This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1919 edition. Excerpt: ... interests would be advanced by Austria's destruction. 91. The Assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand (June 28, 1914).--Thoroughly awake to the possibilities, Germany and Austria were firmly resolved to put an end to Slavic influence in the Balkan Peninsula. They awaited only a favorable opportunity. ...
Read More
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1919 edition. Excerpt: ... interests would be advanced by Austria's destruction. 91. The Assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand (June 28, 1914).--Thoroughly awake to the possibilities, Germany and Austria were firmly resolved to put an end to Slavic influence in the Balkan Peninsula. They awaited only a favorable opportunity. The pretext for which they were seeking came in the assassination, on June 28, 1914, of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, Crown Prince of the Austrian imperial throne, and his wife. They were murdered by a Jugo-Slav in the streets of the little city of Serajevo, the capital of Bosnia. This shocking deed was rightly regarded by Germany and Austria as a political protest against Austria's attitude toward Jugo-Slavic aspirations. The Austrian Government charged that the murder was committed not only with the knowledge and approval of the Serbian Government, but that it was part and parcel of the Serbian conspiracy against the Dual Monarchy. 92. A Humiliating Ultimatum to Serbia.--A week after the assassination a conference of German and Austrian leaders was held at Potsdam, at which it was decided to use the murder as a pretext for carrying out the plan to crush Serbia. Accordingly, on July 23, the first step was taken by sending Serbia a diplomatic note in the form of a humiliating ultimatum, involving not only her honor but her very existence as an independent state. She was granted but forty-eight hours in which to give an answer of complete submission or go to war--although several of the demands involved a total change in her constitution, which could not be made except by calling together her Parliament and getting a vote of approval. The terms dictated to her in this outrageous state An outpaper were extremely drastic. "I have never...
Read Less