Journal of Research and Opinion Received 10 June 2020 | Accepted 21 June 2020 | Published Online 25 June 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15520/jro.v7i6.68 JRO 7 (6), 2738−2748 (2020) ISSN (O) 2589-9341 | (P) 2589-9058 IF:2.1

RESEARCH ARTICLE

“The Great War”– Its beginning and aftermath with a main focus on Austria

∗ Rainer Feldbacher 1Associate Professor at the School Abstract of History, Capital Normal Many factors played a crucial role in the start of a conflict that the world University, Beijing, China, 100089 had seen as “a war to end all wars”, that started after the assassination of the crown prince in Sarajevo. Initially a European war, soon nations worldwide got involved. With the end of the World War and the beginning of the collapse of the Habsburg Empire, the “Republic of German-Austria” was proclaimed on November 12th, 1918, after the treaty of Saint-Germain 10 September 1919 officially as “First Republic of Austria“. The circumstances opened the door to National Socialism and the much crueler Second World War. Keywords: Austria-Hungary, World War, Habsburg, Fourteen Points, Peace Treaty of Versailles

1 INTRODUCTION – AUSTRIA´S ROLE IN and in most cases having led to Austria´s misfortune, EUROPE and mainly its disastrous way into the First World War.In the 16th century, the Habsburgs became the absburg, the rulers of the largest Western European Empire since Rome, ini- whose name originated from the building of Hthe Habsburg Castle in Switzerland, built at tially ruling huge regions of that continent. Soon a the Aar, the largest tributary of the High Rhine river, political division between the Spanish and Austrian had been the dynasty with a long history. Otto II branches split it.2 The reference to Rome came to was the first to adapt the name of the castle when be a physical reality by the middle of the sixteenth he created the , and eventually Rudolf I moved the house to Austria in 1276 when century: The capital of the Holy Roman Empire now he established the Habsburg dynasty. During the long history of the Habsburg Empire, Austria mainly found a way to come to power by the art of marriages, Supplementary information The online version of giving rise to the Latin lyric “Bella gerant alii, tufelix this article (10.15520/jro.v7i6.68) contains supple- Austria nube” (“Leave the waging of wars to others! mentary material, which is available to authorized But you, happy Austria, marry; for the realms which users. Mars awards to others, Venus transfers to you.1 A slogan, though often forgotten by other propaganda Corresponding Author: Rainer Feldbacher 1Jackson J. Spielvogel, Western civilization: Compre- Rainer Feldbacher hensive volume (Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth 2003), Email: [email protected]

JRO 7 (6), 2738−2748 MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL 2738 FELDBACHER MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL became Vienna. only partially. Austria 1859 suffered a severe defeat In an effort to prevent Napoleon Bonaparte from against Piedmont-Sardinia, which was allied with 6 capturing his throne after the battle of Austerlitz, France. After the battles of Magenta and Solferino , Francis II abdicated and brought an end to the Holy Austria lost Lombardy. After further unfortunate bat- Roman Empire (of the German Nation) in 1806, tles, the Austrian army was defeated by the Prussian which had lasted for over thousand years. That did army at Königgrätz (nowadays HradecKrálové in the not stop Napoleon from claiming himself Holy Ro- Czech Republic). The peace of Prague finally ousted man Emperor, but Francis created the title Emperor the Empire Austria from the . of Austria for himself.3 After Napoleon´s defeat, As a result of Austria´s defeat in this war against Austria participated as a leading member of the in 1866, the Habsburg monarchy lost much Holy Alliance at the , which of its influence in shaping the policy of the German states. Germany’s rise to dominance following its was largely dominated by Franz´chancellor Klemens successful war with Austria in 1866 and its reunifica- Wenzel, Prince of Metternich changing the Euro- tion under Bismarck (Prime Minister of Prussia and pean map.4 Though borders sometimes still slightly then Chancellor of the (once he had changed after the Congress’s results, it was not until assembled it) in 1871, rendered Austria the weaker Franz Josef I (1830-1916), Emperor of Austria and one of the two Germanic powers. His first step was King of Hungary, oldest son of Archduke Franz Karl, to oust Austria as the prime influence among these the brother and heir of Emperor Ferdinand I, that German states. He achieved this by engineering war the world changed completely. 1848, the outbreak of with Austria in 1866 over disputed territory in the the revolution in the Empire of Austria (and other . This so-called “Seven Weeks countries) seemed once again the prelude to disso- War” had ended with the complete dominance of lution. The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia took the the supremely efficient Prussian military. In a peace revolutionary events as an occasion to declare war on mediated by the French Emperor, Napoleon III (who Austria, and in Hungary, revolutionary forces were had been in war with Prussia four years later, also formed that committed the march to Vienna. On smashed by the Prussian military and being deposed December 2, 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I renounced in the civil war that boiled over in France, resulting in the throne in favor of his nephew Franz Joseph. the Third French Republic), Bismarck extracted from Franz Josef became heir-apparent after his father Austria not only Schleswig and Holstein, but also renounced his right to the crown, becoming Emperor Hanover, Hesse, Nassau and Frankfurt, creating the of Austria in 1848 at the age of 18 following Ferdi- North German Federation. As importantly, Bismarck nand’s abdication towards the end of the Hungarian had successfully displaced Austria in the spheres 5 revolution of that year. of influence over the many small German states. After the victories in Italy and Hungary, the young Concerning France, the country ceded both Alsace emperor exerted a strict central force. He succeeded and Lorraine to Prussia in that aforementioned war. Bismarck’s expansionary plans were at an end. He p.330. 2The Spanish part had been ruled since 1700 by the French 6That incident led to another important development: The dynasty of the Bourbons, whose family still exists as a consti- battles at Solferino were witnessed by a Swiss businessman, tutional monarchy. Linda Frey - Marsha Frey, The treaties of Jean-Henri Dunant, who had traveled to Italy to meet French the war of the Spanish succession: An historical and critical emperor Napoléon III with the intention of discussing difficul- dictionary (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1995), pp. 191–192. ties in conducting business in Algeria, at that time occupied by 3P. H. Wilson, ‘Bolstering the prestige of the Habsburgs: France. Terrified by the suffering of the wounded soldiers left The end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806’, The International on the battlefield, Dunant completely abandoned the original in- History Review XXVIII(4) (2006), pp.709–736. tent and devoted himself to helping with the treatment and care 4Mark Jarrett, The Congress of Vienna and Its Legacy: War for the wounded. He succeeded in organizing an overwhelming and Great Power Diplomacy after Napoleon (London: I. B. level of relief assistance by motivating the local villagers to aid Tauris & Company Ltd, 2013), p.353. without any discrimination. Back to Geneva, he set a process 5Anatol Murad, Franz Joseph I of Austria and his Empire that led to the Geneva Conventions and the establishment of the (Twayne Publishers, 1968), p.6. International Committee of the Red Cross. Note by the author.

MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL JRO 7 (6), 2738−2748 (2020) 2739 “THE GREAT WAR”– ITS BEGINNING AND AFTERMATH WITH A MAIN FOCUS ON AUSTRIA had secured what he wanted, and his chief desire monarchy was henceforth divided into two parts, now was to maintain its stability. Bismarck’s cre- namely the Austrian provinces (Cisleithania) and the ation of a unified Germany was of direct relevance provinces of the Hungarian crown (Transleithania). to the outbreak of the First World War, since it Each half was supposed to have its own government resulted in the assembly of the key alliances that later and its own regional parliaments. Franz Josef was came into play. And though, Bismarck achieved a its monarch, serving alongside his wife Elisabeth Dual Alliance with Austria in 1879, promising aid whom he married in 1853 (and who was regarded by to each other in the event of an attack by Russia. many Hungarians as their true monarch). Elisabeth There could not have been more contrast between played a role in the discussions that resulted in those an economically dynamic, now politically unified, shared power arrangements. After 1867, there were and military efficient Germany, on the one hand, and only three issues which were handled by both parts an economically comfortable, politically heteroge- in common, namely foreign affairs, finances, and neous, and militarily cumbersome Austria-Hungary, defense. And only for these three sectors supra- on the other. Against them stood an alliance of national ministers were appointed. This “Compro- Britain, France, and Russia known as the Triple mise of 1867” brought the most far-reaching con- Entente.7 sequences for the army. Besides, under the terms The period of peace between 1867 and 1914 was of the compromise agreement, Hungary retained in interrupted only by one bigger military event, which most cases control of its own internal affairs. In is known in Austria´s history as the campaign of matters pertaining to foreign affairs, the two coun- the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878. tries would act together. Though, just as “Austria” Bosnia and Herzegovina, former provinces of the Ot- retained and ruled over many non-German lands and toman Empire, were occupied by Austro-Hungarian peoples (the most prominent being the Czechs in troops. In 1908 these territories were fully annexed. Bohemia and Moravia), so did “Hungary” retain and 9 Beside the already upcoming international tensions, rule over many non-Magyar lands and peoples (the it was of utmost importance for the Habsburg Monar- most prominent being the Slovaks and the Croats). chy to create a permanent political structure for The Czechs were the most advanced in their national its own provinces. The most pressing problem was development. It was only a matter of time before the Hungarian question who demanded more au- they too asked for co-equality (technically, as the tonomy. Since the revolutionary wars of 1848 and Kingdom of Bohemia) with Austria and Hungary 1849, the provinces of the Hungarian crown, namely within the Empire. However, unlike in Hungary, in Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia and Transylvania, had Bohemia and Moravia also large German communi- partly lost their former liberties and came under ties existed, especially in the cities including Prague. strict Hungarian civilian and military control. But This made the Czech problem a much more diffi- this should not last. In 1867, after lengthy nego- cult one than the Hungarian. The Habsburg Empire tiations, the two nations – Austria and Hungary – therefore rejected the Czech proposal and national agreed to create a dual monarchy in which both were demands until the end of the Empire in 1918. But not equal partners. The empire of Austria-Hungary was long after the Czechs pressed their national claims therefore established in 1867 and by the so-called against Austria, the Croats pressed their own ones “Compromise of 1867” the relationship between against Hungary. They were joined by the other the provinces of the Hungarian crown.8 The Em- “South Slavs” or “Yugoslavs” within the Empire: pire became completely redesigned. The Habsburg the Slovenes in the Austrian sphere of influence, and 7In 1907, Russia had formed what became known as the the small Serbian community in Hungary. In fact, Triple Entente by signing an agreement with Britain - the most Serbs were outside the Habsburg Empire - cit- Anglo-Russian Entente. H.P. Willmott, World War I(New izens of Serbia itself, which had just achieved inde- York: Dorling Kindersley, 2003, p. 15). pendence from the disintegrating Ottoman Empire. 8Ferenc Szakály, ‘Hungary and Eastern Europe.’ Studia his- torica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae CLXXXII (1980), 9Magyar is the self-given name of Hungarians. Note by the p.178. author.

