BackgroundAustria-Hungary was a main player in the development of the First World War and was responsible for sparking the first real conflict of the Great War. However, even before the Great War, Austria-Hungary was a major power on the European continent and was entangled with the Holy Roman Empire. The country was originally just Austria, but was recreated as a dual monarchy by the Habsburgs and renamed the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This empire was ousted by the Germans and started fighting with the Russians who had expansionist goals. These conflicts continued as the influence and power of the Ottoman Empire began to weaken. This was not helped by the fact that the Serbs supported secret terrorist organizations in Bosnia, which had a large Slavic population, who at the time felt oppressed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Even before the assassination of heir Francis Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary had been preparing for conflict between itself and the Serbian Empire for some time. Although the heir was not the most beloved by his government, it still used his assassination as a pretext to issue an ultimatum to the Serbs, declaring that the assassins must be brought to justice along with the group known as name Black Hand. After Serbia rejected only small clauses of the ultimatum, Austria-Hungary saw the opportunity it had been waiting for and declared war on Serbia. However, before Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, these two countries, along with Russia, Germany, France and Great Britain, engaged in several diplomatic attempts known as July crisis. It was during these proceedings that the Austro-Hungarians issued the ultimatum and it became obvious to the other world...... middle of paper ......rchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch %3FQuery%3DAustria%2BHungary%2Bworld %2Bwar%2B1%26amp%3Bprq%3DAAustria%2BHungary%2BWWI%26amp%3Bhp%3D25%26amp%3Bacc%3Doff%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff%26amp%3Bso %3Drel%26amp%3Bracc%3Doff http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/britain-at-war/10110657/Germany-and-Austria-started-WWI-seeking-European-domination-historian-says. html http://history1900s.about .com/od/1910s/a/WWI-Timeline.htmhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/25108481?seq=1&Search=yes&searchText=Hungary&searchText=1&searchText=Austria&searchText=world&searchText=war&list =hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch% 3FQuery%3DAustria%2BHungary%2Bworld%2Bwar%2B1%26amp%3Bprq%3DAustria%2BHungary%2BWWI%26amp%3Bhp%3D25%26amp%3Bacc%3Doff%26amp%3Bwc%3Don%26amp% 3Bfc%3Doff%26amp%3Bso% 3Drel%26amp%3Bracc%3Doff&prevSearch=&resultsServiceName=nullhttp://www.firstworldwar.com/origins/causes.htm