The Crisis of 1914

Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM

The Crisis of 1914 - the prelude to World War 1

Although it was probably inevitable that World War 1 was going to take place, events in June onwards of 1914 almost saw the onset of a great European war. As events eventually dictated, distant events in the far off Pacific witnessed the onset of world war. Yet the focus here will be the efforts of several European nations to avoid such a war in 1914.

The crisis of 1914 began with the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne one Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 18, 1914. The Austrian reaction was not unusual for the period, where the assassination by a Serbian radical, was viewed as a hostile & warlike act by the nation of Serbia upon Austria.

Serbia, however, was not overly to blame. The assassin acted independently, but alas he was known to be a member of an organisation that supported Bosnian independence at the expense of the Austrians. Unfortunately, such a policy was in fact on the Serbian government agenda, although it was never overly pursued with much vigour. In fact it was seen more as a vision in uniting the Slavic peoples of the Balkans rather than an actual strategy for empire building.

Nonetheless, Austria view it as the latter. It goes without say too, that since Prussia had become the dominate German state, & had united most of Germany into a single nation, Austria had begun looking towards the Balkans as a means of increasing the size of their empire. It was with this in mind that Austria thus put forward a list of demands, on July 23, to Serbia which would have all but swallowed up that country within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Surprisingly, the Serbians agreed to most of the demands of the Austrians. This came as somewhat of a shock to the Austrians who did not know what to do next. Not realising their chance, they rejected the Serbian offer & commanded that every demand be met or war would be declared.

At this point the rest of Europe became snared into the politics of the Balkans. Keenly following these events, the Russians decided that it was their time to intervene. Considering themselves champion of the Slavs, the Russians immediately warned the Austrians that any attack by them upon the Serbs would mean military intervention.

At this point, alarm bells started ringing around Europe. Only in Britain was the events in the Balkans viewed with little intent. But for the Germans & French it meant that they too might be dragged into a European war. Above all, the Germans & French had different opinions about such a prospect.

To the French it meant revenge. Having lost the 1870 war, which meant the loss of the provinces of Lorraine & Alsace, a new war would give France a chance to regain this lost territory. To that end, not only had the French Army reformed itself drastically into a powerful force, but the politicians had made military treaties with both Russia & Britain.

Germany, even with the war hawk Kaiser Wilhelm II, had somewhat been out politiced by France, thanks to the retirement of Bismark from the political scene. The German Army commanders, in full fear of a war on two fronts, had at first sought an alliance with their sometime allies the Austrians. At the beginning of 1914, along with Italy being involved with the German alliance, all appeared to be balanced in Europe from a military point of view. But then came the assassination of the Archduke & Austria ready to go to war.

And Austria did not help in any peace effort. Ignoring Russian threats, Austria mobilised her army & began building up her forces along the Serbian border ready for invasion. In turn Russia, on July 29, mobilised her army & likewise made preparations to invade Austrian territory. As part of their alliance with Germany, Austria demanded military help. A joyous Kaiser thus gave the mobilisation orders to his army chiefs.

Several events, however, would take place that ensured that the start of the Great War would be delayed. Upon hearing that Germany was mobilising, Russia demanded that it stop. In reply, the Germans demanded that the Russians also demobilise & not attack Austria. At first this demand from Germany was a perfunctory reply until the German Junkers stepped in. Being the backbone of German politics, the allies of the departed Bismark were quick to point out the almost impossible task ahead, thanks to the amateurish international politics of the Kaiser.

In a separate event, the British by now, having heard that the French were considering mobilisation in support of the Russians, now started behind the scenes diplomacy with the Kaiser. King George V, being the Kaiser’s cousin, made it known that Germany could not expect any support from Britain. In fact if France was attacked by Germany then Germany too would be at war with Britain. If this knowledge did not stun the war hawk Kaiser, then the revolt by the Junkers did.

Serious negotiations soon followed between the Germans & the Russians. A day later Germany agreed to demobilise only under the assumption that Russia would do the same. In fact Tsar Nicholas had no intention of fighting Germany & consented to follow the Russo-German Agreement, signed on July 31. On August 1 Germany thus demobilised first. Even so, Germany would have the right, as per the Agreement, to reverse their decision if the Russians did not follow suit.

Unfortunately Germany had by this time an excellent telegraph & telephone system, so within 24 hours the stand down orders had reached their respective units. The Russians had nothing like this communications system & relied upon hand delivered couriers as much as anything. Nonetheless the Russian orders went out, but to German observers it appeared as if the Russians were doing nothing. German Army command was thus put into a dreadful dilemma - either wait a little longer or report the situation to the Kaiser & expect war.

It was the German General von Hindenburg who, on August 3, made the final decision. Being a Prussian Junker also helped in the decision that followed. Instead of following his orders he decided to wait. In order to cover himself he furthermore ordered that the German observers report two days later to reconfirm their initial reports. Sure enough, two days later, reports came back that the Russians were indeed demobilising as in accordance with the Agreement.

All this suited Austria fine. She had manoeuvred Russia, or so Austria thought, to the side lines & had Germany acting as a good ally. Maybe in a few years Austria could even lead Greater Germany once more as years before. Unknown to the Austrians though, the Germans were annoyed with their ally’s behaviour who had conducted its affairs without any regard whatsoever to Germany’s input. Unlike in the days of Bismark, it was Germany who had become isolated & easy pickings for the rest of Europe. They would offer no help at all in the days that followed.

Whilst all this diplomatic manoeuvring & brinkmanship was taking place, Serbia had readied itself for war. All able bodied men were conscripted into the army & were deployed ready & waiting. Furthermore, and with no treaty forbidding this action, Russia had quietly begun slipping arms & munitions to the Serbs in total ignorance of the Austrians.

The Austrian attack came as expected. But the result was a shock to the Austrians. Although expecting a quick victory, the Serbian commander Putnik, nevertheless, quickly defeated the Austrians on the Cer Mountain (August 15-20) and at Sabac (August 21-24). There followed attack & counter attack & after a somewhat successful victory at the Battle of Kolubara the Serbs were forced to evacuate Belgrade on November 30. Having seemingly won the war, the Austrians were convincingly defeated on December 15, upon which a pursuit witnessed the Austrians routed and sent back fleeing across the border.

At this point, upon pressure from both Russia & Britain, Germany began peace overtures towards the Austrians. Having just been defeated, the Austrians were not overly receptive, but the Germans kept up the pressure. For the Russians, their motivation was simple: save the Serbs & humiliate Austria without firing a shot. For the British it meant working with an historical ally on the European continent & curtailing the warlike ethos of France. As far as Britain was concerned, nothing would hurt her more than a European war. Her trade with the continent & elsewhere was far more important than military prowess or French revenge. Austria, however, continued to simmer & awaited the spring to recommence their struggle with Serbia.

Alas Britain’s wishes were not to be fulfilled. Before peace could be established in the Balkans, events in the Pacific would witness the reverse. Australia, a British Domain, had long sort territorial expansion in the Pacific. It had already taken part of the island of New Guinea, & now that gold had been discovered in Papua, Australia’s Prime Minister William Hughes thought Australia should have that part of the island too. Pity it was German territory.