, which were "not conservative enough" and he disapproved of his marriage to the non-royal Sophie Chotek
• How did AH in general react to the assassination?

  They were appalled - anti-Serb street violence broke out, and for military chiefs in particular, the murder provided the opportunity they had been looking for to crush Serbia once and for all
• What did Franz Conrad von Hotzendorf do?

  The Chief of Staff led aggressive anti-Serbs in the AH military in advocating the immediate invasion of Serbia. Though there was no proof that the Serbian government was involved in the assassination plan, they pointed out that Serbs had allowed Princip and his associates to cross into Bosnia and had failed to prevent the activities of the Black Hand
• How did Hotzendorf believe the other European powers would react to an AH invasion of Serbia?


  He and his colleagues believed that the rest of Europe would see little problem with an AH invasion of Serbia as they would merely be taking retaliatory action to what could be considered a declaration of war by Serbia
• How did the rest of Europe actually react to the assassination?

  Most of Europe's monarchs, including Tsar Nicholas II expressed their shock at the assassination, but many in Western Europe were indifferent to yet another Eastern political assassination. 
• What did Berchtold do in preparation for an attack from Russia?

  The Austrian Chancellor Berchtold knew that Russia would be unlikely to stand aside if Serbia, their client state, was attacked without warning, and so, anticipating an attack from Russia, AH sought a firmer guarantee of German support which had already been expressed during the Bosnian Crisis and in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars.
• How did AH eventually respond to the assassination?

  Many in the Austrian ministerial council and general staff favoured a military response to the assassination, but their response to it was too slow to take advantage of the shock felt by the rest of Europe and their immediate sympathy for the Habsburgs.
• Why would it take long for AH to organise military action after the assassination?

  The main reason for this was that, since the Dual Monarchy shared the same army and foreign policy, the Hungarian PM, Istvan Tisza, had to be consulted, and though he agreed that strong measures should be taken against Serbia, he was not convinced that war was the correct answer and advocated exhausting all diplomatic options before resorting to conflict.
• How was Germany's role in the unfolding crisis crucial?

  Since 1912, its chiefs had advocated war against Russia before the Tsar's armies grew too strong. Meanwhile, its alliance with AH had been tested in the Balkan Crises and the Bosnian Crisis, with the German government declaring its continuing support for AH
• How was the German decision to support AH different in this crisis to the ones which had gone before?

  This one could be much more serious - Russia was unlikely to allow Serbia to be attacked without responding, Russian involvement would likely prompt the French, and perhaps British intervention.
• What did Kaiser Wilhelm II do on 5th July 1914?

  He responded to the Austrian FM Berchtold's letter appealing for German support through the German Chancellor, Bethmann Hollweg promising that Germany "will faithfully stand by AH as is required by the obligations of his alliance and of his ancient friendship"
• What was the promise Kaiser Wilhelm made in his letter to Berchtold known as?

  The Blank Cheque - it implied that Germany would back AH in whatever actions they should choose to take, and AH could make the demands of the cheque as large as they wanted - no stipulations were made
• What could be the reason for Germany issuing the Blank Cheque to AH?

  • They may not have realised the full implications
  • However, it could be that, since the 1912 War Council had found Germany's best chance of war to be in 1914, Germany saw this episode as the moment they had been waiting for.
• What did von Moltke say about war?

  German Chief of Staff, General Helmuth von Moltke, said that war was "unavoidable", and the German High Command was deeply concerned about the growing military strength of Russia - the Schlieffen Plan relied on the element of surprise and rapid mobilisation of troops before the enemy was ready to retaliate
• Was Germany's declaration of support genuine?

  The Kaiser and his advisers could have believed that Russia would back down like they did in 1908 when faced with a united AH and Germany, and so the declaration of support was nothing more than scaremongering the Russians
• What were the actions taken by AH after receiving the Blank Cheque?

  The cabinet debated their action while the Austrian envoy, Baron von Wiesner tried unsuccessfully in Belgrade to discover evidence of the Serbian government's involvement in the assassination plot
• What had AH decided by 14th July 1914?

