Austria: The Cause of World War One Essay -- World History

The nation responsible for the onset of World War I is Austria-Hungary because of the territorial and political stances with Serbia that provoked the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. After Ferdinand's death, Austria-Hungary initiated a call for support to the Germans about the problems in the Balkans, resulting in Germany confirming their assistance by issuing a â€Å"Blank Check.† Austria later gave Serbia a list of ultimatums that consisted of extreme demands in hopes of Serbia rejecting it. Since Serbia is a country where Slavic nationalism was idealized, it refused the idea of Austria gaining the right to control the investigation of Franz Ferdinand's assassination and have authority over the state of Serbia and this did in fact compel Serbia to reject the ultimatums. Austria knew that Serbia would not accept this list of ultimatums and therefore sent it as a rational motive to declare a war. Not long after, Austria declared war on Serbia, and Germany, Aus tria's ally, declared war on Russia, an ally of Serbia. The underlying causes of World War I can be related back to the conflicts involving Austria-Hungary and the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovia. In 1878, Serbia became independent from the Ottoman nation. With this independence, Serbia anticipated that their region would include the South Slavs in Bosnia and Herzegovia. Slavic nationalists in Serbia were in hopes of seceding from the Austro- Hungarian empire. In 1879, the Congress of Berlin placed Bosnia-Herzegovia under Austrian rule, shattering the nationalist's hopes of gaining that territory. Bosnia did not want to be under rule by a multinational state like Austria and the Austrians were not fond about Serbia promoting Slavic nationalism. The Austrian gove... ...9, Appendices 1 and 2, 1914. The Great War Primary Documents Archive, Inc. 1995 Conklin, Dennis. Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (June 28, 1914). The University of Southern Mississippi. Lecture. 4 April 2012. Franz Joseph. Autograph Letter of Franz Joseph to the Kaiser, Vienna, 2 July 1914. The Great War Primary Documents Archive, Inc. 1995. 7 April 1996 Conklin, Dennis. Tactical and Technical Developments. The University of Southern Mississippi. Lecture. 4 April 2012 The Serbian Blue Book. No 37, 11 July 1914. The Great War Primary Documents Archive, Inc 1995 The Austro-Hungarian Red Book. Section 1, Nos- 1-19, Appendices 1 and 2, 1914. The Great War Primary Documents Archive, Inc. 1995 The German White Book. Germany's Reasons for War with Russia. Messrs. Liebheit and Thiesen of Berlin. The Great War Primary Document Archive, Inc. 1995