All it takes is one bullet to set the world ablaze. In 1914 a bullet started the First World War. What many forget, however, is the month-long crisis that stood between the bullet and the First World War. The July Crisis was a month of chain reactions which "led" to the outbreak of the First World War. But what were they? Let's find out!
July Crisis Timeline
Below is a timeline of the significant events surrounding the July Crisis.
| Date | Event |
| 7 October 1879 | The German and Austro-Hungarian Empires signed a defensive treaty called the Dual Alliance. |
| 28 June 1914 | Gavrilo Princip assassinated the Archduke of Austria Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, during their visit to Sarajevo. |
| 5 July 1914 | Germany gave Austria-Hungary the famous "Blank Cheque", meaning that Germany supported any political decision Austria-Hungary decided to make. |
| 23 July 1914 | Austria-Hungary delivered a humiliating ultimatum to Serbia, with only 48 hours to accept. |
| 26 July 1914 | The United Kingdom offered to mediate the conflict, but this offer was ignored by both Germany and Austria-Hungary. |
| 28 July 1914 | Despite Serbia agreeing to almost all demands in the ultimatum, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia anyway. |
| 30 July 1914 | Russia began mobilising its troops. |
| 1 August 1914 | Germany declared war on Russia. |
| 3 August 1914 | Germany invaded Belgium and France declared war on Germany. |
| 4 August 1914 | Britain declared war on Germany for invading Belgium. |
| 6 August 1914 | Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia. |
Causes of July Crisis
There is one primary cause of the July Crisis: the assassination of the Archduke of Austria and the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 1924. Franz Ferdinand, along with his wife Sophie, had decided to visit Sarajevo in June 1914 to observe the Austro-Hungarian imperial armed forces stationed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
What were Austro-Hungarian imperial armed forces doing in Bosnia?
Bosnia became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1908 following the Bosnian war. The act of taking Bosnia severely damaged relations between Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbia, who wanted Bosnia for themselves. Culturally and linguistically, Bosnia was very close to Serbia. The annexation of Bosnia by Austria-Hungary enraged Serbs living both in Serbia and Bosnia. This event is a major reason for the assassination of the Archduke of Austria.
On 28 June 1914, seven Bosnian Serb nationalists, employed by a secret Serbian military organisation called "The Black Hand", were tasked with the assassination of the Archduke. Out of the seven, the youngest member of the group, 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip got lucky and shot the Archduke and his wife at point-blank range. The Archduke and his wife were sitting in a car, but their driver had taken a wrong turn, and they ended up in front of Gavrilo Princip by coincidence.
Fig. 1 - The mugshot of Gavrilo Princip
Princip and his accomplices were all arrested. He was of the lucky few who weren't hanged. His age restricted the Austro-Hungarians from sentencing him to hang. Instead, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, where he would die of tuberculosis after only four years.
Did you know? All seven members who took part in the assassination were given cyanide capsules to ingest if they were to be caught. Though Princip and several others took it after being captured, they did not die. The cyanide capsules had expired and were no longer effective.
The assassination of the Archduke and his wife were blamed on Serbia. This, in turn, began a month in which diplomatic relations between numerous states failed, ultimately leading to the outbreak of The Great War.
The Great War
Another term for the First World War.
July Crisis 1914
The July Crisis was a period of extreme diplomatic tension in Europe. It followed the assassination of the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, on 28 June 1914. Needless to say that Europe was shocked. Let's look at a summary of the July Crisis.
July Crisis Summary
Seeking to fully subjugate the Balkans, Austria-Hungary needed both a reason and justification to wage war against Serbia. After the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was assassinated by Serbian nationalists in Bosnia, they had a reason to declare war on Serbia.
However, Austria-Hungary was too weak both financially and militarily. It could not wage war alone. Germany's "Blank Cheque" on 5 July 1914 came to Austria-Hungary as a guarantee of protection from any and all threats. Any form of aggression towards Austria-Hungary would be seen as aggression against Germany.
Fig. 2 - The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo
The Blank Cheque gave Austria-Hungary confidence. Thus, Serbia received an ultimatum from the Austro-Hungarians and was given only 48 hours to respond.
Serbia initially sought Russian aid, but the Russians, not yet involved in the conflict, initially turned a blind eye. This was chiefly done in order not to drag Russia into a conflict. The Austro-Hungarian demands proved too humiliating for Serbia to uphold. For Serbia, the ultimatum practically threatened Serbian independence.
Austria-Hungary knew this quite well. Invading Serbia directly, without diplomatic intervention, would make Serbia look like the victim of war, and as such Austria-Hungary as the clear aggressor. This is why Austria-Hungary's ultimatum was written so that Serbia would never accept it.
