Powder keg of Europe
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The powder keg of Europe or Balkan powder keg was the
In addition to the imperialistic ambitions and interests in this region, there was a growth in nationalism with the indigenous peoples of this region leading to the formation of the independent states of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Romania and Albania.
Background
Irredentism in the Balkans and the Great Powers
Within these nations, there were movements to create "greater" nations, which is to enlarge the boundaries of the state beyond those areas where the national ethnic group was in the majority (irredentism). This led to conflict between the newly independent nations and the empire from which they split, the Ottoman Empire. Additionally, it led to differences between the Balkan nations who wished to gain territory at the expense of their neighbors. Both the conflict with the Ottoman Empire and between the Balkan nations led to the Balkan Wars in 1912–13.
In a different vein, the ideology of Pan-Slavism in Balkans gained popularity; the movement built around it in the region sought to unite all of the Slavs of the Balkans into one nation, Yugoslavia. This, however, would require the union of several Balkan states and territory which was part of Austria-Hungary. For this reason, Pan-Slavism was strongly opposed by Austria-Hungary, while it was supported by Russia which viewed itself as leader of all Slavic nations.[1]
To complicate matters, in the years preceding
All these factors, and many others, conspired to bring about the First World War. As is insinuated by the name "the powder keg of Europe," the Balkans were not the major issue at stake in the war, but were merely the catalyst that led to the conflagration. The Chancellor of Germany in the late 19th century, Otto von Bismarck, correctly predicted it would be the source of major conflict in Europe.
The powder keg "exploded" causing the
Serbia indicated this would be unconstitutional and a violation of its sovereignty and Austria-Hungary used it as a
See also
- Causes of World War I
- The Guns of August, a nonfiction work detailing the leadup to World War I
References
- ISBN 978-2-7028-3492-3.
Further reading
- Jelavich, Barbara (1999). History of the Balkans. Vol. 1: Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Joint Committee on Eastern Europe publication series. Vol. 1 (Repr. [der Ausg. 1983] ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr. ISBN 978-0-521-27458-6.