Chapter 167 The Fuse (First Order)

Austria was originally one of the many states in Germany, but in the war for the leadership of the German Empire, it was defeated by Prussia and had to withdraw from Germany.

Under the leadership of Fletcher Joseph I, the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary formed a dual empire. This is the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Together with other components of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is still the strongest in the world. one of the largest countries. Moreover, it has formed the closest military and political alliance with the German Empire.

Although, domestic contradictions are sharp and there are many problems. But as one of the great powers, the Austro-Hungarian Empire still wanted to expand abroad. The focus of their expansion is the southern Balkan Peninsula. However, the Balkan Peninsula is also the direction of Russian expansion. This led to many conflicts between Austria-Hungary and Russia around the Balkan Peninsula.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire wanted to annex Serbia on the Balkan Peninsula to further expand their territory on the Balkan Peninsula. Russia, on the other hand, supported Serbia in establishing a unified and stronger southern Slavic state.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Serbia, which got rid of the rule of the Turks, became stronger in the Balkans and became the core of the Yugoslavs' opposition to foreign rule and their struggle for national unity. The Yugoslavs in Bosnia and Herzegovina strongly demanded to get rid of the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and merge with Serbia to establish a unified Yugoslav state. The development of the Yugoslav national unification movement centered on Serbia made the rulers of the Habsburg dynasty extremely disturbed.

Therefore, the Austro-Hungarian Empire stepped up its war preparations with the goal of destroying Serbia, and it was the Crown Prince Ferdinand and the Chief of Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire von Hertzendorf who presided over the formulation of the war plan for aggression against Serbia.

At that time, anti-Austrian propaganda and patriotic groups had emerged in Serbia. The "National Defense Association" was established in 1908, and the "Black Clothes Association" was established in 1911. These two organizations were influenced by the anarchist trend of thought represented by Bagunin and Kropotkin in Europe. The "National Defense Council" advocated guerrilla warfare to prevent the annexation of Serbia by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the recruitment and training of volunteers. The "Black Hand" advocates terrorism, and its goal is to "realize the national idea and unify all Serbian nations".

In May 1914, the German Chief of Staff Mao Qi met with the Chief of the General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Hetzendorf to discuss the war plan against Serbia. On June 12, Archduke Ferdinand held talks with Kaiser Wilhelm II in the castle of Konopist, and pre-determined the course of action for launching the war. They all believed that Russia had great difficulties in the country and could not intervene in the Balkan war. . The Kaiser suggested that Austria-Hungary take advantage of this favorable situation to attack Serbia. Wilhelm II also explicitly assured Archduke Ferdinand that Germany would aid Austria-Hungary if Russia intervened in the Ossay conflict.

With the strong support of Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire decided to hold a large-scale military exercise in Sarajevo, Bosnia, near the Serbian border. The time was chosen on June 28, which is the anniversary of Serbia's conquest by Turkey (June 28, 1386). Serbia was used as the imaginary enemy in this exercise, and two corps were dispatched. Archduke Ferdinand and his wife decided to go to Saravo for inspection in person.

This action of the Austro-Hungarian Empire greatly angered the Serbian nationalists. The "Mafia" and the local Bosnian secret nationalist group "Young Bosnia" drew up a plan to assassinate Ferdinand. The Serbian government had discovered the assassination of Ferdinand in advance and opposed it, fearing that this incident might lead to dire consequences, because Serbia could not resist the attack of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Russia had not yet completed the army reorganization plan at this time. It is impossible to give Serbia strong assistance.

The Serbian government tried to stop the Mafia members from leaving the country, but border guards linked to the Mafia allowed them to cross the border into Bosnia. The Serbian government reminded the Austro-Hungarian government through its minister to the Austro-Hungarian Empire that if Archduke Ferdinand went to Bosnia, his life would be in danger. But the Austro-Hungarian government fell on deaf ears to this warning.

After the exercise, Archduke Ferdinand and his wife entered the urban area in an open car. Although, Archduke Ferdinand has realized that he may be in danger. Therefore, the guards were specially strengthened. But what he didn't expect was that his behavior this time was still trying to die.

When the convoy drove down the street, the crowd erupted into cheers. Archduke Ferdinand was very satisfied with this. He looked forward to the day when the Austro-Hungarian Empire could annex Serbia and dominate the Balkans.

However, he didn't realize that the crisis had already arrived. Among the cheering crowd, there were several assassins from Serbia.

Suddenly, an assassin rushed to the car with the crowd and dropped a bomb not far from the car.

"Boom!" The bomb exploded. The cheering crowd suddenly panicked.

"Protect Your Highness!" the commander of the guard shouted. Soldiers surrounded the convertible in which Archduke Ferdinand was traveling.

Fortunately, Archduke Ferdinand seemed to have better luck. The bomb didn't kill him, it just scratched him.

After the initial panic, Archduke Ferdinand calmed down.

"I'm fine, the parade continues!" Archduke Ferdinand ordered.

He thought that after this assassination, he should be safe.

"Your Highness, we will go to the hotel right away, I have to be responsible for your safety!" The guard commander rejected Archduke Ferdinand's request.

Archduke Ferdinand thought about it, and still adopted the suggestion of the guards.

The convoy began to change direction, preparing to return to the hotel. However, at this time, the crisis came again.

When the car of the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife drove to a corner, another member of the secret organization, Princip, who was only 19 years old, rushed forward and shot the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Several gunshots sounded, and Princip emptied the bullets in the pistol. As for Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, they were already in a pool of blood.

"God! Protect the Grand Duke and catch that assassin!" The guards were in a mess.

It was only after they surrounded the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife that they had lost all signs of life at this moment. Archduke Ferdinand's eyes were wide open, as if he couldn't believe that he would die like this. All his ambitions are now in vain.

Of course, Archduke Ferdinand was even more unexpected, because his death detonated a world war. All major countries were involved in this war, and tens of millions of people died in the war.