  They had decided on war, and prepared an ultimatum in the following week, but this was not dispatched until the French President, Poincare, had left from his visit to St Petersburg in Russia
• When was the Austrian ultimatum sent to the Serbians?

  23rd July 1914
• What did AH expect from Serbia after sending the ultimatum?

  AH demanded a satisfactory answer within 48 hours or AH would declare war on Serbia
• What were the AH government concerned about?

  They were worried that the other European powers would view the ultimatum as harsh and therefore they sent each of the powers a letter explaining its actions along with copies of the ultimatum itself
• Some terms of the Ultimatum

  • The Royal government of Serbia had to declare that they condemn anti-AH propaganda and that it regrets that Serbian army officers participated in it
  • All newspapers and publications hostile to AH to be suppressed
  • The National Defence Society to be dissolved
  • All school teachers and army officers hostile to AH to be dismissed
• What approach did Serbia take following receiving the ultimatum?

  Their position was very difficult - they hated the idea of submitting to the demands of their long term enemy, but at the same time their army had been exhausted by the Balkan Wars and the state was struggling to repress rebellions amongst its new southern population. 
• What strategy did Serbia decide on?

  Serbia's strategy was therefore to adopt a conciliatory approach, stall for time as much as possible and enlist Russian support should AH refuse to be easily satisfied. The health of King Paul was declining, so the Serbian appeal to Russia was signed off by his son and regent, Prince Alexander
• Who was Sergei Dmitrievich Sazonov (1860-1927)?

  Russian FM from 1910-1916, replacing Izvolsky. Supported the Balkan League during the wars of 1912-13 as he could not antagonise the Dual Alliance - the Russian military was too weak to fight a large war.
• What did Sazonov advise?

  Sazonov advised Serbia to appease Austria in response to the ultimatum, but then advised Nicholas II to mobilise the Russian army. Sazonov was dismissed in 1916 after disagreeing with the Russian Tsarina
• Why was Russia's response to the Serbian appeal for help mixed at first?

  Two issues clouded Russian policy at this point - the Tsar displayed classic indecision and appeared to change his mind according to whichever minister or officer he spoke to last, and the government was mindful that its actions could easily pull France and Britain into the crisis, and they ought to be consulted.
• Why was Russia's response to the Serbian appeal crucial?

  Also, Russia's response to the assassination and the ultimatum was crucial, especially after Germany's promise to support AH, as Serbia was too weak to fight both powers without a powerful ally.
• How did Sergei Sazonov react to the ultimatum?

  He was shocked by the terms and the Russian Council of Ministers met on 24th and 25th July to discuss how to respond
• How did the Russian position develop as the deadline for the ultimatum approached?

  The Russian position became firmer but still ambiguous in practice - Sazonov stated on 25th July that Russia would "go to the limit in defence of Serbia", and whilst this stopped short of a guarantee of military support, Sazonov and the British FM, Edward Grey, put pressure on AH to extend its deadline
• How did the Serbian view on how to respond to the ultimatum develop?

  Serbia was prepared to make concessions and initially considered giving way on all accounts, but nevertheless they played for time by rejecting the demands that Austrian police officials enter Serbia and Austrian lawyers participate in judicial proceedings, as spurred on by Russia
• Why were Serbia unhappy to allow Austrian police officials and lawyers into the state?

  They believed that such demands were an unreasonable challenge to Serbian sovereignty, saying that it was "a violation of the constitution and of criminal procedure"
• What is sovereignty?


  The authority of a state to govern itself
• What did the Serbians say in their reply?

  They conceded to the ultimatum on every other point but letting Austrian police officials and lawyers into the country for the investigation into the assassination. Considering the deliberate harshness of the terms, the fact that they conceded so far was remarkable
• When did the Serbians reply to the ultimatum?

  25th July 1914
• What did most of Europe believe AH's reaction to Serbia's response would be?

  Most of Europe, including Germany, thought that Serbia's conciliatory response to the ultimatum would be accepted by AH even though Serbia had begun a partial mobilisation in case of Austrian attack
• How did Austria actually react to the Serbian response?

  They said that nothing but complete capitulation would be accepted
• What did AH and Russia do in order to prevent the final slide into war?

  They arranged hasty talks which broke down on 27th July