The July Crisis: 30 dramatic days that led to the outbreak of World War One

The first important person in this story, was the man who was waiting to inherit the Austro-Hungarian empire.

His name was Archduke of Austria-Este Franz Ferdinand, and in July 1914, he was 50 years old.

At this time, the Austro-Hungarian empire was struggling to handle so many different people groups that existed under their control.

There were many regions in the Balkans that really wanted to break away from Austro-Hungarian control to be their own nation.

One of the regions that wanted their freedom was called Bosnia. Bosnia was (and still is) ethnically diverse, with Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), Croats, and Serbs being the main ethnic groups of the country. 

The Serbs wanted to join the nearby country of Serbia, instead of being controlled by the Austrio-Hungarians. 

To try to settle the growing anger against the Austro-Hungarian empire, Franz Ferdinand decided to visit the capital city of Bosnia, called Sarajevo.

He did this in his capacity as the Inspector General of the Austro-Hungarian Army. While in Sarajevo he was to oversee Austro-Hungarian military maneuvers and to open the state museum in its new premises.

His visit was part of an official schedule that included attending a reception at the Town Hall and inspecting military operations on the 28th of June 1914.

As a result, this visit was public information, because Franz Ferdinand wanted people to see him drive through the city on his way to City Hall, in order for them to get to know him and, hopefully, make the crowds like him more.

In addition, Franz Ferdinand's wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, accompanied him on the trip to Sarajevo

However, since everyone knew Franz Ferdinand was coming, some terrorists thought it would be a good time to try and attack him.

A particular secret society of Serbians, named 'The Black Hand', wanted Bosnia to be free from the Austro-Hungarians.

Many members of this group were officers in the Serbian military, and the organization had broad nationalist objectives.

As a result, it planned a coordinated attack on the cars Franz Ferdinand would be using to drive through the streets of Sarajevo.

Seven young men agreed to undertake the attack, and they armed themselves with crude bombs, pistols and cyanide poison pills, which they planned to take to commit suicide if they were going to be arrested. 

One of the seven was a young Bosnian Serb nationalist named Gavrilo Princip, who was a member of the radical group Young Bosnia, which worked in tandem with The Black Hand to promote Slavic independence.

On the 28th of June, 1914, Franz Ferdinand made his visit to Sarajevo. A lot of people lined the streets along the route his cars were due to travel, and scattered in the crowds were the assassins from The Black Hand.

The first two attackers were unable to throw their grenades because the streets were too crowded.

The third attacker did throw a grenade, but it exploded under the car behind the one the archduke was in.

It did injure around 20 people, including members of the archduke’s motorcade and bystanders.

Those that were hurt in the blast were taken to hospital, but the archduke kept driving and arrived safely at City Hall.

It appeared that the assassination attempt had been a failure. As the crowds started heading home, so did the rest of the assassins.

However, when Franz Ferdinand had finished his meeting at City Hall, he decided that he should visit the people who had been injured in the bomb blast.

So, getting back in his car, he ordered his driver to go to the hospital. On the way, however, his driver took a wrong turn and had to stop the car in order to reverse. 

By sheer chance, the car had stopped in front of one of the assassins who was walking home, named Gavrilo Princip.

Realising that he had a rare second-chance to carry out the planned assassination, Princip raised his pistol and fired two shots at the archduke before he was stopped. 

The first shot hit Franz Ferdinand's wife, Sophie, in the stomach. The second hit Franz Ferdinand in the neck, and he died soon after.

Gavrilo Princip was quickly arrested and imprisoned. However, the death of a member of a European royal family at the hands of a nationalist group was something that other European countries couldn't ignore, and many of them would see this as an opportunity to start a war.

The Austro-Hungarian government had been trying to think of a reason to attack Serbia for years, and they saw the death of Franz Ferdinand as a legitimate reason to invade.

Serbia was a tiny country compared to the Austro-Hungarian empire, so it seemed like any war would be a quick and easy conquest for the empire.

