Chapter 191

At the request of Tisza, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Berthold prepared a 48-hour foreign traffic statement.

The general notices are as follows: 1. Seal up any publications that arouse hatred and contempt for the Austrian royal family.

2. Immediately ban the National Self-Defense Organization (Narodna Odbrana) and ban other organizations that conduct anti-Austro-Hungarian propaganda.

3. Immediately delete any teaching content that may or may instigate anti-Austro-Hungarian propaganda from the educational groups and teaching methods.

4. Removal of officials in the military or administrative department accused of anti-Austro-Hungarian propaganda, and the list of such officials is provided by the Austro-Hungarian government.

5. Accept cooperation with relevant departments of the Austro-Hungarian government to suppress activities that attempt to subvert the territorial integrity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Serbia.

6. With the assistance and instructions of the relevant departments designated by the Austrian government, take legal actions to punish those who planned or executed the assassination of June 28, 1914 on the territory of Serbia.

7. Immediately arrest the two persons named as revealed by the initial investigation of Austria-Hungary.

8. Maintain cooperation and take effective measures to curb arms smuggling within its territory.

9 Explain to Austria-Hungary the remarks of senior Serbian officials in or outside Serbia who are hostile to it.

10. Take the above measures immediately and inform the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Berthold was preparing to issue an ultimatum to the Serbian government on July 12, but at this time Mr. Big Event stopped his actions first.

At that time, Hartwig, the Russian ambassador to Serbia, visited Gisr, the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to Serbia. He expressed his heartfelt condolences to Giesel for the murder of Grand Duke Ferdinand. As a result, he suffered a heart attack in the Austro-Hungarian Embassy at 9:20 in the evening and died a few minutes later. The Hartwig ambassador was behind Serbia's participation in the Balkan War and was also the head of Russia in the Balkans. Austria hated him very much.

Among them, after the assassination of Grand Duke Ferdinand, all countries carried out solemn memorial activities, lowering the flag at half-mast and bowing their heads in silence. Despite some pretentious elements, they all expressed their sympathy for Austria-Hungary. Only Russia showed an abnormality in the embassy, ​​and the embassy in Rome and Belgrade did not fly at half-mast. Even in the official Serbian memorial ceremony for Grand Duke Ferdinand, the Russians still refused. Obviously this is what Hartwig meant.

This made Serbia rumors everywhere that the Austrians had murdered Hartwig, which also delayed the Austria-Hungarian Empire.

When the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dragged down, Britain and France showed little concern about the assassination of Grand Duke Ferdinand.

Among them, Britain is now struggling with the Irish Autonomy Act. After the British Empire annexed Ireland, the people on this small island have been dissatisfied with the rule of the British Empire, especially the British performance during the Irish Famine. For this reason, the United Kingdom discussed the Irish Autonomy Act twice in 1886 and 1892. In the end, they all failed to pass with the fall of the Gladstone government.

After Asquith became prime minister last year, in order to gain the support of Irish MPs, he proposed the third self-government bill to the British Parliament in April 1912. According to this bill, Ireland can establish a bicameral parliament. Members of the upper house are appointed by the king and members of the lower house are elected according to the electoral law. But the parliament has no power to deal with matters such as foreign relations, tax collection, land control, and management of the police and military. The executive power is still in the hands of the British Governor.

This bill was also opposed by the Conservative Party. After many twists and turns, it was finally passed the third reading by the British House of Commons, but it was still rejected by the House of Lords. According to the British law of 1911, any bill passed through the third reading of the House of Commons can be submitted directly to the King for signature regardless of the veto of the House of Lords. Under this circumstance, the Conservatives failed to obstruct the parliament and instead caused trouble in Ireland. The Conservatives, headed by A. Carlson, first instigated the Protestants in Northern Ireland and passed the "Solemn Covenant" on September 28, 1912, threatening to use all necessary means to smash the current conspiracy to establish a local council in Ireland .

Then there was an armed riot in the north, which caused a "constitutional crisis" in Britain. The Asquis government decided to send troops to quell the riots, but the officers refused to order and threatened to resign. After the northern riots planned by the Conservatives, the Irish side also formed a volunteer army, and the national war was on the verge of breaking out.

