Why was the Austro-Hungarian Empire willing to go to war in 1914?

Answer 1

The alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary dated from 1879 and was the oldest and most firmly based of the European alliances. From the early 1890s onwards many Germans and German-speaking groups in Austria-Hungary subscribed to the concept of 'Mitteleuropa' - that is, a Central Europe under German leadership, a Central Europe expanding (economically, by trade and investment) into the Balkans and Eastern Europe. In the decade 1900-10 Germany came close to making Romania a satellite state, for example. The notion that in 1914 the government of Austria-Hungary behaved foolishly and perhaps 'ought to' have been left in the lurch by Germany shows a fundamental failure to understand the relationship between the two countries. Austria-Hungary was the junior partner in the grandiose 'Central European exercise', and consulted the German government and General Staff closely. Early in the crisis of June/July 1914, the German government gave Austria-Hungary (6 July 1914) a 'blank cheque' to make practically any demands it wished of Serbia. In the event it was the top German military that called the tune. Serbia did in fact accept most of the points in the Austrian ultimatum, and it looked as if the government of Austria-Hungary would accept the Serbian reply. At this point the German General Staff did all in its power to encourage and strengthen the hardliners in Vienna - with results that are well known. All this is well documented: it's NOT some kind of anti-German Propaganda. In December 1912 the German General Staff, meeting without any politician present (not even Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg) had resolved to exploit the next major European crisis to launch a war [of aggression]. This is recorded. Key areas of scholarly debate here include the question of whether this resolution should be taken at face value. One of the reasons for being cautious is that the General Staff didn't do the kind of follow-up work that would normally have followed a decision of this magnitude. The real question is: Why did Austria-Hungary allow itself to be exploited so ruthlessly in 1914? Joncey

Answer 2

Mainly because Austria-Hungary was systematically egged on by Germany, which on 6 July 1914 gave the politicians a blank cheque to be as unreasonable as they liked towards Serbia. The Serbian government agreed to nearly all the demands in the ultimatum, and many senior politicians in Vienna wanted to accept, but the German General Staff wanted its 'jolly little war' - against France and Russia, and mobilized the extreme hardliners in Austria-Hungary. Such views are deeply unpopular in 'popular history' in the U.S. but they are widely accepted, in various forms, among professional academic historians. Joncey

Answer 3

Germany wanted to replace Britain as the dominant global power. To do this, they needed more colonies and territory, but by 1914 the only way to get these was to take them from somebody else. Germany thus needed a general European war (which they believed they would win quickly) to break out before 1916. Colonies and territory could then be taken from defeated enemies in a subsequent peace treaty. The Kaiser therefore stoked up tension in Europe during the July Crisis of 1914, following the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, to get the war Germany wanted.

Answer 4

Germany was allied with Austria-Hungary, much like how Canada is allied with America, so they have to go to war with them even if they don't agree to. Russia was allied with Serbia and that's who Austria-Hungary declaired war with. Russia would not tolerate a moballized army on its border so Russia mobalized its army against Austraia. Germany ordered Russia to stop mobalizing but when Russia refused Germany declaired war on Russia.