Serbian Prime Minister Pašić understands that the current situation is no longer something he can decide. The direction of Serbia depends on the attitude of Austria-Hungary and Russia.

Therefore, Pasišić immediately forwarded the 48-hour ultimatum put forward by Austria-Hungary to Russia, asking about the attitude of Nicholas II and the Russian government.

Serbia, as a bridgehead to contain the expansion of Austria-Hungary in the Balkans, was highly valued by the Tsarist Empire.

Upon learning of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's extremely harsh 48-hour ultimatum, Nicholas II became furious and angrily accused Austria-Hungary of completely ignoring the special interests of Tsarist Russia in Serbia and attempting to damage the position of the Tsarist Empire.

The Russian Foreign Minister gritted his teeth and said: "Russia must not allow Austria-Hungary to defeat Serbia and become the most dominant country in the Balkans." ”

Serbia is at stake not only for Russia's interests in the Balkans, but also for the safety of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's exports.

If the Balkans were to be dominated by the Allies, then Russia's Black Sea Fleet would become the enemy of the sea, and Russia's access to the sea would be only the Baltic Sea and the Far East.

Although Nicholas II had long supported Arthur's proposal to put on trial the murderers behind the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.

But at such a critical juncture, a joint royal declaration is clearly not as important as Serbia.

Soon, Nicholas II summoned the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to St. Petersburg to express the Russian attitude.

Nicholas II said categorically: "Russia does not agree to the two agreements in the Wanted Ultimatum that undermine the sovereignty of Serbia, nor does it agree with the Austro-Hungarian investigation of the assassination in Sarajevo on Serbian territory. ”

Even if it were to be investigated, it should be the four major powers of the Entente, led by Britain, France, Russia, and Australia, and organize corresponding personnel to conduct an investigation in Serbia.

As for the rest of the Central Powers, even Austria-Hungary, which was in the status of victims, did not have the right to investigate on Serbian soil.

Even though the Austro-Hungarian ambassador explained many times that Austria-Hungary was nothing more than suppressing terrorist campaigns and riots that endangered the European royal families, which was beneficial for all European monarchies.

But how could the Russians believe the words of Austria-Hungary, the Russian foreign minister said forcefully: "If Austria-Hungary insists on the 48-hour ultimatum, it is provoking a war throughout Europe." ”

In the case of Serbia, Russia could not back down. What's more, the Entente was very close-knit, with financial assistance from Britain and France and material aid from Australasia, Nicholas II thought he was confident enough to deal with any challenge from the outside.

However, the Austro-Hungarian government did not care about Russia's more hardline attitude. Bechtold, who had already taken control of the government's voice, believed that with the empty check issued by Kaiser Wilhelm II, the Russians would definitely be afraid of Germany and would not be able to directly join the war.

This represented a war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia that would only turn into a small-scale local war.

It was precisely because of this idea that, at Bechtold's insistence, Austria-Hungary did not revoke the 48-hour ultimatum, and kept urging the Serbian government to reply to it.

On July 25, 1914, Serbian Prime Minister Pašić personally rushed to the Austro-Hungarian Embassy with a reply from the Serbian government.

The Serbian Government's reply is full of wishful thinking and a willingness to reconcile. Pašić explained to the Austro-Hungarian ambassador: "Serbia is ready to officially condemn all actions against the Austrians, asking Austria-Hungary not to infringe on Serbian sovereignty. If Austria-Hungary was not satisfied with such an outcome, Serbia was willing to accept arbitration from the Hague Tribunal. ”

Such a reply drained the minds of Serbian government officials. Not only was it repeatedly revised, as the only typewriter was broken by an exhausted secretary, resulting in the reply being handwritten by Prime Minister Pašić.

Moreover, the ministers of the Serbian government refused to go to the Austrian embassy because they believed that they would be humiliated by the reply.

As a result, Pašić, who is the prime minister of the Serbian government, can only be the messenger himself, which is still very humiliating despite the fact that Serbia is a small country.