Therefore, the British Empire cannot take care of the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian crown prince.

As for France, the Cayo scandal is now the focus of national attention. This murder, regarded as one of the biggest scandals in the history of the Third French Republic, occurred on March 16, 1914, when Henriette Cayo, the wife of Joseph Cayo, the former Prime Minister of France and then Minister of Finance. Shot and killed Gaston Kalmet, the editor-in-chief of Le Figaro.

The motive that prompted Mrs. Cayo to commit the crime was due to a series of personal attacks against her husband manipulated by Kalmet. As a heavyweight in French politics at that time, Joseph Cayo's anti-war stance undoubtedly made him a thorn in the right wing.

The editor-in-chief of Le Figaro, France's most important right-wing publication, Carmelite launched a lengthy attack on it in the newspaper. Beginning in November 1913, Kalmet declared in the newspaper that Cayo obstructed justice in a fiscal scandal during his tenure as finance minister in 1911. He also accused Cayo of being too weak against Germany. Later, Kalmet even broke the unwritten principles of the Paris press and aimed his gun at Kayo's private life.

Kalmet first made public the love letter that Cayo wrote to his first wife 13 years ago. Cayo's two-faced stance was fully exposed in his confession to his lover: "The income tax is just because it is going to be implemented, so it seems that I have to oppose it." Kalmet also threatened to continue to publish the love letter between Cayo and his second wife Enriette. Since the two had another family during the love of Cayo and Henriette, this letter is undoubtedly evidence of adultery between the two, which is sufficient to show Cayo's moral flaws. In order to defend his dignity, Kayo has inevitably challenged Kalmet to a duel.

But before that, Mrs. Cayo, who could not bear it, visited Kalmet on March 16. After being allowed to enter the latter's office, Mrs. Cayo took out the revolver she had prepared and fired six shots in a row, and Kalmet died instantly. Mrs. Cayo was arrested on the spot and confessed to the shooting.

Such a good time was wasted in vain. At the same time, French President Poincaré and Prime Minister Viviani took the French battleship in Dunkirk and set sail to prepare for a visit to St. Petersburg. They are to consolidate the French-Russian alliance, but also to discuss the Balkan issue.

From the perspective of France, the Balkan issue does not have much interest to it. They hope that Russia will focus more on Germany. This is the main purpose of France's alliance with Russia, rather than focusing on the Balkans and Austria-Hungary. mtlnovel.com~ It is obvious that they are also dissatisfied with Russia's aggressive attitude in the Balkans.

After arriving in St. Petersburg on July 20, French President Poincaré presented it at the welcome dinner with Nicholas II. The Russian-French alliance is based on common interests, fear of Germany. This alliance was supported by the army and the navy, and both sides took a fancy to each other. He also promised the Tsar that his Majesty can trust France, and that France will carry out sincere and long-term cooperation with Russia in the future as in the past.

However, the French president did not know about Austria-Hungary's attempts, and Russia, by interpreting the Austrian-Hungarian telegram, knew that Vienna wanted to fight Serbia, which paved the way for the future.

Later, the French delegation visited the city of St. Petersburg and watched the lives of all walks of life in Russia. During the last visit of the French delegation, Prime Minister Viviani (also serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs) ordered the French Ambassador to write a communiqué summarizing the results of the summit.

Ambassador Paleolog drafted a short draft at the dinner table; the two governments exchanged their views and intentions to maintain the balance of power in Europe. When it comes to the Balkans, the views of the two countries are absolutely the same. Viviani disagrees with the last phrase in the manuscript, pointing out that the interests of France and Russia in the Balkans are not absolutely identical.

Pareolog considered that it was only a question of wording, so he retracted the original manuscript. He drafted another one; the Franco-Russian Alliance has formed a completely unanimous view on issues related to European peace and balance of power, and even more so for the Eastern view (no one would doubt that this refers to Serbia). Subsequently, both high-level officials fully agreed with the boring but suggestive communiqué.

So far, France has given Russia a guarantee of the alliance without knowing it. Now it depends on how Vienna responds.