This Day in the Law
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July 23

July Crisis: Austria-Hungary Issues Ultimatum to Serbia (1914)


On July 23, 1914, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia to abide by multiple demands and hand over all those involved in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Serbia rejected Austria-Hungary’s ultimatum and declared war against Austria-Hungary on July 28, 1914, which acted as the catalyst that began World War I.

A few days earlier, on June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife, were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Princip was part of a group of assassins under the direction of a Serbian terrorist group called the Black Hand supported by many Serbian nationalists.

Austria-Hungary and Serbia had been quarreling with each other for many years prior to the assassination, and many countries in Europe had created alliances with each other in case of a war. For example, the Allied countries included Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and Serbia, while the Central Powers countries included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey.

The ultimatum issued by Austria-Hungary to Serbia on July 23, 1914 acted as the final catalyst for WW I. Within just over a week after the ultimatum most of the world’s largest countries had declared war on each other. The United States eventually joined the Allied powers a few years later.

WW I went on to become one of the bloodiest wars in history where over 15 million people died.