The Role of Serbia in the First World War - Research Paper Example

Introduction There were different factors which contributed towards the developments which resulted into the First World War. Most importantly, theemergence of war is now seen as the struggle for bringing balance of power between the different countries in Europe. This however, subsequently developed into a full scale war at global level. Though, apparently it is believed that the First World War was triggered on the assassination of the Franz Ferdinand and his wife in 1914 by a Bosnian revolutionary group. However, the actual roots of the causes for the First World were much deeper than just the assassination. There were different factors such as imperialism, nationalism as well as the formation of different alliances between various countries which finally resulted into the emergence of war. The immediate causes of the war were even discussed during that era wherein major powers of the world at that time blamed each other for bringing the situation to a point where War broke out . (Taylor, 1980) Serbia was most instrumental and probably one of the key reasons as to why First World War took place. What role Serbia played in the outbreak of First World War therefore is an issue which attracted attention of many historians over the period of time. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the subsequent events which unfolded therefore gave rise to the need for developing broader understanding of the events which lead to war. Though the war started with the attack from Austria- Hungary on Serbia to potentially avenge the murder however, the overall political reasons for this war were much deeper. (Bourne, 1994) This paper will therefore attempt to discuss the role of Serbia in the events which resulted into the outbreak of the First World War Serbia before First World War Before discussing the role of Serbia in the events which lead to the First World War, it is important that a general historical introduction of Serbia and its position before the war should be discussed. Serbia fell under the rule of Ottoman Empire in 16th century when it was conquered by Ottomans and were subsequently put under the rule for more than 300 years. The Ottoman conquest became possible due to the internal conflict within the Kingdom of Serbia and resultantly the State as a whole weakened. Serbia remained under the control of Ottoman Empire for more than 300 years and it was only in the beginning of the 20th century that it started to consider a separation from the empire and develop its own separate identity. It is also important to note that the organized revolt in Serbia against Ottoman Empire started during the 19th century and Serbia was able to free some area even during the 19th Century. It was during this period that Serbia started a coalition with Greece, Bulgaria and Romania to get back its lost integrity as the separate Kingdom. By the year 1912, Serbia, under the London Treaty of London, was able to gain control of some parts of its territory from the Ottoman Empire and was on its way to become an independent nation. (Sked, 2001). Under the London Treaty, Serbia was able to gain the control of some of its territory including Kosovo however, there was an internal conflict between Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia on the control of the regained territory and war was initiated by Bulgaria against Serbia for the control of Macedonian region. Though Serbia was able to gain control of this region however, it initiated fierce rivalry and enmity between Bulgaria and Serbia. (Miller, 1997) During 1908, Austria-Hungary was successful in taking over the Turkish Province of Bosnia however, this created strong resentment within Serbia which felt that the province shall belong to them. During this tension, Serbia threatened the Austria-Hungary with the war and allied with Russia to initiate the war. Germany however became allied with Austria-Hungary and mobilized its forces for the war. The war was however, averted when Russia backed down. However, the tension between the neighboring countries was enough to initiate the war in Balkans region. (Williamson, 1991) It is important to note that the apparent conflict between different powers in the region was a direct result of the power vacuum which was created due to political tension between the different countries in the region. In order to fill that power vacuum different powers in the region attempted to conflict with each other to not only establish their own superiority in the region but also recapture some of the areas in order to expand their own territories. The conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was therefore a direct result of the effort to fill that power vacuum. (Palairet, 1993). Assassination of Franz Ferdinand The events which started with the conflict between the major powers in the Balkan regions further developed in magnitude and slowly started a chain reaction which resulted into the First World War. One of the major events which have significant and direct influence on the initiation of the First World War was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand- the person with the legitimate claim to the throne of Austria and was supposed to rule Serbia. (Dedijer, 1966) The murder of Ferdinand by the Serbian Student Gavirlo Princip led to the chain of irreversible events which reached their height with the outbreak of the First World War between the world’s major powers in Europe. The chain of events which followed after this assassination included the ultimatum from Austria to the Serbia and subsequent declaration of war against Serbia, Russia’s alliance with Serbia and then subsequently Germany’s war against Russia and finally the declaration of war by Britain and France against Germany were actually the exact chain of events which sequentially unfolded after this assassination. It is important to understand the political motives behind the murder and what factors actually contributed towards this assassination. The apparent political motive was basically to break off the hold of Austria-Hungry on south Slav province and combine it together with Serbia to form Greater Serbia or so called Yugoslavia. The political ambitions of the persons who actually attempted and executed this murder were explicit and the Serbian Military seem to have fully supported the assassination because of the apparent benefits of the murder to Serbia as a polity and its interests in the region. (Miller, 1997) The role of Serbian Military into this overall episode of murder is important because it is generally believed that the whole plan for the murder was conceived by Serbian Military. All the trainings and ammunition to the assassins was provided by Serbian Military thus suggesting that this murder was highly politically