Although the Serbian Government's reply was sincere, it was clear that such concessions would not satisfy the appetites of the Austro-Hungarian Government and Bekhtold.

What's more, long before the Serbian government replied, Austria-Hungary had already mobilized troops to the Serbian border.

For Austria-Hungary, there were only two acceptable conditions, either Serbia surrendered, or Serbia surrendered.

On July 26, 1914, after the 48-hour ultimatum of the Austro-Hungarian government expired, the whole of Europe fell into a boundless silence.

Wilhelm II understood that his firm position could no longer shake the resolve of the Russians and wanted to resolve the conflict through negotiations.

On the other hand, the British also joined the mediation team, because such a sudden war would not be a good thing for both sides.

But it is clear that because of Wilhelm II's long-term expression of a firm attitude towards the main war, the German military and political ministers had already developed an irresistible impulse to war.

At this time, Wilhelm II wanted to suppress it, which was already unrealistic.

The position of the British was obviously not good on the side of Austria-Hungary, and unless Wilhelm II directly asked Austria-Hungary to abandon the operation, the wheel of war in Austria-Hungary would not stop.

But the problem was that Wilhelm II could not suppress the main war faction in the country at this time, and if Wilhelm II unilaterally stopped the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the prestige that Wilhelm II had operated for a long time would be in vain.

A monarch who does not take a firm stance and repeatedly jumps sideways may even offend both the main battle faction and the main peace faction.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire's military movements had become more frequent, and Russia began to mobilize troops to the border in response.

Finally, after two days of silence, on July 28, 1914, exactly one month after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

In order to get the old emperor Joseph I, who did not want to see the war, to sign the declaration of war, Bechtold, who was already in power in the government, even told a despicable lie.

"What's more, part of the Serbian army is already attacking a detachment of the Imperial Royal Forces in Temes Kubin. If we do not act again, the hinterland of Austria-Hungary will be threatened. ”

It was this lie that made Joseph I think that Serbia had taken the initiative to provoke a war, so he signed the declaration of war very decisively, provoking the whole of Europe to fight.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

In the early morning of July 28, the guards knocked on the door of Nicholas II's dormitory and reported that Nicholas II did not want to hear: "Minister Sazonov has come to report that Austria-Hungary has officially declared war on Serbia!" ”

For any country, the declaration of war is not a drama, but a notification of war to another country at the highest level of the state.

Once a state of war is reached, it is impossible for the war to end unless one side suffers irreparable losses.

"What about Sazonov's others?" Within a few minutes, Nicholas II quickly walked out and asked.

"Your Majesty, according to the message of the Serbian ambassador, this afternoon Austria-Hungary officially issued a notice of war to Serbia." Foreign Minister Sazonov, who had been waiting for a long time, hurriedly stood up and explained.

Although they did not want to hear such news, such an outcome had already been discussed within the Russian government.

Nicholas II instructed: "Inform Janushkovich and Sukhomlinov that a general mobilization of the whole country begin immediately and that more troops should be mobilized to the border." ”

Januszkovich was the chief of the Russian General Staff, while Sukhomlinov was the Russian Minister of War.

Notify these two people, which is equivalent to informing all the Russian troops.

The good news is that although Russia had not begun a national mobilization before, in order to prepare for a possible declaration of war by Austria-Hungary, Russia carried out partial mobilization in advance in the four military districts of Warsaw, Kiev, Odessa and Moscow.

The forces of these four military districts were just right to be deployed to the border to protect the Russian border areas.

Germany actually received the news faster than Russia. Fortunately, before Austria-Hungary decided to declare war, the German government and Wilhelm II had been notified, and the support of the main war faction, including Wilhelm II, was obtained.

On the German side, after learning that Austria-Hungary had decided to declare war, it immediately and decisively issued a national mobilization order.

July 29, 1914, was not a good day for Europe or even the world.

The day before, Austria-Hungary had officially issued a notice of war to Serbia. And today, Germany and Russia have announced a general mobilization, and the war in Europe has begun.

