The explosive that was World War One had
been long in the stockpiling; the spark
was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian
throne, in Sarajevo on 28
June 1914.
Ferdinand's death at the hands of the
Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist secret
society, set in train a mindlessly mechanical series of events that culminated in the
world's first global war.
Austria-Hungary's Reaction
Austria-Hungary's reaction to the death
of their heir (who was in any case not
greatly beloved by the Emperor, Franz Josef, or his government) was three weeks
in coming. Arguing that the Serbian government was implicated in the
machinations of the Black Hand (whether she was or not remains unclear, but it
appears unlikely), the Austro-Hungarians opted to take the opportunity to stamp its
authority upon the Serbians, crushing the nationalist movement there and
cementing Austria- Hungary's influence in the Balkans.
It did so by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia
which, in the extent of its demand that the
assassins be brought to justice effectively nullified Serbia's sovereignty. Sir
Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, was moved to comment that he had
"never before seen one State address to another independent State a document of
so formidable a character."
Austria-Hungary's expectation was that
Serbia would reject the remarkably severe
terms of the ultimatum, thereby giving her a pretext for launching a limited war
against Serbia.
However, Serbia had long had Slavic ties
with Russia, an altogether different
proposition for Austria-Hungary. Whilst not really expecting that Russia would be
drawn into the dispute to any great extent other than through words of diplomatic
protest, the Austro-Hungarian government sought assurances from her ally,
Germany, that she would come to her aid should the unthinkable happen and
Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary.
Germany readily agreed, even encouraged
Austria-Hungary's warlike stance.
One Thing Led to Another
So then, we have the following remarkable
sequence of events that led inexorably
to the 'Great War' - a name that had been touted even before the coming of the
conflict.
- Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with
Serbia's response to her ultimatum (which in the event was
almost entirely placatory: however her jibbing over a couple of minor clauses gave Austria-
Hungary her sought-after cue) declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.
- Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia,
announced mobilisation of its vast army in her defence, a
slow process that would take around six weeks to complete.
- Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary
by treaty, viewed the Russian mobilisation as an act of
war against Austria-Hungary, and after scant warning declared war on Russia on 1
August.
- France, bound by treaty to Russia,
found itself at war against Germany and, by extension, on
Austria-Hungary following a German declaration on 3 August.
Germany was swift in invading
neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the shortest possible route.
- Britain, allied to France by a more
loosely worded treaty which placed a "moral obligation"
upon her to defend France, declared war against Germany on 4 August.
Her reason for
entering the conflict lay in another direction: she was obligated to defend neutral Belgium by
the terms of a 75-year old treaty.
With Germany's invasion of Belgium on 4 August,
and the Belgian King's appeal to
Britain for assistance, Britain committed herself to Belgium's defence later that
day. Like France, she was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary.
- With Britain's entry into the war,
her colonies and dominions abroad variously offered military
and financial assistance, and included Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the Union of
South Africa.
- United States President Woodrow Wilson
declared a U.S. policy of absolute neutrality, an
official stance that would last until 1917 when Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine
warfare - which seriously threatened America's commercial shipping (which was in any event
almost entirely directed towards the Allies led by Britain and France) - forced the U.S. to finally
enter the war on 6 April 1917.
- Japan, honouring a military agreement
with Britain, declared war on Germany on 23 August
1914. Two days later Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war on Japan.
- Italy, although allied to both Germany
and Austria-Hungary, was able to avoid entering the fray
by citing a clause enabling it to evade its obligations to both. In short, Italy was committed to
defend Germany and Austria-Hungary only in the event of a 'defensive' war; arguing that their
actions were 'offensive' she declared instead a policy of neutrality. The following year, in May
1915, she finally joined the conflict by siding with the Allies against her two
former allies.