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Chapter One: the Russian Revolution and the Road to War

When revolution broke out in Russia, no one was initially concerned. The 19th Century had been full of various rebellions, and except for the kingdom of France, all the major powers had overcome them.

Even as the unrest stretched into 1908, concern was focused on the Balkans as Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria took advantage of weakness in the Ottoman and Russian Empires to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina and declare independence respectively.

But by the end of 1908, the Tsar and his family had fled to Britain, and Russia was split with a Bolshevik Soviet ruling Moscow and the East, while a fragile coalition of Royalists and Republicans centered in St. Petersburg held the West.

1911 saw war between Italy and the Ottoman Empire, a second crisis in Morocco, and insurrection in Poland and Ukraine. By then, there was grave concen in Austria-Hungary, which didn't want the unrest to spread to their own Polish and Ukranian populations. The Austrians closed their North Eastern border, sent the army into Galicia, and offered to host a conference in Vienna to deal with the declining international situation.

Most of the major powers agreed, including the Ottomans, who could have coined the term 'frenemy' in their relationship with the Austrians, and Germany and Italy, who both planned to use conference to force concessions. But Russia was in no position to send a single delegation to Vienna, and a forming League of Balkan states made it known they were in favor of war with the Ottoman Empire. And it turned out that the conference never took place anyway.

On 11 October 1911, Poland declared independence. Although the minority populations in Germany and Austria-Hungary weren't mentioned, the declaration spurred riots throughout Galicia. Neither Soviet Russia, nor the declining 'White' Russian government could do anything to restore order in Poland, which was believed needed in order to deal with Galicia. The Austrian government issued the Krakow proclamation that first recognized, and then immediately declared war on Poland.

France, still an ally of White Russia which nominally controlled Poland, issued an ultimatum to Austria to stand down from the Russian border. But Germany, which had its own Polish minority population, issued a full mobilization in support of Austria-Hungary. Within a few days, Germany had declared war on both France and Poland (Russia was notable in its exclusion), and Austria was sending troops across the border.
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