Causes & Consequences: The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand Flashcards
When and where was Franz Ferdinand assassinated?
28th of June, 1914, in Sarajevo, Bosnia. He was overseeing military operations.
Why was Franz Ferdinand assassinated?
He was an Archduke and therefore also the next heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, making him an incredibly powerful person. FF was also a conservative Catholic with a distaste for non-Austrians like Serbs, so he was seen as a threat to Serbia and their plan for a South Slav Kingdom. People thought he would invade Serbia to expand Austria-Hungary’s empire.
What were FF’s true feelings about Serbia?
While he was prejudiced against Serbs, he had sympathy for them and did not intend to invade Serbia. One of the reasons for this was because of Serbia’s alliance with Russia which was a threat to AH. He feared that war would spark between AH and Russia if they invaded Serbia, so FF was against it because he put the empire first before his own personal views of Serbs. This means that assassinating FF was the wrong thing to do as it started the war he didn’t even want.
What is Nationalism?
The advancement of national identity and culture, often at the expense of others. Across Europe, empires were breaking down into nation-states as smaller entities fought for independence and identity separate from empires.
Why was Nationalism a threat to Austria-Hungary?
Austria-Hungary was an empire comprised of many nations they controlled. By having large amounts of land, they were powerful. But nationalism was a threat to this power they had because of countries attempting independence against Austria-Hungary, like Bosnia. AH suffered from nationalist protests.
What happened in the first Balkan war?
The Balkan League was formed to push the Ottoman Empire of out Southeast Europe. This was successful and the countries in the Balkan League divided up the territory left behind by the OE.
What happened in the second Balkan war?
Bulgaria wasn’t happy with the outcome of the first Balkan war and the amount of land it received so they attacked Serbia and Greece. Turkey aligned with Serbia and Greece hoping to get some territory back (they did not). In the end, Bulgaria was defeated by the other Balkan states and was forced to surrender land.
What was the main consequence of the Balkan wars?
Serbia expanded in size and also in power and influence, able to threaten empires like Austria-Hungary. Serbia had a goal of creating a South Slav Kingdom to free other nations from AH’s rule. With this influence, Serbia inspired other countries to fight for independence and protest.
What was the Black Hand?
The Black Hand was an extreme Serb nationalist group that was a catalyst for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and World War I as a whole. They were a terrorist organisation that was supported by the Serbian government, specifically Dragutin Dmitrijivic. They supplied weapons to Young Bosnia for the assassination attempts.
What was Young Bosnia and who is the most notable member?
Young Bosnia was a Bosnian-Serb nationalist revolutionary group comprised of young Bosnians who wanted to fight against AH and end their control over Bosnia. The most notable member of Young Bosnia is Gavrilo Princip who was responsible for the successful assassination of Franz Ferdinand, only 19 at the time when he shot both FF and his wife.
How did people react to the assassination of FF?
There was outrage in Austria-Hungary because of his status as a high-ranking royal and heir to the throne, but no one cared personally as FF was not a very well-liked individual - his funeral was only 15 minutes long. His death was an excuse for war as Serbia needed to be punished and made an example of so that other Balkan nations would not try to do anything similar once they saw the consequences.
What was the July Crisis?
The July Crisis is the name for the events that followed FF’s assassination up until the start of the war a month later at the end of July. AH gave Serbia an ultimatum on the 23rd of July, which came so much later because AH was ensuring they had Germany’s support (the ‘blank cheque’ - an open-ended promise of support) in case Russia attacked in response to AH declaring war on Serbia. The ultimatum issued was one that Serbia could never accept as it included surrendering land to AH. Since they had the support of Russia, Serbia was confident in not accepting the ultimatum. Once they refused, AH declared war on the 28th of July.
How and why did this war between Serbia and Austria-Hungary escalate into the Great War (World War I)?
It went from a local problem to a global problem due to alliances in Europe. While the war was initially between Serbia and AH, they each had an ally backing them up (Russia for Serbia and Germany for AH). France then ended up getting involved because they were allied with Russia and had a troubled history with Germany. Then when Germany invaded Belgium, a neutral state, the UK declared war on Germany. This war then spread outside of Europe because of these nation’s empires and colonies in places like Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Attacking colonies meant attacking the national pride of countries, and nationalism was a long-term cause of the assassination of FF and WWI.
What was the turning point in WWI?
The turning point in WWI was when the USA joined in 1917. This occurred around the same time the Triple Alliance was weakening, especially AH and the Ottoman Empire, which left Germany fighting alone.
