Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914. The first act of hostilities came the next day with the bombardment of Belgrade. Using the 28 June assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand as the pretext, the leaders' aim was to end the Serbian agitation that, in their view, posed a serious threat to the Dual Monarchy. In the thirty days that intervened between those dates, they took a series of steps whose purpose was to eliminate Serbia. The most important step, taken early in July, was to secure the assurance of support by Germany, their powerful ally. A second central concern was to prevent Russian participation, to limit the conflict to a “localized” Austro-Serbian war.

Two conclusions deserve special emphasis, ones that might easily be lost in the complexities of this and the following chapters: in July 1914 Austria-Hungary's leaders were the first to opt for war, and they did so with plan and foresight. The latter point may be expressed negatively – their action was not inadvertent, it was no accident, or, to use the most frequent cliché, this was no “slide into war.” In short, the timing and the pace of the July Crisis were set in Vienna.

The Cast of 1914

A small coterie, not more than eight or ten persons, made the key decisions of July 1914. This coterie consisted of the emperor, Franz Joseph, the political leaders, the senior diplomats, and the top military leaders – collectively, the Council of Ministers (to be discussed later).