Chapter 376 48-hour ultimatum

After the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, not only the Austro-Hungarian Empire was asking about Germany's attitude, but the Allied Powers were also confirming each other's attitude towards their allies.

For the Austro-Hungarian Empire, this was a suitable excuse to declare war and an opportunity to provoke a war between the Central Powers and the Entente at any time.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was making preparations at home, and the four major Allied powers had already begun preparations for war.

July 4, 1914, six days after Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated.

On this day, Arthur received inquiries from Nicholas II and George V, both of whom asked whether Arthur was ready for war.

The answer given by Arthur was that the Australasian army was ready to fight at any time and could ensure sufficient supply of supplies at any time.

After receiving a more firm answer from Arthur, Nicholas II breathed a sigh of relief.

If the Austro-Hungarian Empire cannot think of declaring war on Serbia, then Russia will inevitably end up and enter a state of war with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

At this time, the attitude of the allies of Russia and Austria-Hungary became very important. Any side that has the support of its allies can at least maintain a balance of power in the war.

But there is also less fortunate news. If the allies of Austria-Hungary and Russia express support for this military operation, then a European war is bound to break out.

July 4th also happened to be the day Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were buried.

As the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and a member of the Habsburg family, Archduke Ferdinand’s funeral was relatively simple.

Firstly, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is currently busy investigating the incident and preparing for war. Secondly, monarchical countries such as Britain, Russia and Australia have no high-level national officials coming because of the hostile relationship between them.

Kaiser Wilhelm II originally planned to attend the funeral of his friend Ferdinand, but had no choice but to give up because Prime Minister Bateman reported that a dozen assassins were traveling from Belgrade to Vienna, preparing to assassinate him. Come.

William II expressed anger at Serbia's unscrupulous assassination of members of his royal family, and cursed: "Those assassins are damned murderers, gangsters, and regicides!"

Although there was no high-level participation from the royal family or government, Britain, France, Russia and Australia sent their ambassadors to Austria-Hungary to attend the funeral of Archduke Ferdinand.

The Australasian ambassador to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, on Arthur's order, conveyed Arthur's words to Germany and Austria-Hungary: "No matter how this incident develops, Australasia will finally give all the assassins Severe punishment."

The wanton assassination of members of the royal family was not good news for Arthur, who wanted to continue to maintain the monarchy.

Although he and his family were not the ones who were assassinated, if there are fewer and fewer monarchies like Austria-Hungary and Germany, how can Australasia be immune?

Trying the assassins after the war was Arthur's promise to Germany and Austria-Hungary. On the one hand, this will allow the joint declaration of European royal families that was signed to continue to be effective and not become a piece of waste paper.

Secondly, it can also allow other countries to think carefully about the consequences of such an action before planning to assassinate European royal families.

As for Britain, France, and Russia, Arthur has already reached an agreement with them. Put all those involved in the assassination on trial without threatening Serbia's political rights.

While the four major Allied powers were in close contact, Germany also received inquiries from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Germany first expressed its attitude to Austria-Hungary when the German ambassador in Vienna warned Austria-Hungary not to take rash actions.

But this is actually the view of the German Prime Minister. The German Prime Minister believed that war should be avoided and Serbia's concessions should be obtained through more peaceful means.

But Kaiser Wilhelm II scoffed at such a view. After Wilhelm II learned of the warning from the German ambassador in Vienna, he criticized with anger: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Who asked him to do this? This is really bad. This matter has nothing to do with him. What should be done is Austria's responsibility." He has no qualifications to dictate matters concerning the Hungarian Empire. This matter must be clarified with the Serbians as soon as possible, the sooner the better, this is a simple and clear truth."

After criticizing his own diplomatic ambassador, it was not enough. Wilhelm II turned to the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Germany and said: "The German Empire is waiting for Austria-Hungary to take major actions against Serbia. If you think that military action against Serbia is necessary, , then it would be a pity to give up such a favorable opportunity. I know that Russia's position is hostile. If there is a war between Russia and Austria-Hungary, then Germany will fulfill its alliance obligations and join the war between Russia and Austria. "

As he said that, William II glanced around, looked at the peace faction headed by the Prime Minister with some deep meaning, and said: "Austro-Hungary wants to have a complete liquidation with Serbia once and for all, or now Liquidation or never. The Serbs must be destroyed, and now!”