JRO 7 (6), 2738−2748 (2020) MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL 2740 FELDBACHER MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL Consequently, if Czechs in Bohemia and Moravia attack by France. One of the chief aims of the Triple had achieved co-equality, the South Slavs in Croatia Alliance was to prevent Italy from declaring war and Slovenia would have insisted upon co-equality against Austria-Hungary, towards whom the Italians for themselves. The Croats and Slovenes pressed for were in dispute over territorial matters.11 1911, the their own version of a Triple Monarchy. The heir attacked and invaded the Ottoman to the Habsburg throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, territory known today as Libya. This war, now al- advocated this kind of “trialism” as a solution to the most totally forgotten, was the first in which aircraft Empire’s nationality problems. He even intended to went up in reconnaissance to signal enemy positions announce it at his later visit in Sarajevo, it is said. to artillery batteries. It was also the first one to Apart from the tensions among their conquered see aerial bombardments, using bombs thrown from regions, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had no Italian airplanes and airships. The Italo-Turkish war colonies. In the winter months of 1884/85, the so- of 1911 triggered the chain of opportunist assaults called Berlin conference or Kongo conference had on Ottoman south-eastern Europe known as the first taken place in the German capital where European Balkan war, sweeping away the geopolitical balances 12 powers discussed about sharing ”their“ continent that had enabled local conflicts to be contained. Africa.10 Another Western power on the other side of the Atlantic took part - the United States of America 1.1 Fighters for peace and rights that should rule the 20th century economically, technologically and militarily. At this time, the USA All those tendencies and events brought worldwide gave up their isolating tendencies, and intervened other minds to the revelation to find peaceful solu- more in world politics. Tensions about Cuba had tions, among them citizens of the Austrian Empire: already led to war between the USA and Spain in Bertha (Sophia Felicita Baroness) von Suttner (1843- 1898. At both World Wars the States became a 1914) was an Austrian pacifist, peace researcher and crucial factor then. Moreover, there was another writer. She had put a focus on a more peaceful problem that only could lead into conflict: All society. Thus, in 1886 she wrote the book ”High the Great Powers at the time (including the rising Life“, in which she themed respect for the human great powers on the periphery, the United States and his power for his free decision. In 1889, she – as mentioned above – and Japan) were engaged published the novel ”Lay down your arms!”, be- in an intense competition of expansion. Thus, coming one of the most prominent representatives 13 Austria-Hungary also had to expand. But because of the peace movement. She described the horrors it was hemmed in by geography to the west and by of war from a wife´s perspective and thus hit the Germany to the north, it had to expand to the south nerve of the society. This book was her greatest and to the east, and specifically into the Balkans. literary success, leading to her nomination for Nobel However, this automatically put it into conflict with 11It would not hold, though, as Italy subsequently negotiated Russia, which was also expanding into that region, a secret treaty with France, and declared by British promises too. This in turn, Austria-Hungary had to ally and to getting territories from Austria-Hungary (Southern Tyrol, Aus- stay allied with Germany. trian Littoral and territory on the Dalmatian coast) after its defeat. This was formalized by the Treaty of London. Italy’s growing strength following its reunification, 12Charles Seymour, The Diplomatic Background of the War on the other hand had already led to the loss of (Yale University Press, 1916), pp.35 and 147; Thomas Nelson almost all of Austria’s Italian possessions, including Page, Italy and the world war (Scribners, 1920),pp.142–208; Lombardy and Venetia. And though, the Italians John Keegan,The First World War (Hutchinson, 1998), p.52; Hall Gardner, The Failure to Prevent World War I: The Unex- had been seen as allies to Austria-Hungary, as it pected Armageddon (Ashgate, 2015), p.120. was brought into the fold with the signing of the 13She also attended the First Hague Convention in 1899 with Triple Alliance already in 1882, mainly in case of an the support of Theodor Herzl (Alan T. Levenson, ‘Theodor Herzl and Bertha von Suttner: Criticism, collaboration and 10Adekunle Ajala, ‘The Nature of African Boundaries’, utopianism.’ Journal of Israeli HistoryXV(2) (1994), pp.213– Africa Spectrum,XVIII (2) (1983), pp.177–189. 222.

