The Balkan Nationalism to Be Blamed for the Outbreak of the War

Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind,- Albert Einstein. Over the course of humanitys march out of the East and into the west, the Balkan Peninsula has been a crossroads of political, cultural, and artistic developments. The Balkans, much like the other regions of Europe during the turn of the twentieth century, were experiencing strong nationalistic ideologies. Nationalism in this scenario would be defined as the desire for people to be ruled by themselves. For the Balkans this meant the expulsion of all foreign presence.

Tensions caused mainly by nationalism in the Balkans between 1870 and 1914 contributed to the beginning of the first World War because of the chain reactions that occurred after the assassination of the Archduke Franze Ferdinand. A rise in military power in Europe began after 1870. Germany had taken the territory of AlsaceLorraine from the French in the Franco-Prussian war. Due to their quick and embarrassing loss in the war, and concerns about another German attack, France began to build up their military and place strong fortresses on the German border.

Frances’s military building would foreshadow the arms race Europe would see. In 1890 Bismarck was dismissed as Chancellor of Germany by a naive Kaiser Wilhelm II. Wilhelm wanted to expand the German navy and began so by building a fleet of battleships. Britain attempted to maintain twice the navy of its enemys; hence they began to build as well. In 1906 Britain developed the HMS Dreadnaught, a new battleship, which was capable of the speed of 21 knots. The navy was not the only part growing. Weaponry advanced, submarines and airplanes appeared, and Europes military count was at its peak.

The arms race left a frustrated continent on the edge and trigger happy. Bismarck’s absence changed the alliance of Europe. Kaiser Wilhelm II refused to renew the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia. Russia did not want to be isolated and choose to surround Germany by a military alliance with France known as the Dual Entent. While Russia and France were making secret conversations, Britain was attempting to form an alliance of their own. Britain, under the new Salisbury government, attempted to create an Anglo-German alliance. Wilhelm quickly rejected the idea, and Britain was forced to turn elsewhere. They ended up with an Anglo-Japanese alliance in 1902, an Anglo-French alliance in 1904, and an Anglo-Russian alliance in 1907. The alliances of Europe were set by 1907 with Britain, France and Russia forming the Triple Entente. The Triple Entente was a perfect balance to the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

Virtually all of Europe was involved in the system of alliances and if one fell, it would take down the rest. In South-East Europe nationalism was crumbling the Ottoman Empire and threatening the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. A Balkan crisis was resolved by Bismarck at the 1878 Congress of Berlin, but the peace would not last long. The new Serbian Kingdom strongly supported Slavic nationalism which now was seen as Serbian nationalism. The dream was for a great Balkan South Slavic state united under the leadership of Orthodox Serbia.

The Serbs believed that Bosnia should be part of this new Slavic state and were outraged that the Great Powers had put Bosnia under Austro-Hungarian administration. Austrian rule was opposed by Serbian agents who promoted resistance. This effort was secretly financed by the Russians who shared both ethnic and religious backgrounds with the Slavic people. Russia had named itself as the protector of Orthodox Christians. Serbian nationalists were also actively plotting to overthrow Austro-Hungarian rule in other Slavic lands such as Croatia and Slovenia. Balkan nationalism became stronger than ever in 1903. The Austrian-Hungarian government strongly opposed the Serbian ideas about Pan Slavism and other regions. Some Serbs began to carry out acts of terrorism in Austria-Hungary because they disagreed with the government. Several secret societies, headed by Nationalism, were formed in Serbia and were dedicated to throwing the Austrians and Turks out of the Balkans. The Slavic Serbia turned to the Slavic Russia for support. It was necessary to have Russias support in order to rid Serbia of foreign presence.

Russia at the time was competing with Austria-Hungary over spheres of influence in the Balkans. Yet Russia was not at full strength due to the revolution of 1905. While Serbia turned to Russia, Austria-Hungary officially annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908. Not only was this the immediate cause of the Turkish revolution, but it deeply angered the Serbian nationalists. The secret societies were forced to pick up their pace before Austria-Hungary completely dominated their new lands. The kingdom of Serbia, angered by the Austrian-Hungarian annexation, stepped into the first two Balkan Wars. The basic outcome was the destruction of the Ottoman Empire in Europe.

This gave rise to the already high Balkan Nationalism and gave fear to Austria-Hungary that they too may suffer the same fate. Austria-Hungarys fears were not too off track. On June 28, 1914 Archduke Franze Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian Throne, was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip. He was on his way to the Bosnian capitol of Sarajevo. The young man behind the murder was an assassin for the terrorist organization known as the Black Hand. The Black Hand was a nationalistic institution committed to uniting Serbia into a single state. Austria-Hungary had no proof that the Serbian government was backing up the Black Hand, yet they still uttered a grave ultimatum to Serbia. Austria-Hungary demanded that all anti-Austrian propaganda be stopped and for the investigation of the assassination to be led by Austrian officials.

If Serbia would agree to this, they would forfeit virtually full control of their nation. Serbias reply led to the mobilization of Austria-Hungary. Due to their desire to put out the Serbian nationalism, which was the reason behind many dangerous terrorist attacks, Austria-Hungary declared war on July 28, 1914. On July 29, 1914 the Russian army got ready to help Serbia defend itself against the Austrians. The next day Germany, because of the Triple alliance with Austria-Hungary, sent a threatening message to the Russians ordering them not to help Serbia. Russia neglected it and Germany was brought into the war. Germany quickly mobilized its army and prepared for an Invasion of France, due to it being a part of the Triple Entente. The war had begun and the alliance systems made sure that everyone was involved. The Balkan nationalism is to blame for the outbreak of the war, but only to the extent that it was just catalyst of the war. The arms race, imperialism, and alliances had Europe set up for a large and complex war before Balkan tension became serious. Balkan nationalism began the war with the assassination of Franze Ferdinand, but it was the condition which Europe was in that projected the war. Militarism, alliances, and imperialism poured the gas over Europe, and Balkan nationalism lit the match.