Bosnian crisis of 1908

Bosnian crisis of 1908, state of severe international tension caused by the annexation by Austria-Hungary of the Balkan provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Congress of Berlin (1878) had given Austria-Hungary the right to occupy and administer Bosnia and Herzegovina temporarily, but the provinces officially remained possessions of the Ottoman Empire. Still, the Austrian administration tried mightily and at great expense to improve the strategically valuable region economically and to link it closely with Austria-Hungary. When in July 1908 the Young Turks staged a revolution in Constantinople (now Istanbul), established a constitutional government, and inaugurated a reform program, the Austrian foreign minister Graf (count) Lexa von Aehrenthal resolved to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina before the new Turkish regime could regain control over them.

To that end Aehrenthal met the Russian foreign minister, Aleksandr P. Izvolsky, at Buchlau, in Moravia; and, on Sept. 16, 1908, Izvolsky agreed that Russia would not object to the annexation. Aehrenthal pledged that in return Austria would not object to opening the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits to Russian warships, an advantage that had been denied to Russia since 1841. By a rescript of Oct. 7, 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Izvolsky, unprepared for such immediate action, could not control the strong popular opposition to the annexation that developed in Russia. Furthermore, Serbia, which was closely related to Bosnia and Herzegovina geographically and ethnically, was outraged by the annexation. It demanded that Austria cede a portion of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Serbia, and Izvolsky, pressed by anti-Austrian opinion in Russia, was forced to support the Serbian claims. Austria, however, firmly supported by its ally Germany, threatened to invade Serbia if that country persisted in its demands. Russia, having failed to secure equally strong support from its ally France, could not risk a war against both Austria-Hungary and Germany for Serbia’s sake, and in March 1909 Izvolsky notified Germany that Russia accepted Austria’s annexation. Although the crisis was resolved without immediate warfare, the resulting embittered relations between Serbia and Austria-Hungary and Russia’s resentment at having been deceived and humiliated contributed to the outbreak of World War I.