Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

Vienna, 28 July 1914 - Austria has formally declared war on Serbia.

The declaration came as the Austro-Hungarian government declared itself unhappy with the reply given by the Serbian government to an ultimatum issued by Vienna on 23 July.

That ultimatum - presented following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand - had demanded of the Serbian government a range of measures that no sovereign state could realistically have taken.

That a reply was demanded within two days underlined the sense that Austria-Hungary had already decided on war with Serbia. And when the response that came from Serbia was deemed inadequate, war was indeed inevitable.

Count Leopold Berchtold, who signed the declaration of war against Serbia. (Image: Wiener Bilder, 2 August 1914, ANNO/Austrian National Library)

Having not received a 'satisfactory reply' from the Serbian government, the Austro-Hungarian government, in a statement signed by Count Berchtold, announced that it ‘finds it necessary itself to safeguard its rights and interests, and to have recourse for this purpose to force of arms. Austria-Hungary, therefore, considers itself from this moment in a state of war with Serbia.'

There are growing fears that the war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia will quickly escalate into a much greater conflict. There are reports from across Europe that Russian troops have mobilised and are now massed along their frontier. Other reports claim that this is certain to lead, in turn, to immediate mobilisation in Germany.

Sources in Paris say that the involvement of France in a wider conflict is now considered to be almost inevitable and, in these circumstances, it is difficult to see how the United Kingdom will not also join in the war.

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]