Seemingly finding verbal promises unsatisfactory, William II also wrote a letter to Joseph I, which clearly stated: "In any case, the German Empire will, in accordance with its alliance obligations and the traditional friendship with Austria-Hungary, , stood firmly and loyally on the side of the Austro-Hungarian Empire."

However, this letter was opposed by the domestic government. At the insistence of the government, Wilhelm II was forced to delete the words "under any circumstances".

The attitude of Germany and the German government soon spread to Vienna, greatly motivating the warring factions in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

With Germany's support and encouragement, the Austrian Prime Minister and the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Berthold became very tough. At the cabinet meeting, he directly asked the Chief of Staff Konrad: "General Konrad, have you arrived?" Time to use force to resolve Serbian harm?”

As one of the main militant faction, Conrad's answer is undoubtedly: "There are two ways to solve the Serbian problem, one is to use peace, and the other is to use force. Judging from the current situation, in addition to using force to solve the problem, we There is no choice."

The firm support for the allies between the Entente and the Central Powers quickly brought the cloud of war to Europe.

On July 7, 1914, Russia urgently issued a batch of orders to Australasia, which included 100,000 rifles, 500 artillery pieces, 50 million rounds of ammunition and other weapons and equipment, and medical supplies worth more than 1 million pounds.

The navies of Britain and France also began to mobilize in advance to prepare for a war that might suddenly break out at any time.

Starting from July 10, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's troops began to mobilize frequently, which made the suspicion of war in Europe more intense.

On July 23, just as Australasia was transporting all supplies to the port of Vladivostok, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also formally issued an ultimatum to the Serbian government, putting forward ten stringent demands, including:

Ban all publications in Serbia that are hostile and contemptuous of Austria-Hungary;

Immediately disband the Serbian Mafia and all underworld groups opposed to the Austro-Hungarian Empire;

Curbing arms smuggling in Serbia under Austro-Hungarian supervision;

Ban all political propaganda against the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Serbian education, and remove all officials in Serbia who engage in anti-Austro-Hungarian activities;

Serbia outlawed subversive activities aimed at harming the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire sent personnel to supervise their implementation;

The Austro-Hungarian Empire sent personnel to Serbia to participate in the investigation of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and held trials for all co-conspirators;

Immediately arrest all suspects including Serbian military intelligence officer Javo Donkosicki and railway employee Milan Siganovic;

Punish Serbian border customs officials who assist criminals to cross the border to Sarajevo;

Responding to the anti-Austro-Hungarian rhetoric of Serbian officials in the aftermath of the assassination;

The above items shall be implemented immediately, and the Austro-Hungarian government shall be notified as soon as possible, and a reply shall be given within 48 hours.

It is worth mentioning that the time when Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia was at 6 p.m. that day.

This time happened to be the time when French President Poincaré and Prime Minister Viviani were returning from their military visit to Russia.

The reason for choosing this time was because Berthold did not want Russia and France to reach an agreement on this incident quickly.

Judging from the harshness of the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum, this ultimatum was no different from a declaration of war.

You know, the execution time of this ultimatum is only 48 hours. Serbia does not even have time to consider it, let alone successfully complete all the terms.

This also means that when he issued this ultimatum, Berthold was already prepared to start a war with Serbia, a war that is likely to affect Russia and Germany, and even the entire War between the Allies and the Entente.

When Serbian Prime Minister Pasic received this ultimatum, his heart was very complicated.

Compared with the more extreme military and intelligence agencies, the Serbian government is actually the more rational one.

At least this time, Prime Minister Pašić knew very well that the Serbian government had absolutely no involvement in the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.

But the problem was that Austria-Hungary required the Serbian government to arrest all accomplices involved in the murder, which also included intelligence officers Don Kosicki and Siganovic.

These two are senior officials of the intelligence department and core members of the mafia controlled by the intelligence department.

To arrest these two people within 48 hours, the Serbian government alone cannot do it unless it has the support of the military.

As one of the extremists, it is simply impossible for the Serbian military and intelligence services to help the government.

This also means that the Serbian government of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is simply impossible to achieve. It also means that there is no choice between Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire except war.

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