ABSTRACT
It is not easy to comprehend how Austria-Hungary, that most fragile of states, came to be party to the unleashing of the hounds of war. But about one thing there is certainty: When Vienna unsheathed the sword in August of 1914, the end result was not only war but revolution. By the same token, it cannot be said that by avoiding war the Dual tv.fonarchy would have escaped dissolution; peace, however, greatly would have increased the odds for its survival. Knowing full well the implications for Austria of the centrifugal nationality forces within, why did her leadership risk everything in its response to the murders of the heir to the throne and his wife at Sarajevo?
