Just as Lin Youde expected, the Principality of Serbia quickly declared war on the Ottoman Empire, fearing that the fight would be too late and that it would not be able to grab the meat. Then Bulgaria and Greece also joined the war, and the Ottoman Empire was instantly embattled in the Balkans.
At this time, the whole world's nerves were stirred.
**
At the cabinet meeting in Vienna, the atmosphere was quite tense.
Conrad had already stood on the conference table to gain a "height advantage" over Archduke Ferdinand. Archduke Ferdinand puffed his beard and glared, and once wanted to stand on the chair and continue to look down at the short winter melon chief of staff, but
He was grabbed by the combined efforts of two cabinet ministers.
Hungarian Prime Minister István Tisza sat in the middle of the conference table, right between the two of them. He looked like he was watching the show and had no intention of participating in the debate.
"We must start the general mobilization of war," Conrad glared condescendingly at Archduke Ferdinand, "Then the brave Austro-Hungarian army will completely eliminate this group of ants who don't know the height of the sky according to the perfect battle plan I formulated! No matter it is
Montenegro, Serbia, or Bulgaria!”
Tisza frowned slightly. He knew that if what Conrad said came true, when Archduke Ferdinand succeeded to the throne as Emperor of Austria-Hungary, the Slavs would seriously threaten the Hungarians' position in the imperial decision-making system. So he
He spoke: "Isn't this appropriate? Not to mention Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece are all quite powerful, especially Greece. It has developed quite well relying on trade in the Mediterranean, and its army is also well-equipped and well-trained. At the same time,
Isn’t it a bit reckless for these countries to start a war?”
After Tisza said this, Foreign Minister Berchtold nodded slightly, but he did not express his agreement in a more clear way. In addition to being clever but being mistaken for cleverness, Berchtold was also a wise man.
A relatively weak person, he certainly does not want to be an enemy of Conrad, who has won the battle and is now in the limelight.
Of course, both Tisza and Berchtold felt in their hearts that even if a war really started, Austria-Hungary would win the war in the end, but the price would be higher. As politicians, in addition to thinking about winning or losing, they also need to consider
The rate of return is used to judge whether a war should be launched.
Conrad was very unhappy. She seemed to want to wave her riding crop to hit the conference table to strengthen her tone. But she suddenly remembered that this was a formal meeting, so she handed the riding whip to the adjutant herself, so she had to stamp her feet and use her heels.
He knocked on the table and made a loud sound, and then said in a domineering tone: "Are you doubting my command ability? Or are you doubting the courage of our soldiers?"
To be honest, it was quite strange for a marshal who served the Habsburg dynasty to say this. After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had never been known for its martial arts.
But at this moment, with Conrad wearing the medal just awarded to her by Emperor Franz Joseph on her chest, and behind it the various titles given to her by newspapers in Vienna and Budapest, she suddenly stopped talking.
Got the place.
At this time, Ferdinand spoke openly: "War, war. You know war! We can obviously have other more civilized ways to obtain these benefits, and many things can be obtained through clever diplomacy!"
"Diplomatic victory is truly meaningless!" Conrad immediately retorted, "Can't you see, Your Excellency, the Crown Prince, now Europe and the whole world are under a harsh law of the jungle, and no one can
When a powerful country wants to obtain a certain benefit, it first considers diplomatic means! This is a symbol of cowardice! Diplomacy is what comes after military victory. Without the support of military victory, all diplomatic victories are just fictitious bubbles. Are there any relevant examples?
Isn’t it enough? Weak countries have no diplomacy. This is an ironclad fact in today’s world.”
Ferdinand said nothing, but stared at Conrad angrily.
Upon seeing this, Conrad immediately seized the opportunity to continue to ridicule the Grand Duke - her current position allowed her to be so domineering even when facing the Crown Prince.
"Your Majesty the Crown Prince, you will not forget that not long ago, you sent the late Queen's beautiful granddaughter to Horanggabo in an attempt to win over the rising Orientals through a marriage that lowered one's status. What happened?
?Princess Sissi is now teaching Chinese sons to play the piano in Heranggabo! Play the piano!"
Conrad sneered and continued: "You actually plan to use this method to win over a strong man like Bismarck. That is a guy who dared to brazenly launch a war against the Spanish when he was still very weak! He
Almost all of his achievements are based on one military victory after another. Without that powerful army in the Pacific, he would not have the power he has now.
"Can't you see the current situation in the world from him? War is the way smart people should choose. It can simply and directly solve problems that cannot be solved by high talk and majority resolutions. Gentlemen, the empire needs war!
