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Beyond their fateful decisions which ultimately led to the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian leaders played a vital role in continuing and expanding the conflict to feed their territorial ambitions. Using previously secret material, Fried examines the Monarchy's aggressive and expansionist war aims in the Balkans. The conquest and subjugation of Serbia was but a cornerstone of a wider Austro-Hungarian imperialist dream of further annexations and the precursor to a hegemonic economic empire in the rest of South-East Europe. Was the purpose to make Austria-Hungary, in the words of one of its leaders, a truly 'European Great Power of the first order,' or were these simply the death throes of an obsolete empire, loathe to voluntarily part with its Great Power status and prestige? In either case, these war aims were 'life and death questions' for the Monarchy's leaders, without which there would be no peace and for which they were prepared to sacrifice enormous quantities of blood and treasure.
