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The Causes and Consequences of Great Power Conflict 1848–1945

Austria-Hungary, Serbia and the July crisis of 1914

  • 3 things to know
  • A2 Unit 1

Overview

Position of the nationalities within Austria-Hungary, conrad von Hötzendorf and franz Ferdinand's attitude to the South Slav problem.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Process

Trace the steps from the Austrian declaration of war to a European war.

Numbers

Why did Britain enter the war?

Key term

Why did Austria-Hungary regard Serbia as a threat?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Why did Austria-Hungary regard Serbia as a threat?

    Model answer

    Serbia's ambition to gather the South Slavs into one state could only be achieved at Habsburg expense, and Vienna feared that the example would encourage the empire's own nationalities to break away.

  2. 2

    What was the position of the nationalities within Austria-Hungary?

    Model answer

    The empire contained eleven main nationalities governed under a dual system that satisfied Germans and Magyars while leaving Czechs, Poles, Romanians and South Slavs without comparable rights.

  3. 3

    Identify Conrad von Hötzendorf.

    Model answer

    Conrad was the Austro-Hungarian chief of staff who called repeatedly for a preventive war against Serbia and Italy, and pressed for military action in every crisis from 1908 onwards.

  4. 4

    What was Franz Ferdinand's attitude to the South Slav problem?

    Model answer

    The heir to the throne favoured giving the Slavs a status alongside the Germans and Magyars, a reform that would have weakened the case for a Greater Serbia. That is one reason Serbian nationalists targeted him.

  5. 5

    Describe the assassination at Sarajevo.

    Model answer

    On 28 June 1914 Gavrilo Princip, one of a group of Bosnian Serb students armed by Serbian officers, shot Franz Ferdinand and his wife during a visit to the Bosnian capital.

  6. 6

    What was the blank cheque of July 1914?

    Model answer

    In early July 1914 Germany promised unconditional support for whatever action Austria-Hungary chose to take against Serbia, which removed any reason for Vienna to be cautious.

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