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Peace Prize in 1905, being the first woman honored Others, as the co-laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize in with.14 Nonetheless, her efforts had been in vain. 1926, Gustav Stresemann, publicly rejected German Bertha von Suttner died on the 21st of June 1914 guilt after the Treaty of Versailles after the War what in Vienna, a few weeks before the start of the First will be discussed later.17 Rosa Luxemburg and Karl World War that led later to revolutionary Communist Liebknecht should be mentioned, as many others and Fascist-National socialistic societies. Rationality would deserve to be memorized, but as always, the disappeared completely, when people had become peaceful ones’ voice is not loud enough or at least unsettled by contradictions, due to disorientation and ignored. ideological irrationalities. The 20th century was full of strong new tendencies. Along with Suttner, Alfred Hermann Fried (1864- Not only nationalism became everywhere stronger widening the gaps between countries. Conflicts also 1921) must be mentioned, another Austrian pacifist came up between Modernists who wanted to initiate and writer. As the founder of the magazine ”Lay democracy, and the conservative forces still bound down your arms¡‘ and other activities for peace he to tradition. The Nationalism on the other hand, received 1911 the Nobel Peace Prize, together with especially in the countries still being part of the the organizer of the International Conference on Pri- already weakened Ottoman Empire, and partially vate Law in The Hague, Tobias Asser. Fried was also also in Europe, mainly in the Empire of Austria- a committed member of the Esperanto movement, Hungary tore apart societies. Each group held its and published the textbook of the international aux- own language, tradition, custom and history. And 15 iliary language Esperanto in 1903. During the First along nationalism another movement came up - the World War, Fried was ”harassed by the German cen- Zionism, concerning the Jews who had lived in their sorship”, found refuge in Switzerland and attended Diaspora for almost 2000 years, still keeping their at the formation of the League of Nations. Actually, common religious, cultural and historic identity.18 In Fried later criticized the peace treaty of Versailles as 1897, a Jewish Austrian journalist – Theodor Herzl well as the League of Nations.16 – founded in Paris the first official organ of the political Zionism: the “Zionistic World Congress”.19 14She was the second female Nobel laureate in general, after The Jewish citizens wanted their promised land back, Marie Curie. Note by the author. called Palestine at that time, inhabited by Arabs and 15Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof (1859-1917), a Polish ophthal- ruled by Turks, though their Ottoman Empire already mologist created this auxiliary language. To his mind, conflicts often derive by not understanding each other; therefore, he was 17Laurence van Ypersele, ‘Mourning and Memory, 1919- already convinced at the dawn of the First World War that 45’ in John Horne, ed., A Companion to World War I (Wiley, a common language would be the solution of those conflicts. 2012), p.584. Esperanto never became a common language but is still used 18The Judean (as the Jewish population had been called at by several million people being interested in that idea. Andrzej this time) population revolted against the Roman rule in 66 Wincewicz, Mariola Sulkowska, Stanislaw Sulkowski, ‘To heal CE in the First Jewish-Roman War which culminated in the the mind´s eye of hate – Dr. Ludwik Zamenhof’, Isr Med Assoc destruction of their capital Jerusalem in 70 CE. In 132 CE, Bar J. 9(5) (2007), pp.352–354. Kokhba led a revolt against the Romans, that ended after four 16The Treaty of Versailles imposed strict penalties on Ger- years of devastating warfare in defeat of the Judean people, many and forced it to accept full responsibility for the starting and the Jews were forbidden to enter Jerusalem which had the war. The nation was not only forced to demilitarize but been renamed Aelia Capitolina. The Jewish people had been also cede territory and pay billions in reparations as a means scattered around the world, suffering many persecutions wher- to ensure that Germany could not again threaten France and as ever they had settled. Their fate culminated in the Holocaust well to weaken the German ability to compete with France’s during the Third Reich. After that shock the UN supported industrialization. In particular, Article 231 turned out to be one the foundation of the state Israel, ending their two-thousand- among other reasons to lead to the terror of another World year lasting diaspora. Rainer Feldbacher, ‘Area of Conflict - War, as by this article (also known as the War Guilt clause) the Archaeology and its Implications in the Holy Land’, Journal of majority of Germans felt humiliated. Louise Chipley Slavicek, the World Archaeological Congress IX (1) (2013), pp.192-212. The Treaty of Versailles. Milestones in Modern World History 19Henry J. Cohn, ‘Theodor Herzl’s Conversion to Zionism’, (New York: Chelsea House Publications, 2010), p. 41–3 and Jewish Social Studies XXXII (2) (Indiana University Press, 58. 1970).

JRO 7 (6), 2738−2748 (2020) MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL 2742 FELDBACHER MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL shrank by European conquests.20 it was not just peace and prosperity, but the most At the end, when war broke out in Europe, it wasn’t spectacular vitality and creativity had come to his just pacifists who were shocked, but many erstwhile capital, the legendary, fin de síècle, Vienna. Franz war enthusiasts too, as the German writer Kurt Tu- Joseph´s family´s fate was less merciful: In 1889, the cholsky.21 Others already recognized, this war would Crown Prince of Austria and his mistress were found expand and maybe not being the only one in that dead as a result of a suicide in his hunting lodgeFig- extent: Though in most cases the additive “first” for ure 2. This so-called Mayerling incident (named after the term “World War” came up later officiallyFig- the location south of Vienna), was one among many ure 1,22 it was already used in September 1914 by rolling stones that caused further destabilization of the German biologist and philosopher Häckel Ernst, the monarchy and contributed to the beginnings of who claimed that ”there is no doubt that the course what would become the First World War. and character of the feared ’European War’ ... will become the First World War in the full sense of the word”.23

FIGURE 2: Mayerling - The manor has been changed into a monastery aer Rudolf´s death

