The Austro-German alliance was tight. Both countries felt increasingly threatened by their neighbors. With Italy only a nominal ally and with no one else to turn to, Berlin and Vienna clung to each other. In some ways, Germany was the guardian of the Habsburg Empire. The realization that war with Austria would also mean war with Berlin helped deter other Powers from attacking her. Moreover, it was not inconceivable that Berlin would militarily aid Vienna if some of the Empire’s minority groups revolted; indeed, should the Empire disintegrate, Germany would stand alone against the Entente and have new and potentially hostile states near her southeastern flank. Germany therefore shielded Austria from certain dangers; the Empire, meanwhile, gave Germany diplomatic and, if need be, military support. But their relationship was not tension-free. Germany was far more militarily and economically powerful than Austria. Despite Vienna’s efforts to assert its equality within the alliance, Berlin remained the dominant partner. Each country needed the other, but Austria needed Germany more. While the pact gave Germany some security, it was a matter of life and death for Vienna; without Germany’s protection and support, the Empire would have difficulty surviving. Austria was Berlin’s weak, ugly stepsister - something she realized and resented but could do little about. Another issue was that each became embroiled in diplomatic quarrels that threatened to negatively affect the other. Germany’s belligerent actions risked giving Austria a bad name since Vienna frequently had to take Germany’s side regarding them. Berlin, meanwhile, was frustrated with Austria’s constant Balkan disputes. Bismarck had believed that Germany should distance herself from these catfights or at least try to restrain Austria lest Vienna draw Berlin into a Balkan war. In fact, Berlin - ostensibly to keep the Central Powers out of trouble in the Balkans – had advised Austria to seek a rapprochement with Serbia, a suggestion that Vienna believed was unrealistic. In short, the Austro-German marriage was very stable yet laced with feelings of inequality and irritation. Recognizing Austria’s internal fragility and overall weakness vis-a-vis other Great Powers, Germany perhaps wished that she had wedded someone better. Still, Berlin was determined to back Vienna after Sarajevo. Bethmann-Hollweg outlined Austria’s importance to Berlin to a German commission of inquiry after the war: The necessity for a powerful Austria has been so often and so earnestly asserted by German statesmen that it must be recognized as a firm basis of our foreign policy. Prince Bismarck, even at the time when, at the conclusion of the Reinsurance Agreement, he met halfway the Russian wishes concerning the Balkans, did not depart from the opinion that ‘the existence of Austria-Hungary as a strong and independent Great Power’ was ‘for Germany a necessity,’ yes, ‘a necessity of the very highest order,’ which would compel us to act, even by force of arms, for the preservation of this condition.……..….Any threat to the independence of Austria endangered our own position in the world, and forced our political course upon us.
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