Balkan Nationalism as WWI cause
“Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind,”- Albert Einstein. Over the course of humanity’s 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 Alsace-Lorraine 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. France’s military building would foreshadow the arms race Europe would see. . . .
ed as Chancellor of Germany by a naive Kaiser Wilhelm II. The new Serbian Kingdom strongly supported Slavic nationalism which now was seen as Serbian nationalism. The Balkan nationalism became stronger than ever in 1903. Russia neglected it and Germany was brought into the war. The basic outcome was the destruction of the Ottoman-Empire in Europe. Britain, under the new Salisbury government, attempted to create an Anglo-German alliance. 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. Serbia’s reply led to the mobilization of Austria-Hungary. The Triple Entente was a perfect balance to the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. 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. They ended up with an Anglo-Japanese alliance in 1902, Anglo-French alliance in 1904, and an Anglo-Russian alliance in 1907. The Slavic Serbia turned to the Slavic Russia for support. On June 28, 1914 The Archduke Franze Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian Throne, was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip. This effort was secretly financed by the Russians who shared both ethnic and religious backgrounds with the Slavic people.
Common topics in this essay:
Balkan Peninsula, Triple Entente, HMS Dreadnaught, French Franco-Prussian, Britain Salisbury, Bosnia Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary Due, Bosnia Austro-Hungarian, Franze Ferdinand, Serbia Austria-Hungary, balkan nationalism, triple entente, black hand, franze ferdinand, arms race, alliances europe set, serbia russia, serbian nationalists, triple alliance, foreign presence, serbian nationalism, kaiser wilhelm ii, archduke franze ferdinand, |
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