In October 1908 nationalist feeling was strongly aroused by the sudden announcement that Bosnia and Herzegovina would be fully annexed by Austria-Hungary. The decision, which caught other great powers by surprise and created a diplomatic crisis lasting many months, was prompted by the revolution of the Young Turks in Constantinople.

As a reaction to the Russian ambitions, Austria-Hungary felt coerced to strengthen its position as a regional major power in the western Balkans. Apart from hopes of additional territory, the government in Vienna saw the intervention as a way of turning southern Slav nationalism into a pro-Austrian movement.

In the Budapest Conventions of 1877, the two powers agreed that Russia would annex Bessarabia, and Austria-Hungary would observe a benevolent neutrality toward Russia in the pending war with the Turks. As compensation for this support, Russia agreed to Austria-Hungary's control of Bosnia-Herzegovina.