At 11:00 AM July 28 1914 the First World War began. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, despite there being no evidence Serbia was involved in the Archduke Franz Ferdinands assassination a month earlier, and despite Serbia agreeing to almost all of Austria-Hungarys subsequent demands, even to the extent that the little bit they couldnt agree to was viewed as easily negotiable by European leaders. In the previous week the British Prime Minister had written to a friend ...the situation is just about as bad as it can possibly be. Austria has sent a bullying and humiliating ultimatum to Serbia, who cannot possibly comply with it, and demanded an answer within forty-eight hours-failing which she will march. This means, almost inevitably, that Russia will come to the scene in defence of Serbia and in defiance of Austria, and if so, it is difficult for Germany and France to refrain from lending a hand to one side or the other. So that we are in measurable, or imaginable, distance of a real Armageddon. Happily, there seems to be no reason why we should be anything more than spectators. That proved to be wishful thinking of course. And the Russian Foreign Minister told the Austrian ambassador “I know what it is. You mean to make war on Serbia...? You are setting fire to Europe.... Why was Serbia given no chance to speak and why the form of an ultimatum? The fact is you mean war and you have burnt your bridges.... One sees how peace-loving you are.”
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 15:31:11 +0000
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