Austria is one of the countries you will find in the European Union, the country has been a faction of Hungary, and they both co-existed for a long time before they broke off. They are now separate countries, although they are still sharing some casual relationships. Serbia is also another country in the European Union, and they were in the USSR before they broke out also and up till now, they are still sharing common relationships with most of the countries that were in the USSR and one of the states is Russia.
The question is: what made Austria declare war on Serbia?
War is one of the ways people of the old use as a means to settle the dispute and even prove that one is higher than the other. The war that broke out between the Austrian country and the Serbian nation came about in the year 1914 in June, precisely on the 28th day, and one might ask, why did Austria declare war on Serbia?
The principal cause of the war was because a Serbian killer planned and murdered an Austrian Archduke by the name Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife was a part of the bloodshed that day. When this got to the notice of the Austrian government, they gave the Serbian an ultimatum that would allow their people to investigate the death of the Archduke, and it also inspired numerous other requests that came up with that ultimatum. When they did not meet all the applications, the Austrian government declared war on the country.
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Archduke Francis And His Wife’s Death
Archduke Francis is known all over in the Austrian terrain as he was one of the long lines of Archduke in that country. He was prominent and well known with a lot of influence and power tied to his name. His full name is Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria, and he was born in the year 1863, December 13. He was born in Graz, which has its location in the Austrian Empire.
He was a Catholic, and although he is one that you would not tag the Religious type, he was married to Sophie, who was the Duchess of Hohenberg, and the marriage took place in the year 1900. After that, they gave birth to three children.
There was a lot of tension between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian republic, which Austria was under at that time. The Archduke taught it wise to pay a visit to the Governor of the Bosnian Governor, who had his residence located in Sarajevo at that time.
The Archduke went for that diplomatic visit with his lovely wife. As they approached the city, they got attacked by some unknown groups who threw bombs towards their vehicle. Luckily the driver was fast enough to dodge the missiles, but the convoy at the back of the Archduke car was not that lucky.
The bomb got to it, and the men in it were severely injured. They still managed to get to the residence of the Governor, which is in that city. When he got to the home of the Governor, he made a statement angrily, which is a headline in history.
The announcement was asking the people if they now welcome visitors to their place by sending those bombs. After saying that, he moved straight to the Governor’s lodge, and after the meeting, he had with him, he was about to leave for his home country with his beloved wife.
They entered another car, which was supposed to lead them out of the country. Still, something funny happened as the driver was not aware that the initial route they took was no longer the route they should have taken. When he discovered that he was heading the wrong direction, he stopped, tried to reverse, sitting on the edge of the street was a young man known as Gavrilo Princip.
He was a Bosnian member and was aged 19, he brought out his pistol from his pocket and walked straight to the car of the Archduke, he shot straight at them hitting the wife first at the lower abdomen, and his attack also got the Archduke in his neck before he fled into the wind.
The Archduke and his wife were struggling to survive. The Archduke made attempts to tell his wife not to give up, for the sake of the children, but sadly they both died on their way to the hospital.
The gun that the young man used had to go into the investigation and was traceable to the Serbian army. That is how the study got to Serbia. Although up till now, they still honor the Archduke in all parts of Austria; his death was just the beginning of what you would call World War I.
The Primal Cause Of World War I
After the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian government, then known as Austro-Hungarian, sent an ultimatum to the Serbian government. It was to enable them to meet with regards to the pending request they have asked, and one of which was an agreement that would allow the Austrian government to cover the grounds of Serbia.
It was unfortunate that the agreement was partial. When this got to the notice of the Austrian government, they declared war on Serbia and started deploying soldiers to its borders. Before the incident, the Serbian had already prepared for war with aid from Russia, France, Belgium, and even Great Britain stood against the Austrian government, which had the backing of some European countries.
All this happened in just a week as the war, which led to the European peace movement to be null and void, ushered in a new wave that broke out through almost all parts of the European Continent. The war is what we all refer to as World War I.
It was not just two countries fighting against each other. It developed to a larger scale. At some point, almost all the countries in the world participated in the fight. The United States of America and Russia were also a part of it.
The Russian Revolution
Russia, as a country, was famous and was one of the world powers even as far back as in the days of World War I. Russian armies were magnificent on the battlefield, mounting various attacks to different nations and overpowering this nation as well. Still, the one country that they could not defeat easily was the German armies.
As they were fighting fire for fire, because of the war, the rate of poverty increased, which made a lot of people starve to death, and many also were forced to do manual labor to survive, and it was harsh in Russia.
The economic value of the country was dropping as the day went by, but with the leader at that name, Czar Nicholas II, he cared less about the economic situation. All he was concerned with was that he must win the battle at all costs.
In 1917, something significant happened in Russia that led to what you can call the Russian Revolution. Two young men, Vladimir Lenin and his friend, known as the Bolsheviks, made significant contributions to the event operations.
The movement they brought cut short the rule of Czar Nicholas II, and that was how Russia withdrew from World War I. They also freed all their war prisoners; this was the new beginning that would launch Russia to be a great nation
How America Entered World War I
When World War I started in 1914, the United States of America did not participate at once; they were what you would call the side watchers. They did nothing but to trade with both parties that were fighting the war, and they were making millions of dollars selling arms for the war.
At some point, the German troops started bombing ships that were not warships, and most of these ships were full of passengers who were early U.S Citizens. It was even though the U.S had made its stand known that they were neutral.
The several bombing of American ships by the Germans made the host nations declare that they will fight against those that threaten the lives of their citizens. The government set aside about $250 million to acquire armor and weapons for the war that they were about to commence. It happened around February in 1917. That was how they went to war with the Germans and all her allies.
Conclusion
The death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the primary catalyst for Austria attacking, or you can say, waging war against Serbia. The war went on and on as it was the war that led to World War I. It also broke out throughout most European countries. One can even say that death or the assignation of death led to World War I that caused the death of so many persons around the world. Given this, we have answered the question, why did Austria declare war on Serbia?
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