BackgroundEmperors & Kings:
reasons for the warAustria-Hungary's reaction to the death of their heir Francis Ferdinand was three weeks in coming. Arguing that the Serbian government was implicated in the machinations of the Black Hand (a group with pan slavic ideals, believing in the unit of Slavic people) the Austro-Hungarians opted to take the opportunity to stamp its authority upon the Serbians, crushing the nationalist movement there and cementing Austria-Hungary's influence in the Balkans.
It did so by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia which, demanding that the assassins would be brought to justice and depriving Serbia of its sovereignty. Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, was moved to comment that he had "never before seen one State address to another independent State a document of so formidable a character." Austria-Hungary's expectation was that Serbia would reject the terms of the ultimatum, then allowing them to launch a limited war against Serbia. However, Serbia had long had Slavic ties with Russia, an altogether different proposition for Austria-Hungary. While not really expecting that Russia would be drawn into the dispute to any great extent other than through words of diplomatic protest, the Austro-Hungarian government sought assurances from their ally, Germany, that they would come to their aid should the unthinkable happen and Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary. Germany readily agreed, even encouraged Austria-Hungary's warlike stance. The triple allianceBefore the start of the World War One, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed the Triple Alliance. In 1882, they signed a document that promised they would give each other military support in case of a war. The Alliance agreement stated it was 'essentially defensive and conservative' with the aim of stopping anyone who 'might threaten' the three nations.
Austro-hungarian CasualtiesTotal Deaths: 1,567,000 (Rank = 5 / 16)
Total Deaths % of pop.: 3% (Rank = 8 / 16) Troops: 7,800,000 (Rank = 4 / 16) Troops % of pop.: 15.2% (Rank = 7 / 16) Military Deaths: 1,100,000 (Rank = 4 / 16) Military Deaths % of Troops: 14.1% (Rank = 8 / 16) Civilian Deaths: 467,000 (Rank = 4 / 16) Civilian Deaths % of pop.: 0.9% (Rank = 9 / 16) The outcome of the warAfter losing the First World War, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire had disintegrated into ethnic violence. With the death of Emperor Franz Joseph I there was little holding the multiple ethnic groups together.
Many of such groups seized power of their local areas forcing the post war treaties had to reflect that the Empire no longer existed and that the various peoples of the Empire had a right to self-rule. Hungary had a special place within the empire, and almost had self rule. With the collapse of the empire they broke away. Since Austria and Hungary emerged as two separate entities from the empire, two treaties were signed the Treaty of Saint Germain with Austria and the Treaty of Trianon with Hungary. After the signing of the treaties the Austro-Hungarian empire was divided into the following countries:
Sources: 1,3,4,5,7,8
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Francis Joseph I
Heinrich Lammasch
Casualties of the war
"Distribution of Races in Austria-Hungary" from the Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd, 1911
Austro Hungarian territories in 1904
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