Outbreak of World War I

The consequences of the conflict resulted in an estimated death toll of 15 million. The countries primarily involved in the conflict were Austria-Hungary, Serbia, Russia, Germany, Britain and France, each of the countries believed that they were without blame and were only defending their own interests. This essay will examine the evidence relating to each of the countries involvements in the war and try to identify the country most to blame for the war.

Austria-Hungary was worried about the possible dissolution of its empire. It had a desire to crush Slav nationalism- the main factor of instability in the area. The assassination of Austria-Hungary’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo gave Austria-Hungary the justification for the war with Serbia that it desired. There were various factors regarding the visit of the Archduke to Sarajevo which lead me to believe that Austria-Hungary was prepared to use the assassination as a justification for war with Serbia. Austria-Hungary announced the Archduke would be visiting Sarajevo months beforehand thus giving the terrorist group the Black Hand time to plot the assassination. The fact that the Archduke was unpopular in Bosnia and the timing of the visit-which coincided with Serb nationalist day- meant that the Slav nationalists would be antagonised by the visit. The public posting of his route and open top vehicle increased the likelihood of an assassination attempt. For these reasons it is difficult not to see that Austria-Hungary used the Archduke’s assassination as a means to declare war on Serbia.

Germany’s actions before the war created great tension between all of the great powers. Germany repeatedly tried to break up the Entente Cordiale but there is evidence to suggest that Germany felt isolated and feared a war on two fronts with France and Russia. This could perhaps explain their aggression towards France, Britain and Russia. The German generals and some politicians believed that a war was inevitable and this war would lead to a unification of the people of Germany behind a military dictatorship. Germany offered Austria-Hungary-their last faithful ally- the “blank cheque”. This meant Germany would support Austria-Hungary at all costs even if they started the war. In doing this it gave Austria-Hungary the confidence to send an ultimatum to Serbia. This would allow Germany to fight the war they believed inevitable with Russia and France earlier than other countries wanted, particularly Russia and without appearing as the primary aggressor.

On the 28th of June 1914, an organisation called the Black Hand -a Serbian terrorist organisation- assassinated the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Serbian government were believed to have funded the Black Hand but did not condone the attack and there is even evidence to suggest that they tried to warn Austria-Hungary about the assassination attempt which was either misinterpreted or ignored. When Austria-Hungary sent the ultimatum demanding an investigation into the assassination of the Archduke some but not all of the clauses were agreed. This failure to agree led to war being declared by Austria-Hungary on Serbia.