The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 474: Chapter 375: The Final 48-Hour Ultimatum

After the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, not only was the Austro-Hungarian Empire inquiring about Germany's attitude, but the Allies were also mutually confirming their ally's attitude.

For the Austro-Hungarian Empire, this was a suitable excuse for declaring war and an opportunity to provoke a major conflict between the Allied and Central Powers.

While preparations were underway within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the four Great Powers of the Allies had already begun making preparations for war.

On July 4, 1914, six days after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.

On this day, Arthur received inquiries from Nicholas II and King George V, both of whom asked him whether he was prepared for war.

Arthur's response was that the Australasian military was ready for battle at any time and could guarantee sufficient supplies at any time.

After receiving Arthur's rather firm reply, Nicholas II finally breathed a sigh of relief.

If the Austro-Hungarian Empire made the unwise decision to declare war on Serbia, Russia would inevitably have to enter into a state of war with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

At this point, the attitude of the allies on both sides of Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire became very important. The support of any party's allies could at least maintain a balance in the war.

However, there was also a less fortunate piece of news: if both the allies of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia supported this military action, a European war would inevitably break out.

July 4 was also the day of the funeral of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife.

As the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and a member of the Habsburg family, Archduke Ferdinand's funeral was rather simple.

Firstly, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was busy with investigations and war preparations, and secondly, monarchies like Britain, Russia, and Australia, due to their adversarial relationships, did not have high-ranking state officials present.

Emperor William II of Germany had intended to attend the funeral of his friend Ferdinand, but he reluctantly gave up because the Prime Minister of Germany reported that there were more than a dozen assassins coming from Belgrade to Vienna to assassinate him.

William II was outraged by Serbia's brazen assassination of members of the royal family and cursed: "Those assassins are damned murderers, bandits, and regicides!"

Although there were no royals and high-ranking government officials present, Britain, France, Russia, and Australia still sent their ambassadors to the Austro-Hungarian Empire to attend Archduke Ferdinand's funeral.

Australia's ambassador to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, on Arthur's orders, conveyed Arthur's message to Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire: "No matter how the situation develops, Australasia will ultimately punish all assassins severely."

The unscrupulous assassination of royal family members is not good news for Arthur, who wants to continue to maintain a monarchy.

Although the person assassinated was not him or his family, how could Australasia be unharmed if monarchies like the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany are becoming increasingly scarce?

Arthur's guarantee to Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was to try the assassins after the war. For one thing, this could keep the European Royal Family Union Declaration, signed earlier, valid and not degrade it into a piece of waste paper.

Secondly, it would force other countries to consider the consequences of such actions before plotting to assassinate European royalty.

As for Britain, France, and Russia, Arthur had already reached an agreement with them: to try all those involved in the assassination, without threatening Serbia's political rights.

While the four great powers of the Allies maintained close contact, Germany also received an inquiry from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Germany initially expressed its attitude to the Austro-Hungarian Empire by warning the Austro-Hungarian Empire not to take rash actions through the German ambassador in Vienna.

However, this was actually the German Chancellor's view. The German Chancellor believed that war should be avoided, and concessions from Serbia should be sought by more peaceful means.

Emperor William II, however, sneered at this view. After learning of the warning from the German ambassador in Vienna, he angrily criticized: "Now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, who told him to do this? It's terrible, this issue has nothing to do with him, what should be done is Austria-Hungary's business, he has no right to dictate.

The matter with the Serbs must be settled as soon as possible, the sooner the better, that's the simple truth."

As if criticizing his own diplomat was not enough, William II turned to the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to Germany and said, "The German Empire awaits the Austro-Hungarian Empire's major actions against Serbia. If your Excellency believes that military action is necessary against Serbia, it would be a pity to give up such a favorable opportunity.

I know Russia's position is hostile, and if war breaks out between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany will fulfill its alliance obligations and join the war between Russia and Austria-Hungary."

With that, William II glanced around, looking meaningfully at the doves led by the Prime Minister and said, "The Austro-Hungarian Empire wants a once-and-for-all clean break with Serbia, either to clean up now or never. The Serbs must be wiped out, and now is the time!"

