{"id":785,"date":"2017-06-21T01:05:34","date_gmt":"2017-06-21T01:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/?p=785"},"modified":"2026-04-23T09:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T09:06:08","slug":"july-crisis-of-1914","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/july-crisis-of-1914\/","title":{"rendered":"The July Crisis of 1914: A Detailed Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The July Crisis of 1914 was an important event in the buildup to\u00a0World War I<\/a>.\u00a0 In fact, the July Crisis occurred immediately following the\u00a0assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand<\/a>, which took place on June 28th, 1914.\u00a0 In short, the July Crisis involved a dramatic increase in the tensions between the major powers of Europe following the assassination of\u00a0Franz Ferdinand<\/a>.\u00a0 More specifically, the July Crisis of 1914 saw the major alliance systems of Europe divide up the continent and set the stage for World War I.\u00a0 As such, the July Crisis dealt with how the assassination of one man led to a bloody and devastating conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WHAT CAUSED THE JULY CRISIS OF 1914?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As stated above, the event that ultimately caused the July Crisis of 1914 was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. \u00a0Franz Ferdinand was the Archduke of Austria-Hungary<\/a> and next in line to rule over the empire. Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated on June 28th, 1914 in Sarajevo, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina while there on a visit to inspect the military forces.\u00a0 The assassin was\u00a0Gavrilo Princip<\/a>.\u00a0 Just nineteen years old at the time, Princip was a member of the\u00a0Black Hand<\/a>, which was a Serbian nationalist organization that existed in the early part of the 20th century. The Black Hand was first created in August of 1901, by members of the Royal Serbian Army.\u00a0 It was a secret society that worked to promote Serbian nationalism.\u00a0 They were opposed to Austro-Hungarian influence in the Balkans, which was the name for the southeastern region of Europe.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the assassination, Austrian authorities determined that the murder was carried out by the Black Hand and placed the blame for the killing on Serbia.  In fact, rumors swirled at the time about the role of the Serbian government in the assassination.  Since many of the prominent members of the Black Hand came from the Royal Serbian Army, the Austrian government wanted to investigate within Serbia to determine the role of the Serbian leadership.  This situation between Austria-Hungary and Serbia is what essentially resulted in the July Crisis of 1914.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Assassination
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand artwork by Achille Beltrame from an Italian newspaper. It shows Gavrilo Princip killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. (1914)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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MAJOR EVENTS OF THE JULY CRISIS OF 1914<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The July Crisis of 1914 unfolded as a series of events following the assassination of Franz Ferdinand<\/a>.\u00a0 For instance, in the days immediately after the June 28th assassination, several prominent ministers in the Austrian government called for war to be declared against Serbia.\u00a0 However, Austria-Hungary did not want to attack unless it had the support of its ally\u00a0Germany.\u00a0 As such, the Austrian Emperor, Franz Joseph<\/a>, sent a letter to the German Emperor, Wilhelm II<\/a>, seeking his assistance against Serbia.\u00a0 Wilhelm II responded immediately and pledged Germany\u2019s full support.\u00a0 He even noted that Germany would support Austria-Hungary in the even that the conflict with Serbia escalated to a war with other European powers.\u00a0 This has been referred to as a \u2018blank cheque\u2019 by Germany, in that Germany was offering Austria-Hungary unlimited support.\u00a0 All these communications between Austria-Hungary and Germany took place in the first week of July.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Assassination
Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary on hearing of the death of Franz Ferdinand. (Created by historycrunch.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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From Germany\u2019s perspective, supporting Austria-Hungary in its war against Serbia was a necessity.\u00a0 At the time, Austria-Hungary was Germany\u2019s only major ally and Wilhelm II was concerned about both nations losing influence and power in Europe as a result of not responding to the assassination.\u00a0 Furthermore, Germany<\/a> believed that Russia<\/a> (Serbia\u2019s biggest ally) would not want to wage war to help defend Serbia.\u00a0 This was due to Germany thinking that\u00a0Russia\u00a0was not well prepared for war and could not mount a reasonable defence in time.\u00a0 As such, Germany believed that a war with Serbia could be easily won and would provide Germany with increased influence in the Balkans.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tensions of the July Crisis heightened over the new two weeks as Austria-Hungary began preparing an ultimatum for Serbia<\/a>.\u00a0 An ultimatum is a demand, that if not met would cause a conflict.\u00a0 As a result, Austria-Hungary was preparing to give Serbia a list of demands, and if not met, then Austria-Hungary would carry out a war against Serbia.\u00a0 Austria-Hungary\u2019s hope was that in providing Serbia with an ultimatum, it would give more reason for Austria-Hungary to go to war.\u00a0 Although Austria-Hungary had the support of Germany, it was still worried about other European powers, and wanted to give the image that it was proving Serbia with an alternative to war.\u00a0 On the other hand, Austrian officials knew that Serbia would never meet the demands, and war would be the likely result.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austria-Hungary finally delivered its ultimatum to Serbia on July 23rd and demanded an immediate response from the Serbian leadership.  The main terms of the ultimatum included:\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n