To what an extent were the Balkans a major cause for the outbreak of the WWI?

To what an extent were the Balkans a major cause for the outbreak of the WWI?

    The problems in the Balkans, were one of the most important points for the outbreak of the First World War, and they should be treated carefully. Many historians consider it a major cause as the Balkans were a very heterogeneous area and as they were related to other nations, they used to provoke different problems as they wanted a free independence. Rivalry over land and markets, pressure for expanding, militarism, modernisation, and nationalism, led to feelings of hostility between the different countries. What linked all these factors was the network of alliances.

     This well known network of alliances had been one of the main conflicts that started to affect Europe up to the point in which the WWI had its outbreak. The first agreement between two big powers, was in 1879, with Germany and Austria-Hungary, it became known as the Dual Alliance (At the beginning, Bismarck thought of creating an alliance with these 2, plus Russia, called the ‘Three Emperors League’, but plans died fast) Italy ended up joining Austria and Germany because at that point (1882), the Triple Alliance was anti-French. Russia managed to get an alliance with France in 1894, and then, they made agreements over colonial possessions with Britain, adding the British to their group, naming themselves ‘The Triple Entente’. The alliances made between the different powers, were supposed to only act if a country was being attacked. However, these agreements, made the countries to think in term of two opposing sides and in case any conflict began, everybody knew that it wouldn’t remain localized; all the other nations would get involved.

   The fact that key nations ruled over vast empires, it guaranteed that the war was worldwide; If any problem was raised, and started to grow between one empire and its colonies, it meant that if a war was necessary, it wouldn’t remain local. Neither because of this, or because of the new system of alliances. Talking about big powers controlling small regions of Europe and outside of Europe too, we can consider a lot of similar problems such as France and Germany, with Alsace-Lorraine, Britain disliking Germany’s strong and growing relation with the Ottoman Empire, Britain’s Boer War, the two Moroccan crises between Britain, Germany and France, etc.

   Taking into account all these several events, they are considered meaningful, but there is one event that could be reckoned as determining and decisive; the Balkans. Between 1890 and 1905 the Balkans remained neutral although Austria had Bosnia and Herzegovina under their control. However, in 1908 Russia and Austria agreed that at some point they would be absorbed into the Austrian Empire. In return, Austria would have to support Russia’s demand of moving warships from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean through the Turkish Straits (Russia had been banned from using this route in 1841). In October of the same year, Austria went ahead with the annexation without keeping its side of the agreement with Russia. The annexation angered Serbia, as they wanted to take over these places by themselves, Russia gave them support. However, Germany backed up Austria and as a cause of this, in 1909, Russia was forced to stop supporting Serbia, and ended up being humiliated.

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