page_title: Bosnian Crisis
section_title: France, Britain, Russia and Italy
hierarchical_section_title: Bosnian Crisis / Protests and compensations / France, Britain, Russia and Italy
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: türkische Karikatur über Österreich-Ungarns Annexion von Bosnien-Herzegowina und Ö.-U.s angebliche "zivilisatorische" Ziele. deutsche Übersetzung des türkischen Textes in der Karikatur laut Heinzelmann, S. 126/127: Vormarsch der Zivilisation in Bosnien-Herzegowina English: Caricature of Austria-Hungary's Annexion of Bosnia, 1909. Turkish text in German translation as mentioned in Heinzelmann, S. 126f. Text in Ottoman Turkish: Bosna-Hersek'te hatavat-ı medeniyet. Text in French: La Civilisation est en marche.
context_page_description: The Bosnian Crisis of 1908–09, also known as the Annexation crisis or the First Balkan Crisis, erupted in early October 1908 when Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, territories formerly within the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire.
  This unilateral action—timed to coincide with Bulgaria's declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire—sparked protestations from all the Great Powers and Austria-Hungary's Balkan neighbours, Serbia and Montenegro. In April 1909 the Treaty of Berlin was amended to reflect the fait accompli and bring the crisis to an end. The crisis permanently damaged relations between Austria-Hungary and the neighboring states of Italy, Serbia, and Russia, and in the long term helped lay the grounds for World War I. Although the crisis ended with what appeared to be a total Austro-Hungarian diplomatic victory, Russia became determined not to back down again and hastened its military build-up. The Crisis also cooled down Austrian–Serbian relations, which continued to be strained to the point of declaring war on each other in 1914.
context_section_description: The annexation and Bulgarian declaration were viewed as violations of the Treaty of Berlin. France, Britain, Russia and Italy therefore were in favor of a conference to consider the matter. German opposition and complex diplomatic maneuvering as to the location, nature and preconditions of the conference delayed and ultimately scuttled it. Instead, the Powers reached agreement on amendments to the Treaty through consultations between capitals.
  Italy expected compensations in the areas of "Italia Irredenta" ruled by Austria-Hungary in exchange for its recognition of the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, as was agreed upon in the Triple Alliance treaties with Austria-Hungary. However this did not happen and this became one of the reasons for Italy to break its alliance with Austria-Hungary in 1915. The mutual compensation clause was  article 7 of the 1909 and of 5 December 1912 versions of the same treaty:
  However, if, in the course of events, the maintenance of the status quo in the regions of the Balkans or of the Ottoman coasts and islands in the Adriatic and in the Aegean Sea should become impossible, and if, whether in consequence of the action of a third Power or otherwise, Austria-Hungary or Italy should find themselves under the necessity of modifying it by a temporary or permanent occupation on their part, this occupation shall take place only after a previous agreement between the two Powers, based upon the principle of a reciprocal compensation for every advantage, territorial or other, which each of them might obtain beyond the present status quo, and giving satisfaction to the interests and well founded claims of the two Parties.
caption: Ottoman caricature on the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the ironic title: "Advance of civilization in Bosnia and Herzegovina"
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