The July Crisis was a diplomatic crisis among the major powers of Europe in the summer of 1914 that led to the First World War. Immediately after Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo, a series of diplomatic maneuverings led to an ultimatum from Austria-Hungary to Serbia, and ultimately to war.
This ultimatum was part of a coercive program meant to weaken the Kingdom of Serbia as a threat to Austria-Hungary's occupation of the northern Balkans which had a significant southern Slavic population, including a majority Serbian community in Bosnia. This was supposed to be achieved either through diplomacy or by a localized war if the ultimatum were rejected. Austria-Hungary preferred war, though Istvan Tisza, the prime minister of Austria-Hungary, hoped that the ultimatum would be reasonable enough that it would not be rejected outright.
One month after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, thus initiating the First World War.
Read more about July Crisis: Assassination and Investigation, Serbia Drifts, Austro-Hungarian Attitude To War, German Attitude To War, Preparations For The Austro-Hungarian Ultimatum, Content of The Austro-Hungarian Ultimatum To Serbia, Serbian Response To The Ultimatum, Proposals For Mediation, Austro-Hungarian Declaration of War On Serbia, Russian Mobilization, German Mobilization, German Declarations of War
Famous quotes containing the words july and/or crisis:
“I thank heaven that the 4th. of July is over. It is always a day of great fatigue to me, and of some embarrassments from improper intrusions and some from unintended exclusions.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“One theme links together these new proposals for family policy—the idea that the family is exceedingly durable. Changes in structure and function and individual roles are not to be confused with the collapse of the family. Families remain more important in the lives of children than other institutions. Family ties are stronger and more vital than many of us imagine in the perennial atmosphere of crisis surrounding the subject.”
—Joseph Featherstone (20th century)