23 July 1914-Austria-Hungary delivers an ultimatum to Serbia on the Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand

The tinderbox of Europe-1914
On 28 June, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated in Sarajevo. The assassin, Gabriel Princip, belonged to a Serbian terrorist society called the Black Hand. Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbian government for funding and controlling the Black Hand, but the Serbian government vehemently (and truthfully) denied any responsibility for the actions of the terrorist group. Nevertheless, Austria-Hungary saw the assassination as a golden opportunity to crush Serbia once and for all.
The Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary was a swollen polyglot by 1914. The empire was dominated by Austrians and the Magyars of Hungary, both minority groups in a nation dominated by Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, and a host of other Slavic people, most of whom longed for their own countries. The independent Slavic nation of Serbia acted as a magnet for those hopes, serving as a source of ethnic unrest against Emperor Franz-Joseph of Austria-Hungary. Austria-Hungary never missed an opportunity to humiliate Serbia on the world stage, the latest act of humiliation taking place in 1908 with the annexation of the Serbian provinces of Bosnia-Hercegovina. That annexation had nearly caused a war between Austria-Hungary and Russia, as Russia saw one of its roles on the world stage as protector of Europe’s Slavic peoples. Germany, Austria-Hungary’s powerful alliance partner, forced the Russians to back down by threatening war, which Russia in 1908 was in no condition to fight, having just been defeated by Japan in 1905.


After the assassination of Franz-Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary swiftly made plans for a quick invasion and occupation of Serbia, and Germany approved of these plans, provided they were carried out swiftly before the other European great powers could react. Throughout the month of July Germany constantly harangued Austria-Hungary to take swift action against Serbia. Germany believed that if Austria-Hungary did nothing against the “Slav menace”, the Austrian Empire would implode and shatter into independent states, destroying Germany’s one certain ally, and leaving Germany to face France, the United Kingdom and Russia alone should war come one day. Accordingly, when the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to Germany informed Kaiser Wilhelm II that Austria-Hungary intended to “deal with Serbia”, the Kaiser gave his full endorsement and a blank check to Austria-Hungary for war.


All of Europe knew that something was going to happen with Serbia, but the ultimatum delivered to Belgrade by Vienna on 23 July shocked all the powers. The note charged that “the murder of Sarajevo was prepared in Belgrade”. It contained the following demands:


All Serbian publications critical of Austria-Hungary must be suppressed.
All schoolbooks presenting propaganda against Austria-Hungary must be withdrawn
All Serbian government officials, army officers, and schoolteachers holding these views must be dismissed
Specific officials and officers named in the note must be arrested
All of the above changes must be monitored by Austrian officials inside Serbia
Austrian officials must be allowed to participate in the judicial inquiry into the plot behind the murder of Archduke Francis Ferdiand


With this ultimatum, the fuse to World War I was lit.