THE ROAD TO WAR

Tension In the

BALKANS

The Balkan Region

Russian Interest in The Balkans• After being humiliated

in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 they refocused attention to Europe

• Special interest in Balkans (Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria and Part of Greece)

• Feuded with Turkey and Austria Hungary, who had similar interests

Austria-Hungarian Interest

• In 1908 Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina from Turkey

Serbia’a Response• They were upset for

two reasons:– 1) There were many

Serbs in the area

– 2) It cut Serbia off from the Adriatic Sea

They hoped that Russia would intervene, but Russia were reluctant in fear of a German attack.

Heightening Conflict in the Region

• 1912: Formation of The Balkan League under Serbian leadership

• Declared War on Turkey and defeated them

• Pushed Turkish influence out of the region

Serbia -vs- Austria-Hungary

• Austria-Hungary worried about Serbia’s growing power

• Serbia doubled in size after another war in 1913

Russia Officially Enters into the Conflict

• Serbia was weary of eminent aggression from Austria-Hungary

• They turned to their ally Russia for protection

Look at what we then had….

• Austria-Hungary -vs- Russia

• That means their allies are behind them

• Austria-Hungary ~ Germany and Italy (Triple Alliance)

• Russia ~ Britain and France (Triple Entente)

RECAP

• Let’s take another look at the major European Powers at the time of The Balkan Crisis

BRITAIN

• Major industrial power (behind US and Germany)

• Wanted to maintain status quo as major colonial power

GERMANY

• Major industrial power under authoritarian monarch

• Challenge existing order of powers and wanted to flex its muscle in doing so

RUSSIA• 4th largest industrial

power (but mostly in food and textiles rather than equipment and arms)

• Mostly a peasant, agricultural society

• HUGE army (1.3 million troops; 5 million reserves

FRANCE

• 5th leading industrial power

• Slow growing population (especially compared to Germany)