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2 Events Leading to War
A The Balkan Crisis of 1908 i A revolt in Serbia, in 1903, replaced the pro-Austrian King Alexander by a pro-Russian ruler, King Peter Karageorgovic. Austria took no immediate action but, always worried by the `threat' from Serbia, she planned in 1906 to counter the Serbs by taking over complete control of Bosnia and Herzegovina which had been under Austria's care since 1878. Her opportunity came in 1908 when the revolt of the Young Turks disrupted the government of the Turkish Empire. ii Austria therefore annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908. Serbia protested and Russia supported Serbia. Germany gave Austria complete backing. Moltke, Chief of the German General Staff, wrote to Conrad, the Chief of the Austrian military staff, 'The moment Russia mobilizes, Germany will also mobilize, and will unquestionably mobilize her whole army.' Since neither France nor England were willing to give active support, Russia had to climb down. iii The Austro-German alliance had scored a great diplomatic success, but as with other German diplomatic adventures the results took a surprising turn. Austria had weakened her position by intensifying German-Slav rivalry and by increasing the hostility of Serbia on her southern frontier. Germany had failed to weaken the Triple Entente and found herself committed to unconditional support for Austria in the Balkans. Russia learnt a double lesson. She moved closer to France and set about strengthening her armed forces. No wonder Bulow when he retired as German Foreign Minister is alleged to have said to Kaiser William II in 1909, 'Do not repeat the Bosnian affair' (Taylor).
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