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... achieved by uniting the 7.5 million Serbs in Austria-Hungary with the 3.5 million in Serbia. This could only be achieved at the expense of Austria-Hungary. Russian backing for Serbia complicated the problem. If Serbia did not get what she wanted she would remain a small, landlocked country, vulnerable to Austro-Hungarian aggression. Serbia hoped to create a greater Serbia by uniting the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Therefore, Serbian ambitions clashed with the territorial integrity and unity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The continued decline of the Ottoman Empire made the Balkan crisis more dangerous. The Turks controlled the entire Balkans for centuries. The continued decline of the Turkish Empire throughout the 19th Century created a dangerous power vacuum in the Balkans. If Austria-Hungary did not get what she wanted and Russia and Serbia did, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would disintegrate. Austria-Hungary was the only power for whom the Balkan Question was ...