Chapter 189

News of the assassination of Grand Duke Ferdinand spread quickly in Austria on the same day.

The first to get news among government officials was the Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff Conrad, who left Sarajevo a few hours before the assassination of Grand Duke Ferdinand. He arrived on the train from Sarajevo to Croatia at 10:30 and went there to supervise military exercises.

Soon in the afternoon, when the train passed through Zagreb Station, Baron Leiman, a cavalry general, walked into Conrad's box and told him the terrible news. When Conrad's train arrived at the last stop of Karlstadt, an official telegram had arrived. The telegram officially announced that the heir and his wife of the Crown Prince of Habsburg had been assassinated and killed. The assassin was a Serbian in Bosnia.

Conrad made the right judgment. This is not like an isolated action by a madman, but an organized crime. He believes that, in terms of effect, the murder of Grand Duke Ferdinand is Serbia's declaration of war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He believes that this kind of war behavior can only be responded to by war. He immediately sent a telegram to Franz Joseph I, who was vacationing in Villa Bad Ischl in the Alps, asking him whether he should interrupt the Croatian military exercise plan and return to Vienna. The emperor replied, yes. The next night, Conrad drove straight to Vienna overnight.

Conrad's character determines that he can treat the news of the assassination of Grand Duke Ferdinand with a calm and belligerent attitude, because he has the same stubbornness as Grand Duke Ferdinand. The chief of staff of the Austro-Hungarian army was simply born a soldier. The assassinated Grand Duke Ferdinand helped him to ascend to the position of chief of staff twice (1906 and 1912), and it was when the emperor didn't like him. . It can be said that Ferdinand single-handedly contributed to his opportunity to be the first man in the army.

One more thing, the reason why the emperor didn't like him was because in November 1911, the militant Conrad proposed to attack Italy. At that time, Italy was an official ally of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the time, Italy was fighting the Ottomans. This suggestion made Kang Ladd is at a disadvantage.

However, it was Serbia that made him most hostile. During the outbreak of the Bosnia and Herzegovina crisis, he kept asking his colleagues to "completely solve the Serbian problem." Because of the support of Germany, Vienna resisted the opposition of Russia and won European approval for the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Serbia has made breakthroughs from other places without being able to stop it. In the first Balkan War, a large amount of Ottoman territory was obtained. In the Second Balkan War, Romania also defeated Bulgaria because of Romania's participation. And with the support of Russia, it gained part of the new territory of Bulgaria. The population of the territory increased by nearly half, and at the same time, the popularity of Serbia was greatly increased.

On the other hand, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also plummeted because of its failure to intervene in the Balkan War. This is not surprising. The Serbs in Bosnia not only believe in national unity, but also in political terrorism.

When Conrad saw that Serbia was not only capable of defeating the Ottomans, but also able to deter Austria from interfering (for fear of Russian intervention), he began to fear that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had no time to solve the long-accumulated Slavic minority problem. Up.

In the first meeting of the Austro-Hungarian cabinet after the assassination, many senior officials reviewed the report sent by Sarajevo. In the end, everyone agreed that the many assassinations in Epikwe Street seemed to have been carried out by the Serbs in Bosnia. These people are all related to the black hands in Serbia, but there is definite evidence that "the root cause of the conspiracy is Belgrade." This sentence is what the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Berthold told the German ambassador Cherschki, which was repeatedly mentioned in the next few weeks.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said this because it was sent to him by the Austro-Hungarian Chargé d'affaires in Belgrade. After he found out about the assassination of Grand Duke Ferdinand in the local area, the Serbian nationalists who were celebrating the festival were so excited that they were approaching madness. Some people fainted in the arms of others because of their excitement. And some people say. "We have been waiting for this moment for too long."

After this cabinet meeting, everyone's opinion was almost unanimous. The Prime Minister Count Steger supported the war, the Minister of War Krobatin and the Chancellor of Finance Billinsky also supported the war, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Chief of Staff seemed to be the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The top management has decided to go to war. However, there is a high-level person who clearly opposed the declaration of war, and that is Hungarian Prime Minister Tisza.

Tisza was a formidable figure in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was harsh and indifferent. Although he didn't talk much, his words were very important. Of course, it was not only the position of prime minister that gave him such power, but also the huge influence of his family in Hungary, not to mention Hungary's position in the dual empire of Austria-Hungary. His father, Tisza Kalman, served as prime minister in Hungary for 15 years (1875-1890), and even after he was prime minister, the Hungarian government must ask him for his opinions in many decrees.

In fact, Tisza does not have any good feelings for Serbia, and he hopes that the Austro-Hungarian Empire will not get too involved in the affairs of the southern Balkans. If Austria-Hungary expands there, it will only weaken Hungary's special status, because this will introduce more Slavic minorities. Eventually, the Austro-Hungarian Empire will transform from a dual structure (Austrians and Magyars) to a ternary structure.

The attitude of Emperor Ferenc Joseph I is very interesting. He does not care about which policy the government uses, but adheres to a principle. No matter what countermeasure the government takes against Serbia, it must have Tisza's consent~www. mtlnovel.com~ Strive for the full support of Hungary.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Berthold found Tisza hoping for his support, and the Hungarian Prime Minister told the Minister of Foreign Affairs. I oppose the war because Russia behind Serbia will send troops to intervene. It is unacceptable to declare war on Serbia without the support of its ally, Germany. To this end, Tisza prepared a "peace plan" for the Minister of Foreign Affairs to hand over to Germany.

In this "peace plan", the center is to draw Romania, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire into the three allies, thereby preventing Russia's ambitions in the Balkans. On the surface, this is Tisza's playing with the politics of the Balkans with diplomatic means. In fact, it is to strengthen relations with Germany, let it be more deeply involved in the affairs of Austria-Hungary in the Balkans, and turn the Balkans into Austria-Hungary and Austria-Hungary. A common cause in Germany.

Facing the assassination of Sarajevo, the politicians of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were unable to formulate their own countermeasures without the consent of Germany. This reflects the strategic incompetence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The reason why Austria-Hungary could not make countermeasures was also the internal political structure of the empire. The superior Hungarians were able to veto a policy on behalf of half of the empire. However, Austria-Hungary is composed of 15 ethnic groups, and it is almost impossible to separate domestic policies from international policies.

Tisza's pacifist attitude is also inseparable from his maintenance of the Magyars' status. Conrad and Berthold wanted to crush Serbia in order to weaken the wave of national independence within the empire. But if the two want to achieve this goal, they must first suppress the Magyars represented by Tisza. In this strange situation, Germany has not only become the arbiter of Austro-Hungarian foreign policy, but also a **** of the plight of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Now the Austro-Hungarian Empire is waiting for Germany's attitude.