The only cause for pause was the knowledge that Serbia had an alliance with Russia, who had promised to protect them if they were attacked.

Despite Austria-Hungary's size, Russia was even bigger. Therefore, Austria-Hungary was worried that Russia would declare war on them, if they declared war on Serbia. 

So, to ensure that they were sufficiently protected against Russia, Austria-Hungary went to their own ally, Germany, and asked if they would protect them against a Russian attack. 

6th July 1914 - Germany's 'blank cheque'

After Austria-Hungary asked for Germany's assistance, one of the first steps of the July Crisis was taken. The German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, promised Germany's 'unconditional support' for Austria-Hungary if they attacked Serbia. With this statement, the Austro-Hungarians felt far more confident that they could survive any Russian counterattacks following an invasion of Serbia.

This is often called a 'blank cheque' promise. However, cheques are rarely used now, so most people don't know what this means. In today’s terms, you could compare it to giving someone unrestricted access to your online bank account. Imagine if you gave your friend your online banking login details and said they could transfer as much money as they wanted to themselves. This is what Germany was offering: unlimited support for whatever they decided to do.

23rd July 1914 - The ultimatum to Serbia

On the 23rd of July 1914, Count Leopold Berchtold, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister, issued a formal list of demands to Serbia. They stated that if the demands were not met, then Serbia would be attacked. The wording of the ultimatum was carefully thought out by the Austro-Hungarians so that it was almost impossible for Serbia to accept it without having to fall under the control of the Austro-Hungarian empire. It was finally decided that Serbia could not comply with all of the demands in the ultimatum, and that they had to prepare for war.

25th July 1914 - Serbia responds to the demands

Serbia sent an official response to Austria-Hungary’s ultimatum in which it accepted most of the demands. However, it rejected one crucial point that required Serbia to allow Austrian officials to take part in the investigation into the assassination. Since Austria-Hungary would only accept a response that submitted to every one of its demands, Serbia's response was rejected.

28th July 1914 - War declared

After the deadline had passed and Serbia had not accepted every one of the demands, Austria-Hungary formally declared war on Serbia and began moving its troops to invade.

30th July 1914 - Russia moves

On the 30th of July, Russia began the full mobilization of its army, which was the first decisive military move by any of the major powers. 

31st July 1914 - Germany demands

Germany sent a formal demand to Russia to stop mobilizing their army, which would be a sign that Russia wouldn't attack Austria-Hungary. French President Raymond Poincaré reaffirmed its commitment to support Russia if war broke out. As a result, Russia ignored Germany's demand.

1st August 1914 - Germany and France move

Both the armies of Germany and France ordered their troops to mobilise in preparation for war. Russia had signed an agreement with France that, in the event that they were attacked, France would support Russia. The mobilisation of French troops concerned Germany. By the end of the day, Germany had declared war on Russia.

2nd August 1914 - Germany threatens Belgium

As a way of neutralising the French threat, Germany planned to invade France by racing through the country of Belgium and into northern France. However, Germany needed to be sure that Belgium wouldn't attack them and slow down their advance. Therefore, on the 2nd of August, Germany delivered an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding free passage through Belgium to attack France.

3rd August 1914 - Britain supports Belgium

Britain had a treaty with Belgium, the Treaty of London (1839), which had established Belgium’s independence and required European powers to respect its neutrality. As a result, this treaty committed Britain to defend Belgium if it was invaded. The day after Germany's ultimatum to Belgium, Britain warned Germany that it would defend Belgian if they were attacked. It was made clear that if German troops entered Belgium's territory, it would be considered an attack on Belgium. Germany now realised that if they attacked Belgium, they would be at war with Britain as well. Following Britain's announcement, Belgium officially rejected Germany's ultimatum.

4th August 1914 - Germany invades Belgium

Then, on the 4th of August, German troops invaded Belgium. This was part of the larger Schlieffen Plan, a military strategy that aimed to quickly defeat France by advancing through neutral Belgium. As promised, Britain declared war on Germany.

The July Crisis was now over and World War One had begun.