Because the Empire needs the Balkans!”
However, Archduke Ferdinand was not persuaded. He stared at Conrad fiercely and said word for word: "As long as I am here, you must not even think about mobilizing the army. I will never allow anyone to generalize the Austrian army."
The Hungarian Empire has dragged itself into a meaningless war!"
"However," Berchtold spoke slowly, "the diplomatic note Berlin gave us yesterday shows that they have begun to change their attitude on this issue. I think that within today, the Kaiser's Council will
Once a decision is made, a formal note will be sent by then. The Germans should prefer us to declare war on the Balkan Alliance to protect their railway lines."
"As long as we obtain a commitment from the Balkan Alliance to ensure the smooth flow of the railway from Berlin to Baghdad, the Germans will have no reason to force us to use force." Archduke Ferdinand said.
Berchtold still frowned: "But, I'm not sure whether Britain will intervene. But London obviously hopes that the railway from Berlin to Baghdad will be cut off. If Britain intervenes, I'm afraid that the Balkan Alliance will make such a commitment.
It was very difficult.”
"Then we have to give it a try first. If necessary, I will personally visit Belgrade to convince them one by one! In short, I will never allow the Austro-Hungarian Empire to enter the abyss of war until all efforts are proven ineffective!"
Archduke Ferdinand's stubbornness made Conrad stamp his feet in anger, but at this time Emperor Franz Joseph went to recuperate due to physical discomfort, and the crown prince in Vienna now had the final say.
"I will send a telegram to His Majesty the Emperor." Conrad could only drop this sentence angrily and jumped down from the table.
This made Archduke Ferdinand visibly relieved.
"The meeting is dismissed," he said.
After the cabinet ministers and generals left, Ferdinand sat alone at the conference table, supporting his head with his arms, closing his eyes and concentrating with a depressed look on his face.
At this time, his wife Sofia opened the door and came in, looking at her husband with eyes full of love.
"Sofia..." When Ferdinand saw his wife, the anguish on his face immediately reduced a lot, but his voice was still full of exhaustion, "Why don't they understand how terrible modern war can be?
"
Archduke Ferdinand was actually a very talented man. He was one of the few leaders in Europe at that time who realized how terrible a full-scale war between the great powers in the industrial era was. Technological innovations have transformed mankind.
The level of war has advanced to an unprecedented height, which is completely incomparable even to the Franco-Prussian War and the Austro-Saharan War decades ago.
It is precisely because of the lack of understanding of war in the industrial age that politicians of the great powers generally regard war as one of many means to achieve their goals, and do not mind using it.
When the First World War in the last time and space began, everyone thought it would end quickly. They regarded this catastrophe as an enlarged version of the Franco-Prussian War. No one thought it would turn into the kind of endless war that would destroy the country and destroy the species. So there is
Here is an interesting anecdote: At the beginning of World War I, a British explorer led an expedition team on a journey to conquer the polar regions. He lost contact with the world for a year and a half, and when he led his brave team members back to the civilized world
, the first sentence was: "How long has it been since the war ended? Who won?"
As a result, people told him: "The war is still going on, Europe is crazy, and the world is crazy."
Therefore, the outbreak of World War I was largely because European politicians lacked the concept of all-out war in the industrial era. It is precisely because of this that after World War I, European powers were so afraid of all-out war. This fear constituted
The psychological basis of the later appeasement policies of Britain, France and other countries towards Nazi Germany.
Justice Ferdinand was one of the few European politicians who realized the destructive power of total war. He was also in a position where he could stop the war. But in the last time and space, unfortunately, he was in a position where the war had not yet begun.
At that time, he was killed by the assassins of the Black Hand.
In this time and space, Justice Ferdinand is playing his role with all his strength, hoping to prevent the coming war.
However, almost no one understands him, except his beloved wife Sophia.
Sophia is not pretty. What initially attracted Archduke Ferdinand to her was her gentle and considerate heart. Now she came to the Archduke, gently hugged her depressed husband's shoulders, and comforted her with her body temperature.
His fatigue.
"Oh, Sophia, I can't imagine what the world would be like without you."
Archduke Ferdinand was indeed a Habsburg descendant. Speaking of such love words was like reciting lines from Shakespeare's plays. The simple Sophia was captured by his exaggerated expressions.
"I can't imagine the world without you." She whispered softly in her husband's ear. Even if this strong woman faced the contempt of the entire court, she would never show her weak side and let her husband worry.
This couple, one of the few happy couples in European courts, spent the afternoon embracing each other like this.