Why A Balkan War?
This leads us to the last question: why did the Balkan crisis of 1914 lead to World War I, when many other crises were resolved without a general war in Europe? These are really two questions: • First, why did the crisis lead to a war between Austria and Serbia? and • Second, why did that conflict soon involve the rest of the Great Powers? From what we have seen about risk taking by the Austro-Hungarians and the Serbs, we can say something about why those two states went to war in 1914. In the first place, both governments believed their prestige and credibility were on the line, not only in the international community, but at home. For the Austrians, a personal attack on the royal family required a strong response, especially if it involved Serbs, who had defied the Dual Monarchy during the Pig War, been labelled as traitors during the Friedjung Trial, and recently destroyed south-eastern Europe’s other dynastic empire (the Ottomans). Failure to act in the summer of 1914 invited great
