Impact of Balkans crisis on ww1?

Hey does anyone know much about how the balkans crisis of 1908 contributed to the outbreak of war in 1914?

I realise that in 1914 france felt compelled to support russia, as she failed to do so over the balkans and feared russia would make up with the dual alliance and leaved fr. isolated if the french left them on their own again in 1914.

Any comments?

Thanks,
Patrick

Reply 1

liamb

bloo12

First, the 1908 crisis was a short term victory for Austria. She tricked Russia into giving her a free hand in Bosnia (which was annexed) in return for vague promises about Russian control of Constantinople (which Austria never delivered on.) Consequently, the Russians had a major gripe against Austria. In addition, Serbia felt let down by Russia (and reminded Russia of this in July 1914.) Therefore Russia was more determined and less flexible in 1914.

The Bosnian crisis also demonstrated the weakness of the Ottoman Empire, and was sparked by the Young Turks revolution. This led to more nationalistic policies within their remaining Empire and paved the way for the Balkan Wars of 1912 - 1913.