25 Dez 1913 Jahr - The Onset of War

Beschreibung:

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated. He was murdered at Sarajevo, the capital of the Austrian province of Bosnia. The assassin was Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian-trained Bosnian terrorist. Austria claimed that Serbian government officials had trained and equipped Princip’s group, which was known as the Black Hand. For many years Serbia and Austria-Hungary had been unfriendly because Serbian nationalists wanted to unite all Slavic peoples living in the Balkan region into a single state. Slavs living in Austria-Hungary would be included, and Austria-Hungary strongly opposed this.

Austria-Hungary decided to use the assassination as an excuse to settle its quarrel with Serbia. Germany promised to back Austria-Hungary. On July 23 Austria-Hungary presented a warlike ultimatum to Serbia, allowing only 48 hours for an answer. Serbia responded by July 25 but suggested that some of Austria-Hungary’s demands be referred to the other European powers. Austria-Hungary refused Serbia’s suggestion, and on July 28 it declared war on Serbia.