Franz Joseph himself narrowly escaped an assassina- FIGURE 1: ``The World War'' (picture taken from a tion attempt, whereas his wife was assassinated 1898 scker book released before Second World War, by an Italian anarchist in Geneva, Switzerland).24 author´s property) With Rudolf’s suicide, next in line for the succes- sion would have been Franz Josef’s younger brother Though, generally – and ironically – the reign under Maximilian. He had however been shot by a Mexican Franz Joseph I was the longest period of peace. And firing squad in 1867 following an unsuccessful three- year reign as Emperor of Mexico. Another brother, 20Beside the Zionist ambitions, rivalry between Britain and France, the growth of Arab nationalism, and the emergence of Karl Ludwig, died in 1896 from an illness incurred modern Turkey on the later ruins of the Ottoman Empire all from drinking infected water during a pilgrimage to changed the face of the region and drew the map as we know the Holy Lands. Therefore, Karl Ludwig’s eldest son today with all its unsolved problems. Note by the author. inherited the throne: Franz Ferdinand. 21Ignaz Wrobel, „ Wo waren Sie im Kriege, Herr –¿‘, in Die Weltbühne, March 30, 1926, 490. 22The author inherited a sticker book (published by a 1.2 In the eve of war cigarette company) by his grandfather Franz Forsthuber, being cited “Der Weltkrieg” (“The World War”), not being aware yet From 1908 onwards, the Austro-Hungarian Empire of a deadlier about to come yet. The date of its publication is became more and more involved in the Balkans not mentioned. Note by the author. 23Been cited in The Indianapolis Star on 20 September 1914 24Edward Morgan Alborough De Burgh, Elizabeth, Empress (Shapiro – Epstein, 2006, p. 329) of Austria: A Memoir (J.B. Lippencott Co, 1899), pp. 317-333.

MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL JRO 7 (6), 2738−2748 (2020) 2743 “THE GREAT WAR”– ITS BEGINNING AND AFTERMATH WITH A MAIN FOCUS ON AUSTRIA conflicts. The so-called “Compromise of 1867” had visible authorities. Whoever had been responsible, not brought a completely satisfying solution. The the unstoppable avalanche started. demands of the altogether eleven bigger nationalities Until nowadays there is discussion about how deeply of the Habsburg Monarchy called for a completely Serbia had been involved: either the Black Hand, new and radical restructuring of the Empire. Euro- or the Radical Party led by Prime Minister Pasic pean powers´intervention had brought about an end with barely evidence, or Dimitrijevic-Apis, by now to this First Balkan War of 1912-13. Tensions, the a colonel in charge of Serbian intelligence and been hatred and the nationalistic tendency never dimin- responsible for the murder of the Serbian royal cou- ished, leading to Franz Ferdinand´s and his wife´s ple in 1903, who was at work point to ”trialism” assassination by a Serbian nationalist, which had a as his motive. Apis is supposed to have seen the far-reaching impact on world history (Djokić, 2003, heir as the only man capable of reviving Austria- p. 24).25 Before the successful attempt, they already Hungary. Or has it just been individuals with their passed seven assassins as their procession drove own goals? If Franz Ferdinand had reorganized the through Sarajevo. The assassins either did not act Habsburg Empire on a trialist basis, satisfying the at all or failed. Suggestions by Franz Ferdinand´s Habsburg South Slavs, Serbian hopes to expand into company to cancel the visit had been ignored. Instead Bosnia and Croatia would have been blocked. It can they continued their trip. By bad luck, a little later be observed, the element of Greek, Serb and Bulgar- the returning procession missed a turn and stopped ian nationalism had always been the destruction of to back up at a corner just as the Bosnian Gavrilo the Ottoman Empire: The achievement of national Princip happened to walk by. Princip belonged to a unity necessarily meant the achievement of Ottoman group of men who wanted Bosnia to become part collapse. of Serbia. Princip fired two shots: one killed the That is the irony of history. When the heir presump- archduke, the other his wife. Princip was a minor tive, Franz Ferdinand visited Sarajevo with the inten- under Austrian law, so he could not be executed. tion to suggest a federalization to balance certain in- Instead he was sentenced to 20 years in prison but justice among the peoples in that huge empire (grant- died of tuberculosis in 1916. Princip’s target had not ing more rights to the Slavic people), he and his wife led to the result he hoped for (but ended in much were assassinated, precipitating Austria-Hungary´s more devastating consequences). Franz Ferdinand declaration of war against Serbia on the 28th of had limited political power. His wife, Sophie Chotek, July. Austria-Hungary was promised unconditional was a Bohemian noblewoman, but not noble enough support from Germany regardless whatever action to be royal. She was scorned by many at the court, the Habsburg Empire decided to take in punishing and their children were out of the line of succession Serbia, being in clear contrast to events during the anyway (Franz Ferdinand’s brother Otto would have Balkan War of 1912, when Berlin refused to back been next). Franz Ferdinand had strong opinions, a Vienna in any intervention. Both sides – Austria- sharp tongue and many political enemies. He favored Hungary as well as Serbia – believed that they were ”trialism”, adding a third Slavic component to the in a strong position to win if war came. No one Dual Monarchy, in part to reduce the influence of foresaw the outbreak of a worldwide war. Owing the Hungarians. Therefore, his relations with Bu- to the political alliances, this local conflict became 26 dapest were so bad that gossips blamed the killing initially a European war with numerous fronts, on Magyar politicians. All plotters – either sent or on due to the alliance system and the already existing 27 their responsibility – had been under twenty-seven tensions between the powers. Germany and Rus- years, therefore none of them were old enough to sia rashly committed themselves to support Balkan remember the Ottoman regime. Their anger over clients - Austria-Hungary and Serbia, respectively - conditions in Bosnia seems directed simply at the 26Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 (New York: Harper Books, 2014), pp. 121–152. 25Vladimir Dedijer,The Road to Sarajevo (Simon and Schus- 27Dominic Lieven, Towards the Flame: Empire, War and the ter, 1966), pp.187-188. End of Tsarist Russia (Penguin, 2016), p. 327.

