In any country, there are main war factions and main peace factions, but relatively speaking, there will be strong and weak people, or people who have made up their minds to take it.

However, for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as one of the great powers, not only was the main war faction and the main peace faction balanced in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but even Emperor Franz I, who was the final decision-maker, was actually very hesitant.

There was no final decision-maker, which led to no unifying decision within the Austro-Hungarian Empire to take military action in response to the assassination.

After several hours of intense discussions, Austria-Hungary finally came up with the decision to investigate the truth of the matter and negotiate with the Serbian government. On the basis of these things, send people to Berlin to seek the understanding and support of Wilhelm II.

In a memorandum drawn up by Bechtold from Franz I to Wilhelm II, it was stated that it was impossible to amicably ease the hostilities between Austria-Hungary and Serbia after the terrible events in Bosnia. As long as the source of such criminal incitement in Belgrade goes unpunished, the peaceful policy of all European monarchies will be threatened.

The old emperor was furious, but he was unwilling to make any direct decision to get involved in the war, so he decided to go to the spa villa to recuperate.

As for the attitude of other countries regarding the Sarajevo assassination, first and foremost, there is a unified expression of concern and concern.

Almost all monarchies condemned the assassination. As the initiator of the European Royal Family Joint Declaration, the Australasian government expressed concern about this incident and stated that if this is an assassination of European royal families at the national level, it will be an extremely terrible event that threatens the European royal power.

Although Arthur had been prepared for the Sarajevo incident, he could not stop sighing when the event that almost marked the outbreak of World War I actually happened.

A super-war that will affect more than half the world and the whole of Europe, with dozens of participating countries and tens of millions of troops participating in the war, is about to break out.

Britain and Russia also expressed concern about the incident, but Russia had no intention of supporting Austria-Hungary.

After all, Serbia and Russia are hardcore allies, supporting the enemy? Wait until the next life!

On the Bosnian side, the interrogation of several of the perpetrators is taking place overnight. All the officials, including Governor Birtiek, were in a very complicated mood at this time, waiting for the outcome of the interrogation.

On the one hand, they looked forward to the end of the trial as soon as possible, so that they would be able to atone for their sins and not be hated by Franz.

Second, they were afraid that the final outcome of the trial would be related to them. If the reason for the Assassins' success in assassinating Archduke Ferdinand is finally discovered, I am afraid that they will really be in trouble.

In particular, the mayor of Sarajevo, you know, this mayor revealed Archduke Ferdinand's itinerary in advance before Archduke Ferdinand's departure.

Although the purpose was not to facilitate the assassination, if such an unintentional act really accelerated the progress of the assassination, what difference did it have from an accomplice?

After two days of interrogation and several days of investigation, the assassination finally had a little bit of an eyebrow.

Although it is not known what kind of interrogation methods were used by Austria-Hungary, for two patriotic young men of seventeen or eighteen years old, such interrogation methods did not last long.

Soon, the assassins, including Princip, all confessed their motives and all the processes behind them.

Vienna, 3 July 1914.

The Austro-Hungarian Cabinet meeting was also held once a week, as the Assassins had already confessed and the investigation of the incident had progressed, so the Cabinet meeting was brought forward by two days.

"Everyone, take a look, this is the latest testimony from several Assassins. It describes in detail how the murderer was trained in Serbia, how he obtained weapons from an officially controlled force in Serbia, and how he arrived in Sarajevo with the help of the mafia. I can't imagine that this was an assassination plan that had been planned for several years. It's terrible, if the real murderers behind the scenes are not punished severely, where is the safe? At the Austro-Hungarian cabinet meeting, Foreign Minister Bechtold said with a heavy face.

The Austrian prime minister, who once did not advocate war, has turned into a hawk like Archduke Ferdinand because of the assassination.

The Sarajevo assassination made Bechtold believe that it was necessary to show the strength of Austria-Hungary to the outside world in order to deal with the extremely despicable means against Austria-Hungary this time.

And the best way to show strength is to start a war of revenge against Serbia and let this damned country be destroyed along with those damned Serbs.

The words of the Austrian Prime Minister and the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister immediately aroused the approval of the main war faction.

"Bechtold is right, if the culprits continue to go unpunished, it will undoubtedly be a slap in the face of the empire and a slap in the face of everyone here. Up to the royal family, down to the government and all officials, will not be disgraced by such stupid acts. The best way to avoid such consequences is to start a war that will wipe that damned country off the map. The Chief of Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Conrad, stood up and said.

The two main battle factions before the Austro-Hungarian Empire were Archduke Ferdinand and Chief of Staff Conrad, who was promoted by Archduke Ferdinand.

After the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, Conrad originally thought that he was the only one in the main war faction, but he did not expect that the foreign secretary, who did not advocate war before, suddenly became the main war faction, which was good news for the main war faction and all the officials who supported the main war faction behind it.

Foreign Minister Bechtold also served as Prime Minister of the Austrian government, and like Hungarian Prime Minister Ticha, he held a high position within the Austro-Hungarian government.

If there is one person who can suppress Hungarian Prime Minister Ticha, it must be Bechtold, as Prime Minister of Austria.

"Chief of Staff Conrad is right, we should not let those behind the scenes go unpunished, and we must be punished in order to show the majesty of our empire."

"Erase this damned country off the map, Austria-Hungary will trample on all enemies."

Behind the main battle faction was a hawkish force composed of the Minister of War Krobatin, some nobles and the army.

Soldiers and nobles were active in waging war, because war could earn them a great deal of military merit, knighthood, or further in the ranks.

Most of the main and factional factions were politicians, especially in the case of the partition of Austria and Hungary within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria and Hungary were not so identical.

