Many other Balkan conflicts that were much worse than this were safely defused with diplomacy. One of the primary reasons this wasn't so for World War I is that neither side wanted to resort to diplomacy. No Serbian official opposed open war. One Austro-Hungarian official, Minister of Finance Stephan Tisza, opposed open war. The other Austrian officials appeased Tisza by sending Serbia a humiliating ultimatum which the Serbs could not accept. Neither side thought of the consequences of defeat. Both felt they had to get revenge on the other. Diplomacy may have safely diffused this conflict but, because of extreme nationalism on both sides, neither engaged in negotiations.