No one thought that the mobilization of Germany and Russia was a bluff, that the national mobilization represented a large-scale war and that the Allies and the Entente had reached the point of a life-and-death decision.

On July 30, 1914, Germany demanded that Russia immediately lift the war mobilization order, otherwise Germany would fulfill the Austro-Hungarian Treaty and join the war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.

For the demands of the Germans, Nicholas II naturally dismissed.

Germany and Russia made public the national mobilization order at about the same time, why do you Germany demand that Russia lift the mobilization order, and your mobilization order is still in force?

At the behest of Nicholas II, the Russian government made the same request to Germany as a counterattack to Germany.

At a time when the two governments are at loggerheads, Russia and Germany are already hyping up their opposition to each other.

On the morning of July 31, 1914, the third day of the German General Mobilization Order, came into effect.

Wilhelm II convened a council to determine whether Germany was prepared for a state of war.

It was clear that the morale-high pro-battle faction was quite confident that the German army was ready for everything.

According to the report of War Minister Falkingham, if Germany can complete this military mobilization, Germany will have 3.8 million combat troops, 6,000 artillery pieces, 45,000 machine guns, 132 aircraft, 130 military airships, 4,000 vehicles and a large number of military supplies and daily necessities.

Moltke Jr., the German Chief of Staff, said: "The Reichsa is ready, and the sooner the war goes on, the better." The General Staff already had a war plan, first on the Western Front, attacking France through Belgium, defeating France in about six weeks, and then turning back to join forces with Austria-Hungary to defeat Russia. I have prepared a secret ultimatum to Belgium, and the army is ready to march on Belgium. ”

Wilhelm II was still hesitant at this time, although Germany had the advantage in land and the German navy was significantly inferior to that of the British.

However, Admiral Secretary Tirpitz also gave an explanation: "Your Majesty, although the British Navy far exceeds our country in terms of the number of ships, its combat effectiveness is still inferior to that of our Imperial Navy. We can first blockade the British sea with submarines, carry out guerrilla dispersal at sea with cruisers, and the main forces of the British fleet will consume its forces. Wait until you find an opportunity to fight a decisive battle, and you don't have to worry about the sheer size of the British Navy, but you have to spread it around the world. ”

Wilhelm II nodded reassuringly, but he was still very concerned about the attitude of the British, and asked, "What is the attitude of the British?" ”

"Apart from the previous mediation, the British have not said anything for the time being. According to information from Australasia, during a royal conversation between Britain and Australasia, George V seems to have mentioned that the upcoming war is a four-nation war between Germany and Austria and France and Russia, and Britain and Australia should try not to intervene in the war and remain neutral. Foreign Secretary Accord responded.

Prime Minister Bateman also said: "Your Majesty, I met with the British ambassador yesterday and proposed that if Britain remained neutral, our country would respect the territorial integrity of France after the victory over France, but the British ambassador refused. The British said they would act in their own interests, and I reckon there is a good chance that they would support France. ”

Wilhelm II was not surprised, as if he had already thought of such a situation, and nodded rather calmly.

"Your Majesty, we should remind Austria-Hungary that after the start of the war, they should attack Russia with their main forces, and not Serbia." Seeing that the meeting was a little cold, Moltke hurriedly said.

Wilhelm II nodded: "Send a telegram to Joseph in my name, asking Austria-Hungary to use the main forces to fight against Russia, and not to divide forces to attack Serbia at the same time." Such a decision would be of great strategic importance. This will be especially important when a large part of our army is pinned down by France. Serbia played only a minor role in this massive war, and only the necessary defensive measures were needed against it. ”

"What is the attitude of our ally, Italy?" Wilhelm II looked at Prime Minister Bateman again and asked.

Italy was one of the three major powers of the Central Powers, and although the strength of the army was not very good, the size of the navy was somewhat level.

It would be a good thing for both Germany and Austria-Hungary to win Italy's loyalty to the Triple Alliance.

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(End of chapter)