HI 233 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Serbian Nationalism, Brooklyn Eagle, Greater Serbia
World War I
By the early 20th century, competition among European powers came to a point where it would
take very little to create a bigger problem in the world. What factors caused the war? What was
the nature of the war? How did it transform political and social conditions in Europe and
globally?
There were…
● Class struggles
● Market, resource and port competitions
● Competitions for national honor
● Inside European countries, separate wars for independence from certain groups
The Balkans in 1914
● Ottoman Empire weakened and lost territory in Europe due to wars
● Austro-Hungarian Empire administered Bosnia and Herzegovina starting in 1878, and
annexed in 1908
● Serbia attempted to create Greater Serbia or Yugoslavia by breaking Bosnia-Herzegovina
away from the Austro-Hungarian Empire
● June 28, 1914: Assassinations of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by Serbian
nationalist Gavrilo Princip
● Germany, a very powerful entity in Europe, told the Austro-Hungarians that they would
support them in they cracked down on the Serbians
○ On the other hand, Russia supported Serbia, and France, Russia and England were
all worried about the power Germany had in Europe (so basically, England and
France were saying they would support Russia if it came to war)
“A Chain of Friendship”
● If Austria attacks Serbia, Russia will fall upon Austria, Germany will fall upon Russia,
and France and England will fall upon Germany
○ From The Brooklyn Eagle July 1914
● Once this was set in motion, it was almost impossible to stop it
World War I: Alliances
● War broke out in 1914 starting from the assassinations of the Austrian Archduke
○ The Allied side consisted of the French, British, the Russians and eventually the
Italians
○ Germany and Austria had the support of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire (called
the Central Powers alliance)
● All different parts of the globe were brought together in this conflict
● There was celebrating at the outbreak of the war because people thought culture was
declining, so war would revitalize and regenerate entire cultures in society
○ Expected war to be glorious and short
○ Adolf Hitler could be spotted in one of the German celebrations of war
Labor and Socialist Responses
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Document Summary
By the early 20th century, competition among european powers came to a point where it would take very little to create a bigger problem in the world. Inside european countries, separate wars for independence from certain groups. Ottoman empire weakened and lost territory in europe due to wars. Austro-hungarian empire administered bosnia and herzegovina starting in 1878, and annexed in 1908. Serbia attempted to create greater serbia or yugoslavia by breaking bosnia-herzegovina away from the austro-hungarian empire. June 28, 1914: assassinations of archduke franz ferdinand of austria by serbian nationalist gavrilo princip. Germany, a very powerful entity in europe, told the austro-hungarians that they would support them in they cracked down on the serbians. On the other hand, russia supported serbia, and france, russia and england were all worried about the power germany had in europe (so basically, england and. France were saying they would support russia if it came to war)