JRO 7 (6), 2738−2748 (2020) MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL 2744 FELDBACHER MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL because Berlin and St. Petersburg feared that failing against the Entente states (Russian Empire, Great to do so would cost them the trust of important allies Britain, France and Serbia). The already longer ex- and leave them isolated.28Germany not only declared pected war started. There had already been too many war on Russia, but also opened a western front: tensions.31 Readiness for war existed among all the Despite the commitment between France and Great leading European nations, as can be seen by each Britain, the British government knew they would one´s preparation, among them espionage.32 When need better reasons to enter a war. That opportunity Great Britain joined the war, the colonies and do- came by the German invasion of Belgium en route minions abroad had to offer military and financial for the arch enemy France, as the passage through assistance, including Australia, Canada, India, New the rather flat Flanders plains would offer the fastest Zealand and the Union of South Africa, the main route, after their demand to pass being officially reason to have become a so-called World War. The rejected by the Belgian king.29 Britain’s guarantee fronts expanded to the Far East, when Japan declared to maintain Belgian neutrality – agreed at the 1839 on 23 August 1914 war on Germany according to Treaty of London served that cause, discarded by a military agreement with Britain. Austria-Hungary the Germans as “scrap of paper” in 1914, when they had to respond the same way by declaring war on asked Britain to ignore the treaty. When Germany Japan due to the alliance two days later. Initially, did not withdraw from Belgium, Britain officially all countries provided plenty of volunteers to fight 30 declared war on Germany on 4 August. Russia for their cause or their country. The USA played no hoped for French assistance by a Convention of 1892 initial part in the conflict (a situation that found its should Russia find itself at war with either Germany parallels in the Second World War) as the population or Austria-Hungary. Britain was bound to aid France. did not want to be part of that conflict.33 Britain signed in 1902 the Entente Cordiale with France. This 1904 agreement finally resolved nu- 31In summer 2008, after a brief war between Russia and merous leftover colonial squabbles. In 1912 Britain Georgia over South Ossetia, the Russian ambassador to the and France did however conclude a military agree- NATO, Dmitri Rogozin, claimed to discern in the drama un- folding in the Caucasus a replay of the July crisis of 1914. He ment, the Anglo-French Naval Convention, which even expressed the hope that Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s promised British protection of France’s coastline president (whom he regarded as the aggressor in the quarrel), from German naval attack, and French defense of the would not go down in history as ”the new Gavrilo Princip” – Suez Canal. And although it did not commit either to a reference to the young Bosnian Serb who assassinated the the other’s military aid in time of war, it did offer Austrian heir to the throne and his wife on 28 June 1914 (see above). In the aftermath of those killings, Serbia’s conflict with closer diplomatic co-operation generally. Without Austria-Hungary had drawn in Russia, transforming a local the attack on Belgium, Great Britain would have conflict into a World War. Note. had troubles in convincing its population to declare 32French foreign policy was compromised in the previous war on Germany. Thus, Russia could range against years by targeted high-level intelligence leaks. The British Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, the latter one had been worried about Russian espionage in central Asia, and in early summer 1914 a spy at the Russian embassy in not keeping loyalty to Austria-Hungary. Thus, the London kept Berlin apprised of the latest naval talks between Central powers (Austro-Hungary, the German and Britain and Russia. The most scandalous case seemed to be that Ottoman Empires [as of October 1914]) faced off of Colonel Alfred Redl, who rose to head Austrian counter- intelligence but was himself an agent for the Russians and 28Austria’s relationship with Russia was irreparably dam- gave them high-quality military intelligence. He eventually was aged anyway, as a consequence of Austria’s withholding of arrested and allowed to kill himself in May 1913. Note. support during the Anglo-Russian Crimean War of 1853-56, 33Germany’s continued submarine policy seriously threaten- another factor in the July Crisis of 1914.Holger H. Herwig ing America’s commercial shipping (which was in any event – Neil M. Heyman, Biographical Dictionary of World War almost entirely directed towards the Allies led by Britain and I (London: Greenwood Press, 1982), p. 84. France), ultimately brought the decision to the Congress on 29David Evans, The First World War. Teach yourself (Lon- 2 April 1917 for war, being officially declared on 6 April. don: Hodder Arnold, 2004), p.12. Besides, the Zimmerman Telegram, a German communique to 30Gordon Martel, The Origins of the First World War (Har- Mexican officials, had been intercepted by British intelligence low: Pearson Longman, 2003), p. XII. officers. In the telegram, Germany tried to entice Mexico into