motivated and the overall aim was not just to distract Austria-Hungry from gaining control of a region but also establish the superiority of Serbia in the region. The historical roots of this murder however are much deeper and were not just related with the current conflict between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. It is generally argued that this murder was actually the culmination of the frustration of the generations of the slave mentality which Serbian people were going through since generations under Turks as well as the Austria. This murder therefore shall also be viewed from the perspective of how the different social and political factors combined together to produce the event which unfolded further events and resulted into the death of millions of soldiers and civilians. (Miller, 1997) It is also important to note that the person who actually executed this murder had a family history of people who were engaged in the struggle and rebellion in the country against the Turkish as well as Austrian power. As such this murder indicates the deeply rooted resentment within Serbian society and its urge to get freedom and establish itself as one of the independent countries in the region with significant influence. (Dedijer, 1966) What is however important to understand that this murder has actually started a chain reaction at global level which was probably unprecedented in its overall extent? The Struggle for Power in Europe It is important to note that in the early 20th century, Germany was on the verge of becoming an industrial power in the region. Increasing level of automation as well as the population, it started to threaten Britain for maintaining its superiority in the region. The general argument therefore indicates that if Germany could destroy France as independent power it can than establish its superiority by taming other powers in the region- most importantly Britain and Russia. What is however, significant to note that the formation of the alliance between the Britain and France and Russia was out of this need of ensuring the survival of the independence of each State in its own? (Wilson, 1986) There emerged three different political ambitions from three different powers of Europe. First Russia became the key behind the Pan Slav movement and therefore made an attempt to increase its influence in the region. Subsequently, Germany also came with the plans to develop Pan- Germany and attempted to take control of some parts of the Central Europe and the Balkan area where Germans were already living. (Winter, 1988) Imperialism and First World War As discussed above that the First World War was also the direct result of the tension between the great powers of Europe. The emergence of Imperialism during the 20th century therefore one of the key reasons as to why the major powers in Europe became more power hungry and in pursuit of profits went on to wage war against each other. Germany’s urge to become Greater Germany and recapture the different parts which were historical its region therefore was one of the reasons which escalated the smaller conflict into a bigger war. Similarly, Russia was also on the verge of increasing its influence in the region and started to create a block within Central European Region where it can increase its influence and presence. (Wilson, 1986) Military Alliances One of the key reasons as to why the First World War and events which lead to its outbreak also include the formation of Military alliances in Europe. The growing needs for profit and new territories and subsequently the urge to control the region forced countries like France and Germany to formulate different strategic military alliances with different countries. However the formation of military alliances was not a recent phenomenon as the growing conflict between the different powers in the region forced them to seek the military alliances since the last decade of 19th century. The formation of Military alliance between the Germany and Austria-Hungary and than with Italy forced other powers like France to seek allies to counter the increasing military power of Germany. It was this growing tension between the major powers of Europe which brought Serbia into the conflicts and made it instrumental in starting the chain of events which subsequently led to the culmination of First World War. Conclusion In order to discuss the role of Serbia in the First World War it is important to understand the different social and political factors which resulted into chain reaction of events leading to the First World War. Serbia remained under the control of Ottoman Empire which created the internal resentment and the rebellion within the Serbian society. The formation of different alliances between the Serbia and other countries therefore was an effort to ensure that the Serbia takes back the control of its region. The root of conflict however, started when Serbia and Austria-Hungary started to conflict with each other on the issue of the control of the province of Bosnia. The subsequent assassination of the Austria-Hungary’s prince was just the beginning of the height of the conflict in the region which subsequently brought forth Serbia as the key player in stimulating the reasons for First World War. It was generally believe that the assassination was directly executed by the people who were trained by Serbian Military officials. Apart from that the role of the different major powers in the region such as Germany, Russia and the France also struggled to maintain their superiority in the region. All three countries were instrumental in the formation of the military alliances which increased the overall risk in the region. Serbia therefore actually played into the hands of the great powers in the region who used Serbia as the reason to increase their influence in the region. Bibliography Bourne, J. (1994). Britain and the Great War 1914-1918. London: Edward Arnold. Dedijer, V. (1966). The Road to Sarajevo. New York: Simon and Schuster. Miller, N. (1997). Between Nation and State: Serbian Politics in Croatia before the First World War. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. Palairet, M. (1993). The Habsburg Industrial Achievement in Bosnia-Hercegovina, 1878-1914: An Economic Spurt that Succeeded. In Austrian History Yearbook XXIV (pp. 133-152). London. Sked, A. (2001). The decline and fall of the Habsburg Empire 1815-1918. Harlow: Longman. Taylor, A. J. (1980). Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848 1918. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Williamson, S. R. (1991). Austria-Hungary and the Origins of the First World War. London: Macmillan. Wilson, T. (1986). The Myriad Faces of War: Britain and the Great War 1914-1918. Cambridge: Polity Press. Winter, J. (1988). The Experience of World War I. London: Macmillan. Read More