According to Mark Mazower, the events of World War I are attributed to “the culmination of [the] entangling of Balkan liberation struggles with the European system” (79). The conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia over Bosnia and Herzegovina proves this to be true. However, in order to understand the struggle between Austria-Hungary and Serbia one must go back to over a hundred years before the First World War. The liberation struggles of Bosnia and Herzegovina against Austria-Hungary lead to World War I.
Beginning the nineteenth century, educated individuals of East Europe began to believe in the concept that members of a nation possessed civil rights. Traditionalistic empires had subjects that “were expected loyally to obey and serve their rule, whose position was believed to be sanctioned by divine law” (Seton-Watson 15). A new form of thinking that emerged, nationalism, which is secular and democratic. Many rulers had difficulty accepting this idea thus, the “springtime of nations” or the revolutions of 1848 occur. The revolution of 1848 is summarized as an attempt to create a single German state; however it was met with resistance. Eventually, after several “constitutional experiments” and uncertainty during this time period, the Compromise of 1867 sought to fix any remaining issues. The compromise “recognized the sovereign equality of the two states – Austria and Hungary – and brought them together under a common ruler, Franz Joseph, as Emperor in Austria and King in Hungary” (Mason 6). However, such a compromise failed to address that major issue within the empire – nationality. Each nationality within the empire believed that it could only be free outside of the monarchy and secondly that all were in a struggle w...
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...e Balkan states, Joseph needed to quickly needed to preserve the remaining part of the Empire; however, he failed to realize the effect this would have on Serbians regarding Bosnia-Herzegovina. This annexation was interpreted by the Serbian people as a move against them and their wishes. After this both Russia, an enemy of the Habsburg Empire and Serbia demanded compensation from Austrians in exchange for annexing Bosnia; however, neither was granted their wish.
This conflict lead to World War I with several other countries becoming involved based on their alliances. Johnson states, “Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and Russia mobilized to back Serbia. Germany declared war on Russia, which brought France and eventually England into the conflict” (Johnson 164). Therefore, Mazower’s assumption proved true, liberation struggles lead to the start of World War I.
All this Conflict eventually resulted in the begining of Worls War I. The causes of World War I were the intense nationalism that dominated Europe throughout the 19th and into the 20th century, and the establishment of large armies in Europe after 1871. Imperialism created a rivaly between nations and empires. The build up of armies and navies created fear between nations. France feared Germany, Germany feared Russia, Austria-Hungary and Russia rivaled around Bulkans, Britain feared German's expanding navy, Slovakia wanted to free Slavian land from Astria-Hungary's apressi on.
Balkan nationalism was a major factor in the outbreak of the WWI .It is one of the long-term causes which caused European powers to declare war to each other. Even if the war between Austria and Serbia was expected to be a short one it culminated into a worldwide conflict that lasted four years. The idea of Pan-Slavism was the result of Serbian’s nationalism and Serbia refused to be oppressed by Austria-Hungary. Serbs demanded for rights of self-governance and unified state. However their neighbor Austria-Hungary wanted to become imperial power and she implied territorial expansion. Historians have different opinions about this subject and because of its complexity it is not possible to say that none of them is completely right. Balkan countries were a big threat for her foreign policy and this led to the culmination of their conflict and the outbreak of the war. Although nationalism is important in understanding the outbreak of WWI, there are many underlying causes that together culminated into a worldwide conflict. It is hard to reach the final answer on the question which relates to the extent of the importance of Balkan nationalism in the outbreak of the war because there are many different perspectives in understanding this question. For example Ruth Henig’s opinion is that Balkan nationalism was extremely important for the war and sees the guilt of Austria-Hungary for its outbreak. On the other hand John Leslie says that the responsible is Germany :“Austria-Hungary can be held responsible for planning a local Austro-Serb conflict, which was linked to its fears about Balkan nationalism, but Germany, which was not interested in this quarrel, quite deliberately used it as an opportunity to launch the European war which Austria-...
In August of 1914, a war today known as World War I began. The World War 1 began as a war locally between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. It eventually grew into a war involving thirty-two different countries. The allies involved in World War 1 included Britain, France, Russia, Italy and the United States. These countries fought against Germany, Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria. A question frequently asked by many people is, what really caused World War 1 to happen. There are several different causes people believe that started World War I. Three causes mostly believed to be what started World War I are imperialism, nationalism, and militarism.
With the absence of the strong sense of pride in one’s nation and the belief that one’s nation was destined for greatness, which were popular European sentiments the twentieth century, the brutal war that divided the continent for more than four years would not have occurred. The most significant cause of the First World War was nationalism, as this aspect created the tension and aggression between European nations that lead to rivalry and antagonism, and it exposed the common interests and goals that persuaded particular nations to collaborate to defeat their shared enemies. Firstly, nationalism provoked conflict between nations, as it planted the strong desire for power and superiority within the minds of European leaders, as well as the
On the 28th of June 1914, a Serbian nationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. An interesting question must be asked about why the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne has anything to do with the future of the Middle East. Ansary notes that the war seemed ...