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Rather soon, the Axis Powers had to face their up- The eastern continental front was solved, and Ger- coming defeat. Opposed to some positive military many was able to reinforce the western front, but now developments, Austria-Hungary faced serious do- the US-Americans had entered the war. The German mestic political, social, nationalistic, and economic Armed Forces High Command´s attempt to resolve problems. The war is already obviously lost, when the war before the US military intervention failed Emperor Franz Josef, the last significant Habsburg as did a last Austro-Hungarian offensive despite a monarch, died on 21 November 1916. His grand- successful offensive at the Isonzo (Caporetto), which nephew, Karl I, assumed the throne until 1918 as was undertaken together with German units, almost the last Habsburg monarch, inheriting a crumbling led to the collapse of the Italian Army in 1917. After almost defeated Empire. His reform plans remained Caporetto, Italy’s allies jumped in to offer increased as unsuccessful as his efforts to reach a fast peace assistance. British and French — followed later by agreement. Karl I offered France practically anything American — troops arrived in the region, and the in order to not have his Austro-Hungarian Empire Allies began to take back the Italian Front. In autumn split up after the war. The French prime minister the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Monar- Georges Clemenceau did not even respond. Instead, chy could not be avoided anymore. Facing dwindling he published the offer publicly, in effect putting out resources on the battlefield, discontent at the home the last flames of Karl’s empire.34 front and the surrender of its allies, Germany was finally forced to seek ceasefire and signed on the 30th Another monarchic system was collapsing: Russian of November the armistice at Compiegne, France, military setbacks led at the end to Russia’s with- commemorated in the U.S. initially as Armistice drawal, combined with economic instability and the Day, and nowadays known as Veterans Day. Ac- scarcity of food and other essentials. Russia’s pop- tually, at the time of the armistice, no Allied force ulation became discontent. Its hostility was directed had crossed the German frontier, and the German toward the Czarist regime under Nikolai II and his armies had retreated from the battlefield in good or- German-born wife Alexandra and led to the Octo- der. These factors enabled Hindenburg and others to ber Revolution erupting in 1917, with the result of emphasize their armies had not really been defeated. a ceasefire agreement and subsequently the Peace This resulted in the stab-in-the-back legend which of Brest-Litovsk between Russia and the Middle 35 attributed Germany’s defeat not to its inability fight, European powers. This development, as well as but to the public’s failure to respond to its ”patriotic the Central powers’ military victories, also forced calling” and to the supposed intentional sabotage of Romania to end the war. the war effort, particularly by Jews, Socialists, and 36 attacking the U.S., offering Texas and other states in return. Bolsheviks. That opinion influenced the society for After its revelation, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson broke the following decades. off diplomatic relations with Germany, soon after the States officially entered the First World War. More to read about this background: Barbara Wertheim Tuchman, The Zimmermann Telegram (New York: Macmillan, 1966). 2 CONCLUSION - AFTERMATH AND 34Gary W. Shanafelt, The secret enemy: Austria-Hungary CONSEQUENCES and the German alliance, 1914–1918 (East European Mono- graphs, 1985), pp.125-130. In September 1918, the Austro-Hungarian empire 35The revolution was mainly spearheaded by Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov alias Lenin, and the Bolsheviks, which ended czarist already had tried to contact western powers to ask rule and brought a halt to Russian participation in the First for a ceasefire. The USA, by then the most powerful World War. Germany can be made co-responsible for the country in the world and not bled out for years by revolution, as the government agreed to permit him and other Russian citizens to travel through their territory, knowing that 36Rodger Chickering, Imperial Germany and the Great War, these dissidents would cause problems for their Russian ene- 1914–1918 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), mies. James D. Lenin White, The Practice and Theory of Revo- pp.185-188; Laurence van Ypersele, ‘Mourning and Memory, lution. European History in Perspective (Basingstoke, England: 1919-45’ in John Horne, ed., A Companion to World War Palgrave, 2001), pp. 127-128. I (Wiley, 2012), p.584.

