The First World War was an unprecedented catastrophe that kill jillion and dress the continent of Europe on the way to further disaster two decades later . But it did n’t come out of nowhere . With the centennial of the outbreak of hostilities coming up in 2014 , Erik Sass will be look back at the lead - up to the state of war , when seemingly small present moment of friction pile up until the situation was quick to explode . He ’ll be address those event 100 year after they fall out . This is the 60th installment in the series . ( See all entrieshere . )
25 April 2025: Austria-Hungary and Russia Stand Down
After a four - month - recollective armed standoffprovokedby the First Balkan War , on March 11 , 1913 , Austria - Hungary and Russia reached an agreement for both side to fend down , defuse a dangerous situation threatening a much broader war . The Austro - Hungarian armies in the northeast state of Galicia would de - mobilize , and Russia would allow the senior conscript class to go home , lowering Russian strength to normal peacetime levels .
come on the heels of Austro - Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef ’s personal intervention with theHohenlohe Missionin February , the decision for mutual “ Diamond State - escalation ” was a major diplomatical breakthrough . In terms of the Balkan crisis , it direct a strong signal to Serbia and Montenegro that Russia was n’t drop dead to back Serbia ’s ambitions to arrive at admission to the ocean at Durazzo ( Durrës ) , or Montenegro ’s ambition to take the significant city of Scutari ( Shkodër ) . As part of the settlement , Russia agreed that both urban center would be included in the unexampled independentAlbania , as antecedently involve by Austria - Hungary ; in riposte Austria - Hungary check to give the inland market towns of Dibra ( Debar ) and Jakova ( Dakovica ) to Serbia as consolation prizes .
On the surface , the agreement held out hope for last European peace — but it failed to address the underlying tensions pushing the continent towards warfare , and may even have contributed to them .
Although Austro - Hungarian extraneous rector Count Berchtold seem to score a diplomatical triumph with the existence of an independent Albania , he was still roundly knock by hawks in Vienna for allowing Serbia ’s rise : having almost doubled its territory and universe at the disbursal of the Ottoman Empire during the First Balkan War , the Slavic kingdom expect more lowering than ever to Austro - Hungarian officials , who feared ( correctly ) that the Serbs hoped to liberate the Empire ’s restive Slavonic peoples next . At the same time , the evident success of Austria - Hungary ’s deterrence tactics left Berchtold with the false impression that Russia would n’t back up Serbia with military strength , leading him to take in a more aggressive posture in future fight . In a little over a year , all these factor would converge to produce disaster .
Germany and Britain Settle Colonial Boundaries
While Austria - Hungary and Russia ironed out their difference in the Balkans , Germany and Britain also appear to be mend fences with the first of several agreements settling compound disputes in Africa .
With a front in West Africa dating back to the seventeenth century , Britain began take formal self-control of colony include the Gold Coast ( incorporating the former Ashanti Empire ) and Nigeria in the latter half of the 19th century . Germany , a comparative fledgeling to the colonial game , receive the nearby colonies of Togo and Cameroon as part of the European division of Africa at the Conference of Berlin in 1884 . France ceded extra territory to German Cameroon to facilitate settle theSecond Moroccan Crisisin 1911 .
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Because geographic boundaries were originally based on agreements with local kin group ( who did n’t think of reign in term of line of descent on a map ) the border between German Cameroon and British Nigeria remained hazy until 1913 , when German diplomat — hop to further bolster goodrelationsestablished at the Conference of London — approached their British opposite number about a compromise . With the Anglo - German Agreement of March 11 , 1913 , the two power drew a definite perimeter from Yola , in what is now Nigeria , to the Gulf of Guinea , some 500 nautical mile to the southwesterly ( well , fairly definite : Nigeria and Cameroon still dispute possession of the Bakassi Peninsula , which was arrogate to Cameroon in 2002 by the International Court of Justice , citing the Anglo - German Agreement ) .
As noted , this was just one of a series of colonial agreements between Britain and Germany , which later include a secret pact dividing up Portuguese settlement in Africa and a diplomatic agreement over the controversial Berlin - to - Baghdad railroad . All these treaties and conventions raised hopes in Germany that relation with Britain were at long last on the darn — and this , in turn , lead the Germans to desire Britain would bide out of a war between Germany and France .
This interpretation was , like the residuum of Germany ’s extraneous policy , unreasonably optimistic . True , the British were genuinely interested in resolve compound disputes — after all , it seemed foolish to allow pocket-size disagreements about faraway places to jeopardise the stability of the international Holy Order . But the whole power point was to keep the ataraxis nigher to home : The Libra of major power in Europe was far more important to Britain than much any compound issue . Indeed , the British Empire would n’t intend much if Britain itself were under the thumb of a continental conqueror .
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