Events
June28, 1914Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo
July 5Austria requests and receives Germany’s “blank check,”
pledging unconditional support if Russia enters the war
July 23Austria issues ultimatum to Serbia
July 25Serbia responds to ultimatum; Austrian ambassador
to Serbia immediately leaves Belgrade France promises support to Russia in the event
of war
July 28Austria declares war on Serbia
July 30Russia orders general mobilization of troops
August 1Germany declares war on Russia France and Germany order general mobilization
August 3Germany declares war on France
August 4Britain declares war on Germany
The Archduke’s Assassination
On June 28, 1914,
the archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife
were on an official visit to the city of Sarajevo in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, a Serb-dominated province of Austria-Hungary. During
the visit, Serbian militants, seeking independence for the territory,
made two separate attempts on the archduke’s life. In the first
attempt, they threw a bomb at his car shortly after he arrived in
town, but the bomb bounced off the car and failed to kill or injure
the intended victim.
Later that day, while the archduke was en route to a hospital
to visit an officer wounded by the bomb, his driver turned down
a side street where Gavrilo Princip, a nineteen-year-old
militant Bosnian Serb who had been part of the assassination attempt
that morning, happened to be standing. Seizing the opportunity,
Princip stepped up to the car’s window and shot both the archduke
and his wife at point-blank range.
Reaction to the Assassination
The archduke’s assassination had an incendiary effect
throughout Central Europe. Tensions between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, which
had already been rising for several years over territorial disputes,
escalated further. Despite limited evidence, Austria-Hungary blamed
the Serbian government for the assassination. Furthermore, it blamed
Serbia for seeding unrest among ethnic Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
a province of Austria-Hungary that shared a border with Serbia.
Russia and Serbia
Austro-Hungarian leaders decided that the solution to
the Serbian problem was an all-out invasion of the country. However,
there was a major obstacle to this plan: Russia, which
had close ethnic, religious, and political ties to Serbia, was likely
to come to its defense during an invasion. Though poorly armed and
trained, Russia’s army was huge and capable of posing a formidable threat
to Austria-Hungary.
Germany’s “Blank Check”
Aware of the threat from Russia, Austria-Hungary held
off on its attack plans and turned to its well-armed ally to the
north, Germany. On July 5, 1914,
Austria-Hungary sent an envoy to meet personally with the German
emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, to convey Austria’s concerns
about Russia. The kaiser felt that Russia was unlikely to respond
militarily, as its forces were utterly unprepared for war. He also
had a close personal relationship with Tsar Nicholas II (the
two were cousins), so he hoped to smooth things over diplomatically.
Nevertheless, the kaiser pledged that if Russian troops did in fact
advance on Austria-Hungary, Germany would help fight off the attackers.
This guarantee is often referred to as Germany’s “blank check.”
Austria’s Ultimatum
On July 23, 1914,
the Austro-Hungarian government issued an ultimatum to
Serbia containing ten demands. The ultimatum insisted that Austria-Hungary
be allowed to participate in Serbia’s investigation of Archduke
Franz Ferdinand’s assassination and, in particular, to take direct
part in the judicial process against the suspects. The demands also
required Serbia to stamp out all forms of anti-Austrian activism
and propaganda emanating from the country. The ultimatum, written
by members of the Austrian Council of Ministers, was specifically
intended to be humiliating and unacceptable to Serbia.
