Chapter 1135 The First World War breaks out
Moreover, Russia is now actively promoting "Great Slavism" propaganda, which can unite Poles, Ukrainians, and Yugoslavs around St. Petersburg. After all, they all belong to branches of the Slavs.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire could not even reach an agreement with its own Hungarians. Hungary also actively promoted various privileges of its own nation within the empire, which further divided the consensus within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Rudolf's words also made the atmosphere in Schonbrunn Palace become tense, including the hawkish Conrad, who had to think carefully in the face of a large amount of factual evidence.
Only then did Franz speak: "Having said all that, Rudolf, what plan do you think the empire should choose to be the safest?"
Since Rudolf has said so much, there should be a solution. After all, Austria-Hungary cannot choose to do nothing just because of too many disadvantages. Just like Serbia, such a small country is so jumping in front of the Austria-Hungary Empire. If it does not Punishment is obviously an insult to the dignity of the empire.
Rudolf: "According to my idea, it is natural to actively expand the army, especially improve the army's finances, first fill the gap between us and other big countries, and then declare war on Serbia."
Saying it is basically saying nothing. After all, the military expenditure issue cannot be decided unilaterally by Austria, and it cannot bypass Hungary. If Hungary can be persuaded, it will not be so indecisive now.
Conrad said: "In terms of military expenditures, we can only launch a war first and slowly negotiate with Hungary. In a state of war, nothing will be a problem. Of course, it would be better if we can avoid Hungary to raise military expenditures."
As one of the cores of the empire, Hungary is definitely opposed to the empire's annexation of Serbia. After all, Serbia plus Bosnia, Croatia, and Slovenia in the empire's political territory, the original dual core may change, which is equivalent to sharing the original Hungary's political power.
And what Conrad said is contradictory, but there is one factor in the middle. Conrad did not name it, and that is Russia. If Russia goes to war with the empire because of the Serbian issue, then Hungary will be tied to the chariot. After all, Russia was in the eastern part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Hungary was the first to bear the brunt of the Russian threat.
After summarizing the two people's views, Franz thought for a long time and finally said: "In this case, let's put pressure on Serbia first! After all, putting pressure on Serbia does not mean that war must begin. If Serbia can compromise, , perhaps there is no need to take further radical measures.”
Franz's idea was good, but a country like Serbia, which relied on extreme nationalism to make a fortune, obviously did not have the habit of compromising with major powers during this period. However, Austria-Hungary had no choice, and a war between the two countries was only a matter of time.
Sure enough, in July, after Austria-Hungary used the Sarajevo incident to make its political demands to Serbia, the Serbian military government refused.
The two countries have entered into tense relations, which was considered a provocation by hawks in the empire, and the extreme media also increased their exaggeration of the Serbian threat theory.
Originally, because Archduke Ferdinand was not dead, the plan proposed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire this time was much looser than that of the same period in history. However, under the choices of Serbian ultra-nationalism and the military government, the situation began to develop in the worst direction.
Public opinion in the Austro-Hungarian Empire had been patient for the last time, and after further fermentation, it completely broke out. The national main war wave was huge, demanding severe punishment for Serbia.
In fact, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has the same serious internal nationalism as Serbia. However, since Hungary is involved in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it is difficult to form a joint force. This time, public opinion within the Austro-Hungarian Empire portrays Serbia as a common enemy, and it can be regarded as a preliminary consensus. .
This was something that the previous Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Ferdinand, had difficulty accomplishing. After all, Archduke Ferdinand himself had a poor reputation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, especially for his advocacy of establishing a three-dimensional empire and incorporating the Slavs into the core of the empire. The idea will definitely cause dissatisfaction among Hungarians. Rudolf was completely different. Under the influence of Ernst, Rudolf was originally dissatisfied with the dualist empire, but Hungary had already become a trend, so Rudolf pinched his nose and tolerated it, but he would never allow it within the empire. There will be a second "Hungary", Ferdinand's idea, unless Hungary is divided into two.
For Rudolf, it was basically impossible to implement Germanization within the empire. He could only settle for a weakened version of "Austro-Hungarian imperialization", that is, unifying Austria and Hungary into a new nation, at least A dominant national concept can be formed in the country.
This was combined into one, so Rudolf could no longer grant any privileges to other peoples to prevent the second "Hungary" from appearing within the empire.
Of course, Rudolf's thoughts were just thoughts. After all, the emperor was still Franz. Before he took control of power, these thoughts only appeared in Rudolf's mind.
July 26, 1914.
Austria-Hungary issued a final war ultimatum to Serbia. Two days later, Serbia refused again and began its final war mobilization.
On the 28th, Austria-Hungary finally declared war on Serbia. Just one day later, Russia announced its support for Serbia and the tsarist government issued a mobilization order.
At the same time, Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary and Germany, stirring Germany into troubled waters, because Germany's wooing of Bulgaria and the Ottomans completely reduced Russian-German relations to a freezing point.
After Russia declared war, Germany led by Wilhelm II did not immediately hope for the outbreak of war. Instead, he hoped that Russia would stop military mobilization. However, Russia refused. Germany had no choice but to declare war on Russia. Later, Germany declared war on its old rival France. Britain followed suit and declared war on Germany on August 4.
A war that swept the five top European powers broke out completely. Other European countries, except for Serbia, Belgium and other countries, were temporarily in a wait-and-see mode to prevent themselves from being spilled.
The United States, East Africa and other countries outside the region were very excited. The governments of the two countries hypocritically advised Europe to stay calm and expressed their neutral attitude not to participate in the European war.
After confirming that major European countries were involved in the war, the East African government restarted its own naval expansion plan. The shelved naval construction plan restarted funding and various factories worked overtime to produce in order to cope with the large number of orders that may be brought about by the European war.
With the war in Europe a foregone conclusion, East Africa began to set its sights on the world market outside Europe, including Germany's colonies.
Of course, the East African government certainly did not want to occupy Germany's overseas territories by force. However, at the height of World War I, Germany was no longer able to guarantee the security of its overseas territories. Under such circumstances, the East African government was naturally willing to be Germany's successor.
The area includes German Central Africa (Cameroon, Gabon) and the German Pacific Islands (New Guinea, Mariana Islands). Among them, East Africa has the greatest interest in German Central Africa. As for Germany’s Pacific territories, it can continue to accumulate East Africa. Advantages in the Pacific region, so that in the Pacific region, East Africa's territory can cover most places, from Alaska in the north to New Guinea close to Australia, further spreading East Africa's influence in the Pacific region.
On the day Germany declared war on Russia, the East African Embassy in Germany took immediate action to discuss with the German government.
At this time, Germany had no other choice. Even if it held these overseas territories in its hands, it would be difficult to guarantee its security. It would be better to exchange them with the East African government for relevant support.
(End of chapter)