The fuse of the First World War . From a micro perspective, it is generally believed that it is the Sarajevo incident : that is, the prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was assassinated in Sarajevo , which led to the escalation of the incident and eventually triggered the First World War. However, if we look at it from a slightly higher perspective, the issue of 's Balkans 's belongings is the fuse of World War I.
1, Balkan Peninsula issue
Around the 14th century, the Ottoman Empire established by the Turks rose, and, relying on force as a backing, the Ottoman Empire established a great empire across Europe, Asia and Africa in the following centuries. Even the medieval millennium ancient country, , Byzantine Empire, , was destroyed by the Ottoman Empire, and the Balkans were also included in the territory by the Ottoman Empire.
In modern times, as empires such as Britain, France and Russia surpassed the Ottoman Empire, this led to the Ottoman Empire becoming the object of division by the great powers. The Balkans also caused competition among the great powers.
The Balkans live in a large number of Slavs . The Russians belong to the Eastern Slavs . Therefore, in order to infiltrate the power of the Balkans, Tsar Russia kept clamoring for the general Slavicism and fantasizing about annexing the Balkans. In fact, Russia broke out several Russian-Turkish wars with the Ottoman Empire for the Balkans. These Russian-Turkish wars spanned about two hundred years.
By the mid-to-late 19th century, as the Ottoman Empire lost control of the Balkans, the Balkan Peninsula issue was no longer a region that Russia and the Ottoman Empire competed for.
For example, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also targeted the Balkans. Although Tsarist Russia can defeat the Ottoman Empire, Tsarist Russia really does not have an advantage over the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The predecessor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, , Austrian Empire, , was kicked out of the , German in the German War of Unification, so the Austro-Hungarian Empire began to consider swallowing the Balkans to expand the influence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Originally, from a geographical point of view, the Balkans were a place of struggle between Russia, the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but British Empire is also mixed in at this critical moment: Britain and Russia are different. Russians have a certain obsession with land, while the British focus more on marine layout. As a major maritime transportation route, if the UK cannot control the Balkans, it means that it has lost its voice in the eastern part of Mediterranean . So, Britain has to make a fuss about anything.
In this way, the Balkans became a place where the three major empires of Russia, Austro-Hungarian Empire and British Empire competed.
In such an environment, it is very rare to be peaceful in the Balkans.
Moreover, in addition to Russia, Austro-Hungarian Empire and Britain, the Ottoman Empire was also unscrupulous to this region, and France and Germany were also interested in intervening in the affairs of the Balkans. Therefore, the Balkans issue was the fuse of in the battle with , which is correct.
2. Fighting clouds are densely populated
In the late 19th century, major powers were intrigued by the colonial issue, and the issue of partitioning the Balkans also became a very concern for the major powers. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was very eager to annex the Balkans Serbian . And how could the Serbs finally escape independence from the Ottoman Empire, so how could they be ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire? So the Sarajevo incident occurred: the prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire visited Sarajevo and was assassinated by a Serbian youth.
Originally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire wanted to annex Serbia and had nothing to do with German Empire . But the German emperor considered the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany deeply rooted in it. Therefore, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has been constantly clamoring for the annexation of Serbia, and said that Germany would support the annexation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
France and Germany have "liangzi" because of the Franco-Prussian War. In addition, Russia's expansion in southeastern Europe also made the French feel that it is beneficial to France. So France hopes that Russia can defeat its opponents in the Balkans.
So, not long after the Sarajevo incident, the Austro-Hungarian Empire attacked Serbia with armed forces. Immediately afterwards, countries such as Britain, France, Russia, Ottoman were also involved in the war. In this way, World War I broke out.
