Nationalism (WWI)

Nationalism is commonly defined as a strong, often bordering on the extreme, sense of patriotic feeling towards one’s country. This will often entail heavy political advocacy for a country to be independent, and in some cases, a feeling of superiority to other countries.

In the context of World War I, n ationalism is regarded as one of its key long term causes, having lead to several smaller conflicts that in avertedly further drew Europe to the brink of war. However, despite the fact that all nations had nationalistic tendencies, those of Serbia and the Balkans in general, as well as Germany to a lesser extent, were those that caused the greatest amount of conflict and tension.

The Early Twentieth Century
In the early part of the 20 th Century, many empires began to face dilemma; on one hand, they needed to modernizeand increase in industrial strength to grow stronger both econo mically and militarily, but had to accept that at the same time, this would provide opportunities to minorities. More jobs, increased pay, and benefits could lead to the empowerment of these minorities, and increase nationalism within these groups. Countries with few minority groups were safe from the possible consequences of this increased nationalism, but so-called “patchwork” empires like Austria Hungary whose sheer size prevented the government from effectively ruling over its ethnically diverse edges could fear los ing these territories and peoples to other nations. In the case of Austria Hungary, Serbia and the increasingly rebellious Slavs within their own borders posed a threat to the already crumbling empire.

At the same time, the Ottoman empire was in its final stages of life, being dubbed the “Sick Man of Europe”, and as its hold on the Balkans weakened, a power vacuum was created. In contrast, Serbia was going from strength to strength, and Slavs both within, and out of Serbia hoped to be unified in a new Serbia to be known as Greater Serbia.

The Bosnian Crisis
By 1908, over 15 different languages were spoken in Austria-Hungary, and the Serbians were as eager as ever to create Greater Serbia. Between Austria-Hungary, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, there were over 7,300,000 Serbs as opposed to only 3,300,000 in Serbia, and as a result, the patchwork empire that was Austria Hungary needed to take greater control of the Balkan Area in order to protect them.

From 1878, Austria had occupied the Balkan provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and at one point in September 1908, Russia and Austria agreed that Austria would eventually absorb the two provinces. Russia would support this in return for the movement of Russian warships from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean via the Turkish Straits, a route they had been banned from using following an international agreement in 1841.

In October 1908, Austria annexed the provinces, without keeping to their side of the agreement. The annexation angered the Serbians due to the high density of Serbians living in the area, and in response to the Austrian betrayal, Russia supported the Serbians and tried to hold a conference. Germany, however, supported Austria and Russia was required to back down.

Consequentially, Russia was humiliated and refused to ever back down again in the face of conflict, while German and Austrian ties were reinforced.

The Balkan Wars
In 1912, spurred on by the crumbling Ottoman Empire, Greece, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Serbia formed a group called the Balkan League. Previously, in 1908, the Ottoman Empire was rocked by an internal revolution, and a war with Italy over control of North Africa between 1911 and 1912. Together, the Balkan League fought to remove the Turks from Europe. Their rapid success fuelled fear among the Great Powers, and so negotiations were held which culminated in the signing of the Treaty of London.

However, by 1913, some of the nations began to feel cheated by the Treaty, having not received as much as the others, and so the Bulgarians declared war on Greece and Serbia, only to be later defeated in the second Balkan War by Serbia, Greece, Turkey, and Romania.

By the end of these wars, Serbia had expanded into the Kosovo region and into both northern and central Macedonia, and Turkey had been expelled from Europe. In order to keep the Serbians from having access to the Adriatic Sea, Austria created the new state of Albania, and a defeated Bulgaria (who had in fact lost all of her gains from the First Balkan War) became allies with Austria-Hungary.

Although the cost of the war, 120,000 men, had been relatively small, it would have major consequences:


 * Austria grew very concerned over Serbia due to the rapid growth of Serbian territory


 * Having not directly backed Serbia, Russia would have to defend it when the next conflict was to occur as to maintain good influence over the Balkans


 * Having had to give up some of its territories as to create Albania, nationalist feelings in Serbia grew higher than ever


 * Austria approached Germany seeking support if they were to go to war with Serbia, and possibly with Russia

Post Balkan-War
In 1914, in response to the Balkan Wars, the Austrian government started military manoeuvres in Bosnia that could be used to invade Serbia in the event of conflict. In fact, part of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand’s agenda when he visited Sarajevo on June 28th was to oversee the military preparations and to try and display sympathy for the Serbians in Bosnia on behalf of the Austrian Empire.

Germany
Within Germany, there was a strong sense of Germany deserving its “Place in the Sun”. Despite its immense  industry, Germany had only been around since the 1860s, and so it, and the Kaiser specifically, felt smaller and less powerful than all the other nations. The nationalist feeling within Germany partly encouraged it to gather territory within Europe, grow both its army and navy, and acquire new colonies, all of which were factors that lead towards war.

Britain and France
France’s loss of Alsace Lorraine in 1870 left them very busy, and nationalist feelings over this in the country contributed to France’s growing aggression towards Germany. Over the channel, England’s pride in its Navy and more general nationalism helped to fuel the Arms Race, another cause of the First World War.