Nationalisms powerful and intense impact on individuals is demonstrated in Rudolf von Ihering’s Two Letters (1866). By offering individuals a group to be a part of became something which appeared to be boundless in its potential for prosperity and it gave individuals a sense of empowerment. Initially, Von Ihering had rigorously opposed Realpolitik’s policies which were employed by Otto von Bismarck, declaring that, “everyone [in Ger...
War is what keeps a nation from dying, it is the backbone of a country. This is the shown throughout the course of World War I, also known as “the war to end all wars.” World War I started in the summer of 1914. Archduke Francis Ferdinand, from the Austro – Hungarian Empire was visiting Bosnia. He was shot, along with his wife, Sofia, by a young man from the Black Hand, Gavrillo Princip. What were the three main factors that started World War I? There were three main underlying causes that started World War I: greed, nationalism, and militarism.
The underlying cause of World War 1 were the alliances within Europe. An alliance meant that if one country goes to war than the country associated will also fight. All the countries were picking sides before the war started. Otto von Bismarck, the Chancellor that led the unification of the German states, did not like the fact that Germany was between Russia and France. “Bismarck formed the Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy in the year preceding
Although France and Britain were natural enemies, their fear of Germany united them together with Russia. These alliances set the final stage for the beginning of World War I. Each country in each alliance would help each other during warfare. For example, if Germany attacked France, Britain and Russia would help France, and Italy and Austria would help Germany, dragging Europe into a state of chaos and violence. & nbsp;& nbsp;& nbsp;& nbsp;& nbsp;Militarism was also an underlying cause of World War I. As the alliance system divided Europe into opposing groups, each nation began to increase spending on its military.
Why It Proved to be Impossible to Solve the Problems Created by Balkan Nationalism Before 1914 Balkan nationalism was apparent in the years leading up to 1914 in two forms: The desire for expansion, or rather, self-determination, within the immediate region, and also in the support of Pan-Slav nationalism (a Russian idea). In the years from 1900 to 1914, this nationalism caused the key problems of mistrust and suspicion between the two great powers of Austria Hungary and Russia, who’s conflicting national interests concerning the Balkan states arose from mutual distrust and desire to gain influence in the area and brought to the surface the conflicting national interests of the two countries within the region. The reasons it why it proved impossible to solve these aforementioned issues and soothe the tensions will be the focus of this essay. The Bosnian crisis of 1908 resulted form the annexation of the Balkan provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina by Austria Hungary.
After a Serbian was arrested for the assassination Austria-Hungary pulled out of the peace talks and declared war on Serbia. Germany who was allied with Austria-Hungary also declared war on Serbia. Russia who was allied with Serbia had to declare war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. When Germany invaded France and Belgium, Great Britain declared war on Germany. World War 1 had begun. As the German Chancellor, Bethmann-Hollweg said, “Once the dice are cast nothing can stop them.” Indeed once the dice were cast on World War 1 nothing stopped them until 22 million people had died.
The Napoleonic Wars and the unification of the northern German states were examples of a dictatorial leadership aiming to conquer foreign countries, but not necessarily using nationalism as their motivation. Nationalism emerged during the French Revolution and played an integral role in many of the wars between 1792 and 1914. During the last steps of the unification of Germany initiated by Bismarck, the Alliance systems, and the assassination of the Austrian archduke, Nationalism acted as a driving force for war.
There are many reasons why World War One occurred in 1914, many are complex and remain controversial which is why the matter has been disputed to this day by historians all over the world. My theory is that a lot of those reasons and the trigger factor all links to one thing; the alliance system. The alliance system is what made countries oppose each other and become rivals making it the most significant factor. It had an impact on who supported who when Duke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. This was only the spark that started war in Europe; there were long term causes that contributed to the war and were the origins. This answer will explain the causes focusing on how they contributed to World War One and what the important links are between them.
The Congress of Vienna in 1814-15 created the so-called German Confederation under Austrian and Prussian hegemony, but this unit disappointed the dreams of nationalists. The rivalry of Austria and Prussia paralyzed it in a way comparable to the effects of Soviet-American dualism on the United Nations during the Cold War. Almost everywhere, the old rulers repressed the nationalist movement after 1815. The German princes realized that nationalism required ...
Prior to unification in 1871 the territory that would become Germany was comprised of thirty-nine independent states and city states joined together in a loose German Confederation. The most powerful among these states was Prussia, both geographically the largest state and that with the largest population. The influential politicians and policies that came out of Prussia were instrumental in the gradual formation of a united Germany. Beginning with the rise of Napoleon, the nineteenth century was a time of incredible change which dramatically altered the political balance of Europe. In order to understand the factors that culminated in official German unification on January 18 1871, it is necessary to examine the preceding decades. No single factor can be credited for the unification of the German states. Rather, the combined forces of social change, economic strength within a unified customs union, the moral justifications provided by nationalism, Bismarck’s careful manipulation of internal politics and the advantages gained through military action resulted in the unification of Germany.