The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 476: Chapter 376: The Austro-Hungarian Empire Declares War_2

At this point, it was already unrealistic for William II to suppress it.

The British position was obviously not effective on the side of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Unless William II directly forced the Austro-Hungarian Empire to abandon action, the wheels of war would not stop for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

However, the problem was that William II could not suppress the warhawks at home at this time. If William II unilaterally let the Austro-Hungarian Empire stop its actions, the prestige that William II had cultivated for a long time would come to nothing.

A monarch with an unsteady position and constantly changing alliances might even offend both the warhawks and doves.

The military mobilization of the Austro-Hungarian Empire became more and more frequent, and in response, Russia began to assemble its troops towards the border.

Finally, after two quiet days, on July 28, 1914, exactly one month after Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia.

In order to get the unwilling old Emperor Joseph I to sign the declaration of war, Berchtold, who had already seized government power, even told a despicable lie.

"Moreover, some Serbian troops have already attacked a detachment of the Royal Imperial Forces in Temes-Kubin. If we do not take action now, the hinterland of the Austro-Hungarian Empire will be threatened."

It was this kind of lie that made Joseph I believe that Serbia had already provoked the war, so he decisively signed the declaration of war, igniting the flames of war across Europe.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

In the early hours of July 28, the royal guard knocked on the door of Nicholas II's palace and reported the news that Nicholas II was not willing to hear: "Minister Sazonov reported that the Austro-Hungarian Empire has officially declared war on Serbia!"

For any country, declaring war is not dramatic, but a war notice issued from the highest level of a country to another country.

Once the state of war is entered, unless one side suffers irreparable losses, the war cannot be ended.

"Where is Sazonov?" A few minutes later, Nicholas II quickly walked out and asked.

"Your Majesty, according to the Serbian ambassador's news, this afternoon, the Austro-Hungarian Empire officially issued a war notice to Serbia." The long-awaiting Minister of Foreign Affairs Sazonov immediately stood out and explained.

Although he did not want to hear such news, the result had already been discussed within the Russian government.

Nicholas II ordered, "Notify Janusz Kotwicki and Suhomlinsky Moore to immediately begin national mobilization and mobilize more troops to the border."

Janusz Kotwicki was the Chief of Staff of Russia, and Suhomlinsky Moore was the Russian Secretary of the Army.

Notifying these two people meant notifying all the Russian troops.

The good news was that although Russia did not start national mobilization before, in order to guard against a possible declaration of war by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russia had carried out partial mobilization in four military districts: Warsaw, Kiev, Odessa, and Moscow.

The troops of these four military districts could be deployed to the border to protect Russia's border areas.

In fact, Germany received the news faster than Russia. Fortunately, before the Austro-Hungarian Empire decided to declare war, it had already informed the German government and William II, and obtained the support of the warhawks, including William II.

On the German side, after learning that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had decided to declare war, they immediately and decisively issued a national mobilization order.

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

On the previous day, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had officially issued a war declaration to Serbia. Today, both Germany and Russia declared total national mobilization, and the war in Europe had begun.

No one believed that the mobilization by Germany and Russia was merely a bluff. Total national mobilization represented a large-scale war, and the time had come for the Triple Alliance and the Allies to decide life and death.

On July 30, 1914, Germany demanded that Russia immediately rescind its war mobilization order; otherwise, Germany would honor its alliance with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and join the war against Serbia.

Naturally, Tsar Nicholas II scoffed at the Germans' demands.

Germany and Russia almost simultaneously announced national mobilization orders, so on what grounds could Germany demand that Russia rescind its order while their own order remained in effect?

At the suggestion of Nicholas II, the Russian government posed the same demand to Germany in retaliation.

As the two governments confronted each other, both Germany and Russia were already disseminating propaganda against each other domestically.

On the morning of July 31, 1914, the third day of Germany's total mobilization order was in effect.

Emperor William II convened a meeting to determine whether Germany was prepared for a state of war.

Clearly, the highly confident warmongers insisted that the German military had prepared everything.

According to the report of Secretary of Army Fakinham, if Germany completed this military mobilization, it would have an army of 3.8 million, 6,000 guns, 45,000 machine guns, 132 aircraft, 130 military airships, 4,000 cars, and a large amount of military and living supplies.

German Chief of General Staff Moltke said, "The Imperial Army is ready, and the sooner the war starts, the better. The General Staff has already made a war plan. First, we will expand on the Westline, attack France through Belgium, defeat France in about six weeks, and then join forces with the Austro-Hungarian Empire to defeat Russia.

I have drafted a secret ultimatum to Belgium, and the army is ready to march into Belgium at any time."

At this time, William II still had some doubts. Although Germany held an advantageous position in the army, its navy was clearly inferior to that of the United Kingdom.

However, Navy Secretary Tilpitz also provided an explanation, "Your Majesty, although the Royal British Navy has far more ships than our country, their combat power still does not match our Imperial Navy. We can first blockade Britain's sea transport with submarines, use cruisers to carry out guerrilla warfare at sea, and disperse the main force of the British fleet to consume their military.

When the opportunity arises, we can launch a decisive battle, and there is no need to worry about the sizeable but scattered British navy."

Only then did William II nod in relief, but he was still very concerned about the British attitude, and asked, "What has been the attitude of the British so far?"

"Except for the previous mediation, the British have not expressed any stance so far.

According to information from Australasia, during a royal meeting between Britain and Australasia, King George V seemed to have mentioned that the upcoming war would be a four-country conflict between the German-Austrian forces and the French-Russian forces, and that Britain and Australia should try their best not to intervene in the war and maintain neutrality," replied Minister of Foreign Affairs Gerard Tankowski.

Prime Minister Betman also said, "Your Majesty, I met with the British ambassador yesterday and suggested that if Britain remains neutral, after defeating France, our country will respect the territorial integrity of France. However, the British ambassador refused. The British said they would act in their own best interests, and I estimate there is a high probability they will support France."

William II was not surprised and seemed to have expected such a situation, nodding rather calmly.

"Your Majesty, we should remind the Austro-Hungarian Empire that after the war begins, they should focus their main forces on attacking Russia, not Serbia," said Moltke, trying to revive the meeting.

William II nodded, "Send a telegram to Joseph on my behalf, requesting that the Austro-Hungarian Empire focuses its main forces on fighting Russia while refraining from attacking Serbia simultaneously. Such decisions will have great strategic significance. This point will be particularly important in the event of a large-scale war when a large part of our army is held back by France.

In this vast war, Serbia will only play a secondary role, and only necessary defensive measures need to be taken against it."

"What is the attitude of our ally Italy?" William II looked at Prime Minister Betman again and asked.

Italy was one of the three major powers of the Triple Alliance, and although its army was not very strong, its navy was quite capable.

If they could win the loyalty of Italy to fulfill the Triple Alliance, it would be a good thing for both Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.