JRO 7 (6), 2738−2748 (2020) MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL 2746 FELDBACHER MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL the war, presented the “Fourteen Points” as the prin- sinated, leading to the World War. Karl I, the last ciples for a peace settlement.37 Besides, the Allied reigning monarch of the Austro-Hungarian Empire negotiated separately with Austria-Hungary in Saint- spent his remaining life attempting to restore his Germain-en-Laye, signed on 10 September 1919,38 monarchy. He died 1922 in his exile in Madeira whereas the Germans faced the Treaty of Versailles. where his remains stayed until today. Beside territory loss and paying immense sums for The war of 1914-1918 was the consequence of inter- reparations, Article 231 forced Germany to accept actions between a plurality of powers, each of which 39 the sole blame for the war. The historian Hagen was willing to resort to violence in support of its Schulze said the Treaty placed Germany ”under le- interests. An assumed local conflict had led to a war, gal sanctions, deprived of military power, econom- 40 causing eleven million military personnel and seven ically ruined, and politically humiliated. Hitler’s million civilians’ casualties in the conflict.42 Com- National Socialist (Nazi) Party could capitalize on petition for political ideologies of modernity came these emotions to gain power few decades later, as already up in the late nineteenth century. The First he could use for example the war guilt question as a World War contributed to the fall of several monar- major theme.41 Those so-called Paris Peace Confer- chies (Austria-Hungary, Germany, Ottoman Empire, ences were considered to serve building a post-war Tsarist Russia), and their imperial dynasties, together world avoiding future conflicts, set the creation of the with their ancillary aristocracies – the Habsburgs, League of Nations, and five peace treaties (among the Hohenzollerns, the Ottomans,and the Romanovs. them the two mentioned above). Some optimistic With the fall of the bourgeois Europe, the time of participants called the First World War “the War to aggressive nationalism and political mobilization of End All Wars”. They terribly proved wrong. The the masses arose. The twentieth century became the Peace Treaty of Versailles was signed on the 28th age of extremes. of June 28 1919, exactly five years to the day after the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand got assas- Doubtless, the collapse and dismemberment of the Habsburg Empire in November 1918 initiated the 37They included the postulate of ”borders based on ethnicity” chain of events which led to the next catastrophe. that proved to be not only utopian, but also the precursor to The political atmosphere in Europe was becoming many conflicts. Several successor nations had formed, which were to give Europe a new appearance, radically reshaping the ever more hostile. In Central Europe, the National map of central and eastern Europe. It was the era of triumphant Socialists had their formations. In the Austrian core nationalism. John Keegan,The First World War (Hutchinson, land, all together they outnumbered by far the regular 1998), p. 345. Austrian Federal Army composed of professional 38Hungary signed the peace agreement in the separate treaty of Trianon. Another treaty among that series was the Treaty of soldiers built in accordance with the conditions of Sèvres in 1920 and marked the beginning of the partitioning the Peace Treaty of St. Germain. From 1927 on- of the Ottoman Empire, and its dismemberment. The terms of wards, Austria lived in an atmosphere of impend- the treaty also stirred hostility and nationalist feeling amongst ing civil war. The Christian-Socialist government Turks. The signatories of the treaty were stripped of their citizenship and the Turkish War of Independence started. A of Chancellor Dollfuss was heading towards an au- new treaty was signed in 1923 in Lausanne, preserving Turk- thoritarian system, who eliminated theParliament in ish sovereignty through the establishment of the Republic of 1933 and replaced the democratic constitution by Turkey under Ataturk. Paul C. Helmreich, From Paris to Sèvres: a corporate one.The view of a boogeyman led to The Partition of the Ottoman Empire at the Peace Conference conflicts between Christian democrats and socialists of 1919–1920 (Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Press, 1974), p. 320. and detracted their forces against the upcoming Nazi 39H.P. Willmott, World War I (New York: Dorling Kinder- regime, when in February 1934 civil war broke out. sley, 2003), p.207. 40Hagen Schulze, Germany: A New History (Harvard U.P., 42Not counted one of the world’s deadliest global pandemics 1998), p. 204. that spread by that global war: The Spanish flu epidemic of 41Michael C. Thomsett, The German Opposition to Hitler: 1918, which killed another estimated 20 to 50 million people. The Resistance, the Underground, and Assassination Plots, Rachel Williams, Dual Threat: The Spanish Influenza and 1938–1945 (Jefferson NC: McFarland, 2007), p. 13. World War I (Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2014), 4–10.

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In July 1934 the assassination of Dollfuss by mem- forcible emigration and persecution, but also made bers of an illegal SS-standard again led to extensive the country ready for war within a short period of fighting, and his successor Kurt Schuschnigg strug- time, deploying Austrian soldiers. However, Aus- gled to keep Austria independent. The rapproche- trian soldiers also joined Allied armies. From 1943 ment to fascist Italyoffering protection, led to the onwards the country, now divided into Alpengaue complete isolation of Austria when Mussolini even- and Donaureichsgaue, suffered from air raids and tually arranged with Hitler. In Berchtesgaden, Hitler partisan warfare led by Yugoslavia in its southern put Chancellor Schuschnigg under heavy pressure. regions. In the meantime, the persecution of Jews Schuschnigg saw his only chance by organizing a and enemies of the NS regime reached its climax. public opinion poll on the independence of Austria Despite the gradually rising resistance and the par- on 13th of March 1938. Intimidated by Hitler’s threat ticipation of Austrians in the attempt to assassinate of a military invasion, the chancellor resigned on Hitler on 20th of July 1944, the country was deeply 11th of March; President Miklas’ resignation fol- involved in the political and military structures of lowed soon afterwards. On 12 March the German the German Reich, experienced war, the liberation Army (“Wehrmacht”) entered Austria, given a hearty by the Allies and the capitulation of the Wehrmacht welcome by some parts of the population. The fol- on its own territory from March until May 1945. lowing day, the new National Socialist government, In mid-April Karl Renner succeeded in forming a already formed on 11 March, legalized Austria’s new Austrian government, proclaiming the indepen- “” (annexation) to the German Reich, call- dence of the country (though until 1955 occupied by ing it a re-unification with the ”remaining Germany”. the Allied powers) and making a new start. Some Austria did no longer exist as an independent state.In historians argue the Habsburg empire’s multi-ethnic the recent decades its role in ”volunteering“ coming central European policy had become outdated and back into the “Reich“became discussed. was doomed for failure. And though, the EU can be Fact is, Nazi-Germany would not have been that seen as the continuation of the old idea of a super- easily able to annex Austria, when it was core of national empire by other means. The circumstances the Habsburg Empire. Hitler would not have been have changed, but Europe is working on the idea able that easily to annex the sullen German com- of a super-national legal structure and a subsidiarity th munity in the Sudetenland, because it instead would principle to avoid further conflicts as the 20 century have been a prominent community within a grand experienced twice. Empire. And he would generally not have been able to annex Bohemia and Moravia in 1939, because How to cite this article: Feldbacher R. “The they would belong to the most vital provinces within Great War”– Its beginning and aftermath with the Habsburg Empire. Maybe its absence opened a main focus on Austria. Journal of Research − the doors to the Nazi conquests, but it is obsolete and Opinion . 2020;2738 2748. https://doi.org/ to consider alternative history. National Socialist 10.15520/jro.v7i6.68 dictatorship did not only lead to a change of elites,

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