France breaks off diplomatic relations with Austria-Hungary
- Category:
- Diplomacy
- Date:
- 10 August 1914
- Author:
- Łukasz Skowroń
- Tags:
- France, Austria-Hungary
On 10 August 1914 France broke off diplomatic relations with Austria-Hungary. On that day the missions of the French ambassador in Vienna, Alfred Dumaine, and of the Austro-Hungarian ambassador in Paris, Count Nikolaus Szécsen, came to an end. Both diplomats left their posts.
War without a direct dispute
France had been at war with Germany for a week, yet it still maintained normal relations with Germany’s closest ally. France and Austria-Hungary had no common border and no direct dispute. The French army was fighting the Germans in Alsace and Lorraine, while Austria-Hungary was at war with Serbia and preparing for a clash with Russia.
Such a state of affairs could not last long, however. France was the ally of Russia, on which Austria-Hungary had declared war on 6 August. Paris also accused Vienna of sending Austro-Hungarian troops to support the Germans on the Western Front, which the Austrians denied. Maintaining relations with a state at war with one’s own ally was politically impossible.
Declaration of war
The breaking off of relations was the step preceding war. France declared war on Austria-Hungary on 11 or 12 August, depending on the source, and on 12 August Britain did so as well. From that moment all the great powers of the Entente were at war with both Germany and Austria-Hungary.
Significance
For a long time the Franco-Austrian conflict remained largely formal. The Austro-Hungarian army fought above all against Russia, Serbia and, from 1915, Italy. In the Mediterranean and the Adriatic, however, the French fleet blockaded the Austro-Hungarian fleet, and in the following years French troops fought the Austrians on the Balkan and Italian fronts.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 9 August 1914 · War at seaHMS Birmingham sinks the submarine U-15On 9 August 1914 the British cruiser Birmingham rammed and sank U-15 off Fair Isle. It was the first U-boat sunk by a warship.
- 9 August 1914 · AfricaBelgium proposes the neutralisation of the Congo BasinOn 9 August 1914 Belgium proposed that colonies in the free-trade zone of Central Africa should remain neutral. The proposal was not accepted.
- 9 August 1914 · War at seaBritish air patrol over the English ChannelOn 9 August 1914 the British began air patrols over the English Channel to protect the troop transports sailing to France.
- 11 August 1914 · Western FrontGermans retake MulhouseAfter a German counter-attack the French withdrew from Mulhouse, which they had taken only two days earlier. The town was back in German hands.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 12 August 1914 · DiplomacyBritain and France declare war on Austria-HungaryOn 12 August 1914 Britain and France declared war on Austria-Hungary. From then on the Entente powers were at war with both Central Powers.
- 15 August 1914 · War at seaBritish and French squadrons join forces at the entrance to the AdriaticOn 15 August 1914 British and French warships joined forces at the entrance to the Adriatic to blockade the Austro-Hungarian fleet together.
- 16 August 1914 · War at seaAustro-Hungarian cruiser Zenta sunkOn 16 August 1914 an Allied fleet surprised the Austro-Hungarian cruiser Zenta off the coast of Montenegro and sank her. 173 sailors were killed.
- 19 September 1914 · War at seaFrench fleet bombards KotorOn 19 September 1914 French battleships shelled Austro-Hungarian batteries at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor, covering the withdrawal of their own cruisers.