African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1135: War breaks out

Moreover, Russia is now actively promoting "Pan-Slavism" propaganda, which can unite Poles, Ukrainians, and Yugoslavs around St. Petersburg. After all, they all belong to the branches of Slavs.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire could not even reach an agreement with its own Hungarians. Hungary also actively promoted various privileges for its own nation within the empire, which further divided the consensus within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Rudolf's words also made the atmosphere in Schönbrunn Palace begin to become solemn, and even the hawkish Conrad had to think carefully in the face of a large amount of factual evidence.

Franz spoke at this time: "After saying so much, Rudolf, what option do you think the empire should choose to be the safest?"

Since Rudolf has said so much, there should be a solution. After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire cannot choose to do nothing just because of too many disadvantages. For example, Serbia, such a small country, is so arrogant in front of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If it is not punished, it is obviously a humiliation to the dignity of the empire.

Rudolf: "According to my idea, we should actively expand the army, especially improve the army's finances, first make up for the gap between us and other major powers, and then declare war on Serbia."

It's basically the same as saying nothing. After all, the issue of military spending is not something Austria can decide unilaterally, and it cannot bypass Hungary. If Hungary could be convinced, it would not be so indecisive now.

Conrad said: "As for military expenses, we can only start a war first and then slowly negotiate with Hungary. Nothing will be a problem in a state of war. Of course, it would be even better if we can raise military expenses without Hungary."

As one of the core states of the empire, Hungary would certainly oppose the annexation of Serbia by the empire. After all, if Serbia were added to Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia, the original dual core of the empire's political map might change, which would be equivalent to dividing Hungary's original political power.

What Conrad said was contradictory, but there was a factor that Conrad did not name, and that was Russia. If Russia went to war with the empire over the Serbian issue, Hungary would be tied to the chariot. After all, Russia was in the eastern part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Hungary would be the first to bear the brunt and face the threat from Russia.

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 we must go to war. 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 had made its fortune through extreme nationalism, clearly had no habit of compromising with major powers at this time. However, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had no choice, and war between the two countries was only a matter of time.

As expected, in July, after the Austro-Hungarian Empire took advantage of the Sarajevo incident to put forward its political demands to Serbia, the Serbian military government flatly rejected them.

The two countries entered into a tense relationship, which was seen as a provocation by hawks within the empire, and extreme media also intensified the exaggeration of the Serbian threat theory.

Originally, because Archduke Ferdinand had not died, the plan proposed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire this time was much more lenient than in the same period in history. However, under the choice of Serbian extreme nationalism and the military government, the situation began to develop in the worst direction.

The last period of tolerance of public opinion in the Austro-Hungarian Empire fermented further and finally broke out. The nationwide wave of advocacy for war was huge, demanding severe punishment of Serbia.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was actually the same as Serbia, with serious internal nationalism, but Hungary was involved within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so it was difficult to form a joint force. This time, public opinion within the Austro-Hungarian Empire portrayed Serbia as a common enemy, which could barely be considered a preliminary consensus.

At the same time, Rudolf, the crown prince, also went to Hungary to lobby. With the help of his mother's influence in Hungary and the exchange of some interests, the Hungarian government finally made concessions.

This was something that Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, had a hard time accomplishing. After all, Archduke Ferdinand himself did not have a good reputation in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, especially his idea of ​​establishing a tripartite empire and incorporating the Slavs into the core of the empire, which would surely cause dissatisfaction among the Hungarians. Rudolf was completely different. Influenced by Ernst, Rudolf was originally dissatisfied with the dualistic empire, but Hungary had already become a powerful country, so Rudolf had to hold his nose and endure it. However, he would never allow a second "Hungary" to appear in the empire, which was Ferdinand's idea, unless Hungary was 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-Hungarianization", that is, to integrate Austria and Hungary into a new nation, so as to at least form a dominant ethnic concept in his own country.

This was a merger of the two, so Rudolf could no longer grant any privileges to other ethnic groups and prevent the emergence of a second "Hungary" within the empire.

Of course, Rudolf's ideas were just ideas. After all, Franz was still the emperor of the empire. Before he gained power, these ideas only existed in Rudolf's mind.

1914 7 Month 26 Day.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire issued a final war ultimatum to Serbia. Two days later, Serbia refused again and began the final mobilization for war.

On the 28th, the Austro-Hungarian Empire finally declared war on Serbia, and 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 successively, dragging Germany into the muddy water, because Germany's wooing of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire completely reduced Russian-German relations to a freezing point.

After Russia declared war, Germany led by William II did not hope for the outbreak of war at the first time, but hoped that Russia would stop military mobilization. However, Russia refused. Germany had no choice but to declare war on Russia. Subsequently, Germany declared war on its old rival France, and Britain followed suit and declared war on Germany on August 4.

A war sweeping across the five major European powers has broken out. Other European countries, except Serbia, Belgium and other countries, are temporarily on the sidelines to avoid being splashed with blood.

However, the United States, East African and other non-regional countries were very excited. The two governments hypocritically advised Europe to remain calm and expressed a neutral attitude of not participating in the European war.

After confirming that major European powers were involved in the war, the East African government restarted its naval expansion plan. Funding for the shelved naval construction plan was restarted and factories worked overtime to cope with the large number of orders that might be brought about by the European war.

With the war in Europe already a foregone conclusion, East Africa began to set its sights on world markets outside Europe, including Germany's colonies.

Of course, the East African government certainly did not want to seize Germany's overseas territories by force. It was just that during the First World War, Germany was no longer able to guarantee the security of its overseas territories. In this case, the East African government was naturally willing to take over from Germany.

Including German Central Africa (Cameroon, Gabon) and German Pacific Islands (New Guinea, Mariana Islands), East Africa is most interested in German Central Africa. As for Germany's Pacific territories, it can continue to accumulate East Africa's advantages in the Pacific region. In this way, 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 embassies in Germany took immediate action to discuss matters with the German government.

At this time, Germany had no other choice. Even if it held these overseas territories, it would be difficult to guarantee their security. It would be better to use them to exchange for relevant support from the East African government.

(End of this chapter)