The Sarajevo incident was defined as the trigger for the First World War because it gave Austria-Hungary a reason to "have to" declare war on Serbia: the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne. And the war between these two countries involved the interests of the European powers, and then radiated to the whole world, triggering the First World War.
The fuse can be detonated, indicating that there is explosives. So, what was the incident in Sarajevo that sparked it?
Europe now has 27 countries making up the EU, as well as several potential member states and candidates, giving it a look of unity.
But this pattern was formed slowly, and along the way, it was full of various battles. The impact of these two world wars on Europe today is enormous, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they reshaped the division of power in Europe. This kind of influence, in the form of local hot spots, still shows people the focus of the struggle between various parties in Europe in the past.
The Balkans are one such hot spot, known as the "powder keg of Europe".
In the last week of 2023, there was a street violence in Serbia, which was characterized by the country's **Vučić as an "attempted 'color revolution' orchestrated by foreign forces". So why are foreign countries so interested in Serbia?
Historically, Serbia has had a rough time as a country, and this has to do with the location it is in. From the end of the 15th century to the late 19th century, it was ruled by the Ottoman Empire for more than 500 years; After independence in 1878, two Balkan wars followed; After the expansion, Serbia has become a thorn in the side of its northern neighbor.
In Europe in the early 20th century, in addition to Britain, France, and Germany, there was also the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which has now disappeared but was one of the leading European powers at that time. It is this Austria-Hungary that will not be able to get along with Serbia. The reason is simple, it is an important reason for the great powers of that era to fight each other: expansion and counter-expansion.
After the Second Balkan War, the people of the Balkans were largely freed from the national oppression of the Ottoman (Turkish), but new problems arose. At that time, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina) was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but the people here demanded secession from Austria-Hungary and merger with Serbia. This made Austria-Hungary resentful, and it was bent on destroying the young Serbian state in its formative years.
Behind Serbia, stood the Russian Empire.
Now the front line of the Russian-European confrontation is in Ukraine, and before World War I, it was the Balkans. Russia, in order to fight against the mighty Austro-Hungarian Empire (yes, you read that right), supported Serbia with all its might. And the helper of Austria-Hungary was Germany. The two sides formed a confrontation of power between the two imperialist blocs in the Balkans.
And that's not all. Germany's neighbor, France, signed an entente with Russia, forming a de facto alliance. Britain, on the other hand, had no alliance with either side, but it had always regarded Germany as a formidable competitor and had been secretly preparing for a long time to defeat Germany by war one day.
This was the Allied bloc dominated by Germany, Austria, and Turkey during World War I, and the Entente bloc dominated by Russia, France, and Britain.
The two sides are fighting openly and covertly in various areas of interest, triggering a military buildup and arms race. In the Balkans, Austria-Hungary saw Serbia as an obstacle to its outward expansion, and thus made it a national policy to crush Greater Serbianism. On this premise, Austria-Hungary began military provocations against Serbia.
At the end of June 1914, a military exercise with Serbia as an imaginary enemy was held in Bosnia. On the 28th, Crown Prince Ferdinand and his wife of the Austro-Hungarian Empire inspected military exercises in a high-profile manner on the outskirts of the city, and then took a car to the city of Sarajevo to inspect the city. Here, the couple was the victim of a premeditated assassination and were beaten to death in the street by a 17-year-old middle school student***.
Although the scene of the assassination was in Bosnia, the student's identity was Serb. This gave Germany and Austria reasons to ask Serbia for their guilt.
While Germany and Austria are actively preparing for war, the other side, Russia and France, are also actively preparing for war. Of course, Britain is not idle, and it has long been prepared militarily for its neutral appearance.
On 28 July, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia under the pretext of the Sarajevo incident. On August 1 and 3, Germany declared war on Russia and France. On the 4th, Britain declared war on Germany on the pretext of protecting Belgium's neutrality. On the 6th, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia. At this point, World War I broke out and spread rapidly to other parts of the world.
Ostensibly, it was the Sarajevo incident that triggered World War I. That's why it's said to be the fuse.
After the end of Ottoman rule in the Balkans, there was a vacuum of absolute power. Both Russia and Austria-Hungary wanted their power to dominate the region, and this was destined to happen.
The contradictions of the major empires have existed for a long time, and it is only a matter of time before they erupt. Reason, on the other hand, can be made up of different things at different points in time.
From this point of view, the events in Sarajevo should have been the catalyst for the First World War, which gave the inter-imperial wars a "suitable" reason to take place, satisfying their "...... needs."Again, ......"Psychology.
To this day, the contradictions in the Balkans have not been truly resolved. After the breakup of Yugoslavia into six countries, Croatia and Slovenia have joined the European Union, while the other four countries, including Serbia, are still in the ranks of "EU candidates" and have not yet been truly accepted by the Western world.
110 years after the events in Sarajevo, the deep contradictions that caused it have not left and are still hovering over the Balkans. The road to peace here has not yet reached its end.