Not Quite a War Over Pigs

When Serbia, which had long been considered a satellite of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, began attempting to branch out their economic and trade relationships, Austria-Hungary reacted decisively in an attempt to quell any thoughts of an independent Slavic Balkans.

The result, on 1 March 1906, was the Pig War of 1906-1908.  The Pig War was not an actual war, but economic sanctions meant to force the new monarchy in Serbia to mend its perfidious ways and get with the Habsburg program.  

But the Pig War was more than that, as well.  Ten years before the outbreak of the Great War, the Pig War was a smoldering spark that not only laid bare the issues facing the Great Powers coming out of the Balkans to anyone paying attention, but it lit the fuse for the Bosnian Crisis of 1908-1909.  

Much like World War I, the Pig War did not end well for Austria-Hungary. Rather than bringing Serbia’s pork industry to its knees, Serbia branched into new markets and started exporting more pigs than ever. The humiliation stung.

To read more about the Pig War of 1906-1908, please click here.

To read more about the lead up to World War I and the war itself, please click here.