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The volatile Balkan region, 1914 (A - Albania, M - Montenegro) |
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THE BALKAN SPARK
The war originated in the Balkans, and Germany, at the outset, was only involved as one of the protagonists' allies. Three empires (Ottoman, Austria-Hungary, Russia) and various national groupings (Serbs, Bosnians, Montenegrins) competed for power and influence in the area.
The Turks had once controlled the region but, over time, had been displaced by the Slavs. It now looked as if Austria-Hungary, which had annexed the former Turkish possession of Bosnia in 1908, wished to replace the Ottoman empire as the dominant power. The Serbs wanted to expel Austria-Hungary from the region so that they could create an all-Slav state. But the Austro-Hungarians wanted to hang on to territory that they already owned and perhaps acquire some more.
It was this political rivalry between Serbia and Austria-Hungary that produced the spark that ignited the inferno. When Austria-Hungary's crown prince, Franz Ferdinand, visited the Bosnian capital Sarajevo on Serbia's National Day (28 June), Gavrilo Princip and others succeeded in killing him. Although Princip and his fellow-conspirators were members of Young Bosnia, they had the backing of a Serb terrorist group, the Black Hand. This was not directly sponsored by the Serb government, but Serbian involvement in the killing was suspected from the outset.
In response, Austria-Hungary sent a harsh - and intentionally unacceptable - ultimatum to Serbia on 23 July. When Serbia declined to accept this in its entirety, Austria-Hungary declared war on it (28 July). The first shots of what would become the First World War were fired on 29 July, when the guns of the Austro-Hungarian fortress of Zemun began to bombard Belgrade.
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