Did you know? Austria-Hungary wanted to demonstrate its might against a much smaller state, Serbia. Serbia, a weaker state, wanted to avoid war but was hoping that Russia, its ally, would intervene if the worst-case scenario unfolded and Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Meanwhile, despite the alliance, Russia did not particularly want to be involved in a conflict in which it would have to intervene due to its alliance with Serbia.
The Blank Cheque required Germany to prepare for possible aggression, but Germany itself had imperial goals. It yearned to establish itself as the hegemon in Europe and fuelling conflict could provide opportunities for the expansion of German influence.
Hegemon
The dominant power. When a country is called a hegemon, it means that the country is the most powerful state in its respective region. For example, the United States is the regional hegemon of North and South America.
Initially, Britain sought to intervene and put an end to the July Crisis, but both Austria-Hungary and Germany were preparing for war. Britain's offer was never heard. Serbia anxiously responded to all but one of the Austro-Hungarian demands.
Even with Serbian acquiescence, on 28 July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Wanting control in the Balkans for itself, by Tsar Nicholas II's orders, Russia decided to finally stand up for its smaller informal ally Serbia and began mobilising its military.
Fig. 3 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
Only two days after declaring war on Russia, Germany invaded neutral Belgium, prompting France and the United Kingdom to declare war on Germany. Soon Austria-Hungary too declared war on Russia. And so, the chain reaction was complete. The stage was set for the dawn of the First World War.
Why did the United Kingdom declare war on Germany?
According to the 1839 Treaty of London, Belgium was to remain neutral, and its neutrality was to be inviolable by any European power. But the German invasion of Belgium prompted the United Kingdom to declare war on Germany for violating the treaty as well as aiding France in the war against Germany.
July Crisis Consequences
Much like the cause of the July Crisis, the consequence was simply put, just one. The start to the bloodiest and largest conflict not only Europe but the world had seen, the First World War.
Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II's "Blank Cheque" to Austria-Hungary directly hinted at the expansion of the terms of the Dual Alliance, in that Germany would not only aid Austria-Hungary in case of Russian aggression but Germany would virtually stand with and stand up for any of Austria-Hungary's political decisions.
As historian Hew Strachan posits, Germany believed that an alliance with Austria-Hungary would eventually aid in securing its place as the leading power in Europe. This belief was also supported by nationalistic public sentiment in Germany. Germany did not want war, but it would seem that it was necessary for Germany to become the power it sought to become.1
Fig. 4 - Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany
The Kaiser's sentiments in July 1914
According to Hew Strachan1 and Thomas Otte2, Wilhelm II did not actively seek war. In fact, he even pondered whether to call back his generals who were preparing for conflict. But for Wilhelm II, there still was a semblance of deep resentment towards other European powers who had rallied against him during the diplomatic crises of the First and the Second Moroccan Crises.
This was the encouragement that Austria-Hungary needed. By declaring war on Serbia on 28 July 1914, exactly a month after the assassination of the Archduke, Russia began mobilising its troops. What did mobilisation of troops mean if not war? This was reason enough for Germany to, in turn, declare war on Russia.
Soon Germany activated the Schlieffen Plan and invaded neutral Belgium to gain a foothold away from its border, and so the chain reaction of the July Crisis evolved into the First World War.
What was the Schlieffen Plan?
The Schlieffen Plan was a strategic military plan to allow Germany to wage war on two fronts. The plan was proposed in 1905, 11 years before the outbreak of the Great War, by Alfred von Schlieffen, the former chief of the German general staff.
The Schlieffen Plan aimed to fight the French (and as such the British) in Belgium rather than near German borders. The plan initially began successfully but failed when Belgian resistance slowed the German advance and the combined Allied forces on the Western Front proved too much for Germany to face.
July Crisis - Key takeaways
- The July Crisis began on 28 June 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by Serbia Black Hand member Gavrilo Princip.
- It was a month of chain reactions and diplomatic failures with led to the outbreak of the First World War.
- The Austria-Hungarians used the Archduke's assassination as reason enough to issue demands to Serbia.
- Serbia could not meet all of these demands, leading to Austria-Hungary to invade Serbia with the support of Germany's "blank cheque".
- When Russia mobilised in support of Serbia, Germany declared war and invaded neutral Belgium - this prompted France and then Great Britain to declare war on Germany - thus beginning the First World War.
- The July Crisis proved that countries like Germany and Austria-Hungary were hungry for war and sought to expand their empires in Europe. This desire for expansion brought them into conflict with France and Russia, in particular.
References
- Hew Strachan, The First World War: Volume I: To Arms (1993)
- Thomas G. Otte, July Crisis: The World's Descent Into War, Summer 1914 (2014)
- Fig. 4 - 'Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia' (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wilhelm_II,_German_Emperor_and_King_of_Prussia.png) by Wilhelm II, German Emperor (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Wilhelm_II,_German_Emperor) licensed under CC BY SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)
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