The disadvantages can be seen in the division of the Austro-Hungarian cabinet government, which had not only a cabinet government, but also the Austrian and Hungarian prime ministers.

The finances of both Austria and Hungary are divided, and it is simply normal for such countries to have different ideas.

The forces of the main peace faction were not weaker than those of the main battle faction, and after the military spoke out, Ticha and the main peace faction also retorted, telling the old emperor Franz I about the terrible consequences of starting a war.

At present, the main reasons for the reluctance of the Lords and the Peacemakers to start a war are: First, Serbia has Russia behind it, and starting a war means starting a war with Russia.

The second is that Germany, the ally behind Austria-Hungary, has not expressed its position, and if it starts a war without regard to the opinions of the Germans, the Germans may also ignore the alliance and let Austria-Hungary face the war alone.

Seeing that there was another situation of equal strength in this meeting, Foreign Minister Bechtold hurriedly said: "If I remember correctly, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince told me that during his visit to Germany, His Majesty Wilhelm II promised our support for the Serbian question. If we were to attack Serbia, Germany would absolutely show its support and fulfill its covenant. ”

Bechtold's words almost reversed the situation at the meeting.

Originally, the main peace faction and the main battle faction were fairly balanced, but now the main peace faction has completely disappeared from the voice.

"Bechtold, His Majesty Wilhelm II's promise to His Highness, why didn't you say it earlier? Moreover, why didn't Your Highness mention it yourself, but after His Highness was assassinated, it was brought up by you? In order to reverse the disadvantage of the main peace faction, the Hungarian Prime Minister Ticha questioned.

Austria and Hungary were not so united, at least the wealthy Hungarians were not willing to wage a senseless war over the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.

If it was just a war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, it would have been a full-scale war between Austria-Hungary and Russia, and the Hungarians would never have agreed.

Faced with Prime Minister Ticha's questioning, Bechtold chuckled lightly, glanced at his old rival, and then turned his gaze to the old Emperor Franz I, and explained: "His Royal Highness the Grand Duke once said that there is no need to make a big deal about His Majesty's verbal promises. What's more, if there is no accident, His Majesty's promise should also be conveyed by His Royal Highness the Grand Duke. ”

"Even if this is true, what if His Majesty the Kaiser changes his mind now? We must not gamble on the national fortunes of Austria-Hungary with the verbal promises made by His Majesty the Kaiser a few years ago! "Prime Minister Ticha is still trying to make a final rebuttal to stop the war.

"Enough, since you are all deadlocked, it is better to ask the Germans directly." The old emperor Franz I waved his hand to stop the quarrel of his subordinates and said.

Seeing that the quarrel between Bechtold and Ticha was likely to rise to the trend between Hungary and Austria, even the old emperor Franz I, who had been sitting firmly on Mount Tai before, had to quickly speak out to stop it.

For a dualist empire like Austria-Hungary, the unity of the state was paramount.

Because the Austrian and Hungarian governments each had great powers, if this quarrel did not end well, I am afraid that it would turn into a conflict between the government of the Kingdom of Hungary and the government of the Austrian Empire.

You must know that although the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Austrian Empire were the leaders, the government of the Kingdom of Hungary had independent finances and administration, and its power was still very large within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

If the Hungarians felt that they had suffered a loss and instigated independence, the old emperor would really vomit blood.

It took Franz I a great deal of effort to maintain this empire, and any action that might undermine the unity and unity of the country could not be accepted by Franz I.

Fortunately, the old emperor still has a high prestige in this country. As long as Franz was there, the internal problems of Austria-Hungary would never swell.

Seeing that the old emperor had spoken, neither Austrian Prime Minister Bechtold nor Hungarian Prime Minister Ticha dared to continue to speak to refute.

Asking the Germans for their opinion was also the best outcome for the two men, as Bechtold was able to prove that his words were true, and Prime Minister Ticha was able to delay the war for a while, and even the Germans could change their minds and extinguish any hope of the war.

After the quarrel was ended, the old emperor looked at the slightly reluctant Hungarian Prime Minister Ticha and instructed: "Prime Minister Ticha, whether the Germans fulfill their promises or not, and whatever means the Reich takes against Serbia, I hope that this will be done with the consent of you and the Hungarian people." If you really don't want to see a war happen, then I promise you that I will not use this as a pretext to start a war against Serbia. ”

As the monarch of this dualist empire, the old emperor who maintained the unity and stability of the country for decades, Franz I was very politically savvy.

The old emperor knew very well that the maintenance of his rule with Hungary was more important than the annexation of Serbia, which proved that the empire was not in decline.

If this event caused a disintegration between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Austrian Empire, then even if Austria-Hungary was able to annex Serbia, it would be split into two or even three.

Seeing the old emperor's sincere speech, Prime Minister Ticha also understood that he had to make a decision.

Although Prime Minister Ticha and the Kingdom of Hungary had great power, if the Austrian Empire was to be disrespected, the Kingdom of Hungary alone would not be able to maintain its status as a great power, and would even fall directly to the second- or even third-rate countries in Europe.

Weak countries can never protect themselves, and this is the first truth that the veteran politician Prime Minister Ticha understood after becoming the prime minister of Hungary.

Without much hesitation, Prime Minister Ticha responded: "I understand, Your Majesty the Emperor. Rest assured, the Hungarian people will always be subjects of the empire, no matter what. If the Germans really want to support us, then I assure you that the Hungarian government and people will support this war. ”

Prime Minister Ticha was very clever and knew that although this seemed to be a concession from the old emperor to Hungary, if Hungary really insisted on opposing the war, it would not do Hungary itself any good.

Unless the Kingdom of Hungary is far more powerful than the Austrian Empire, Austria will always have the final say.

4,000 words today, and 10,000 compensation tomorrow!

(End of chapter)