It seemed that verbal commitments were not enough for William II. He wrote a letter to Joseph I, clearly stating, "Under any circumstances, the German Empire will stand firmly and faithfully by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, according to its alliance obligations and traditional friendship."

However, this letter was opposed by the domestic government, and under their insistence, William II had to delete the words "under any circumstances."

The attitude of Germany and the German government was soon conveyed to Vienna, greatly encouraging the pro-war faction within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

With the support and instigation of Germany, the Austrian Chancellor and Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Berchtold's attitude became very tough. In a cabinet meeting, he directly asked Chief of Staff Conrad, "General Conrad, is it time to use force to resolve the Serbian threat?"

As one of the war advocates, Conrad's answer was naturally beyond doubt: "There are two ways to solve the Serbian problem, one is through peace, and the other is through force. Given the current situation, we have no choice but to use force."

The firm support for each other from both the Allies and Allied Nations quickly brought about the dark clouds of European war.

On July 7, 1914, Russia urgently placed a batch of orders to Australasia, which included 100,000 rifles, 500 artillery pieces, 50 million bullets, and other weapons and equipment, as well as medical supplies worth over 1 million pounds.

Britain and France's navies also began to move in advance, preparing for the possibility of a sudden outbreak of war.

Starting from July 10, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's military forces began to mobilize frequently, making the fog of war in Europe even more intense.

On July 23, just as all the supplies from Australasia were delivered to the port of Vladivostok, the Austro-Hungarian Empire officially issued an ultimatum to the Serbian government, proposing ten harsh demands, including:

Prohibit all hostile and contemptuous publications towards the Austro-Hungarian Empire within Serbia;

Immediately dissolve the Serbian Mafia and all anti-Austro-Hungarian Empire underworld organizations;

Under the supervision of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, curb arms smuggling within Serbia;

Ban all anti-Austro-Hungarian Empire political propaganda in Serbia's education, and dismiss all Serbian officials engaged in activities against the Austro-Hungarian Empire;

Suppress subversive activities aimed at harming the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Serbia, and send supervision from Austro-Hungarian Empire to monitor implementation;

Dispatch personnel from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to participate in the investigation of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and try all conspirators;

Immediately arrest Serbian military intelligence officer Yale Tankowski, railway employee Milan Seganovich, and all other suspects;

Punish Serbian border customs officials who assisted the criminals in crossing the border to Sarajevo;

Respond to anti-Austro-Hungarian Empire remarks made by Serbian officials after the assassination;

Implement all of the above immediately and notify the Austro-Hungarian Empire government as soon as possible, with a deadline of 48 hours for a response.

It is worth mentioning that the time when the Austro-Hungarian Empire issued the final ultimatum to Serbia was at six in the evening.

This time coincided precisely with French President Poincare and Prime Minister Viviani Smith's end of their military visit to Russia and their return trip.

The reason for choosing this time was Berchtold's strategy of not allowing Russia and France to reach an agreement on this event quickly.

Considering the harshness of the final ultimatum from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, this ultimatum was no different from a declaration of war.

It should be noted that the implementation time of this ultimatum was only 48 hours, so Serbia did not even have time to consider complying with all terms.

This also means that at the time of issuing this ultimatum, Berchtold was already prepared for a war between Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a war that could affect not only Russia and Germany but also the entire allied and Allied Nations.

When Serbian Prime Minister Patrick received this ultimatum, his feelings were very complicated.

Compared to the rather extreme military and intelligence departments, the Serbian government is actually the more rational side.

At least for this assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, Prime Minister Patrick knew very well that the Serbian government was not involved in any way.

The problem was that the Austro-Hungarian Empire demanded that the Serbian government arrest all the accomplices involved in the assassination, including intelligence officer Tankowski and Seganovich.

These two were high-ranking officials in the intelligence department, as well as core members of the Mafia controlled by the intelligence department.

It would be impossible to arrest these two within 48 hours without the support of the military – the Serbian government alone could not do it.

It is absolutely impossible for the Serbian military and intelligence services, as one of the extremist factions, to help the government.

This means that the ultimatum from the Austro-Hungarian Empire is impossible for the Serbian government, and it also means that there is no choice between Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire but to go to war.