Chapter 672 A Touch of Tenderness Before the War
In the Vienna Palace, the old Austrian Emperor met with the Minister of War Conrad. As a war minister who rose from a commoner, Conrad always had the ideal ambition to revive the glory of the Habsburg royal family. War and glory were the two things he pursued throughout his life. In his eyes, Ferdinand's assassination was an opportunity, an opportunity to revive the Austrian Empire by conquering Serbia.
"Your Majesty, the diplomat just called back and said that he has received the full support of the German Emperor." Kondra concealed his joy and reported to Joseph I in a serious tone, "We must not let the assassination of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince go. We must make the Serbs pay the price."
"Hmm!" Joseph I nodded a little dully, "Let's cherish the days of peace. Maybe when we look back on 1914, we will cherish the peace we have now. There is no turning back."
The elderly Austrian emperor was obviously not in a good mood. At this age, he had become somewhat numb over the long years. The crown prince committed suicide, his wife was assassinated, and now even the second crown prince was assassinated.
Under the rule of the empire, the ethnic composition was extremely complex. The 24% Germans and 21% Hungarians were the main forces, followed by Czechs, Poles, Ukrainians, Romanians, Croatians, Slovaks, Serbs, etc. Such a complex ethnic composition caused many conflicts within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It can be said that the Austro-Hungarian Empire used various means to force them together.
In order to maintain national stability, the Germans represented by Austria and the Hungarians formed an alliance. The population of the two nations accounted for nearly half of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In this way, the Austro-Hungarian Empire consolidated its ethnic foundation. The Austro-Hungarian Empire thus established a dual state system dominated by Austrians and Hungarians.
Although the Austrians controlled the state power, the Hungarians had a special status within the empire. The two nations strengthened their strength through unity to govern other nations. However, even so, the two major nations still did not account for the absolute majority of the population of the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire, and other nations were always ready to make a move.
Czechs, Poles, Ukrainians, Slovenes, and Italians all sought to gain a greater voice in the empire.
In peacetime, a country can be stabilized by strong military force and internal adjustments. But can this be achieved once a war breaks out? The current Austro-Hungarian Empire is somewhat different from when Joseph I first ascended the throne. At that time, Europe was far less nationalistic than it is today.
Joseph I remained silent for a long time like a sculpture, and didn't even know when the Minister of War left.
The Minister of War walked out of the palace and happened to meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bechtold, who had just returned from Germany. The two chatted outside the palace. "I believe that after this war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire will restore its ancient glory."
"I believe so too!" Bechtold agreed. After getting the Germans' guarantee, he became confident and instantly turned into a hawk. He believed that with Germany's help, the Austrian army would be able to crush Serbia and reach the peak of glory.
"I will make the Serbs pay the price." Conrad has begun to prepare a list of terms that the Serbs will never accept. Once the Serbs refuse, the Austro-Hungarian Empire can immediately attack Serbia.
After entering July, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand cooled down a bit in the eyes of citizens of various countries, but in fact, the temperature was just not seen by citizens. Not only diplomats who could be reported in newspapers, but also monarchs of various countries, including William II, began to use personal relationships and special channels between the royal family to communicate about the assassination of Ferdinand.
William II, who believed that war was a good opportunity, fell into a contradiction. On the one hand, he approved the military generals' preparations for war, and on the other hand, he exchanged letters with Russian Emperor Nicholas II to discuss how to prevent the war.
At this time, French President Poincare and Prime Minister Viviani visited St. Petersburg, which was interpreted as the Franco-Russian alliance at the core of the Allied Powers showing its strength to the Central Powers at a critical moment. The French president and prime minister visiting a country at the same time was enough to show the importance the French attached to the Russian Empire.
Similarly, the Russians also expressed a warm welcome to the arrival of the two French leaders. The popularity of the Franco-Russian alliance among the people quickly heated up, and almost everyone believed that the brotherly naval and land forces of the two countries were the most important factor in protecting peace.
Nicholas II met with French President Poincare and Prime Minister Viviani in the imperial palace and discussed the progress of the Sarajevo incident. French President Poincare and Prime Minister Viviani first expressed their greetings to Nicholas II, saying that the assassination was something no one wanted to see and that the current attitude of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was clearly in preparation for the outbreak of war.
France has always respected the special interests of Imperial Russia in the Balkan Peninsula and is willing to work with Imperial Russia to safeguard such interests. The precious friendship between the two countries deserves to be jointly protected by both sides.
Subsequently, France and Russia jointly issued a joint communiqué. Later, during a dinner at the Winter Palace, Poincare specifically talked with the Austro-Hungarian ambassador and asked him to tell the Austro-Hungarian government that it should be particularly cautious in handling relations with Serbia. He emphasized that "Serbia is a very close friend of the Russian people, and Russia has an ally, France. There are really many terrible disputes on this issue."
This was clearly a warning to the Austro-Hungarian Empire not to start a war easily, indicating that France and Russia were ready for war. After this communiqué, which could be seen by the whole world, was issued, Sheffield in New York did some calculations and felt that it was basically impossible to expect the European royal families to use their personal relationships to prevent the war.
Now it depends on when the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire, as important members of the two major groups, will fall out over Serbia. A world war is already on the way.
At this time, Sheffield felt that he should show a touch of warmth to the pre-war world before the world war. The main purpose was to allow Nicholas II to travel light and devote himself to the war with a good attitude.
Sheffield called Arlington, and the person who answered the phone was naturally Arlington's hostess, "Dear, we can announce that we have found the daughter of Nicholas II."
"Don't you want to detain these two girls for a while?" Annie was a little confused, but she also accepted the reality. Her husband always changed his mind and had no stance. Maybe he had thought of something again.
"Changed his mind!" The slave owner said something that did not surprise Anne. "Perhaps this good news will make the emperor of the Russian Empire happy and he will no longer think about exacerbating the current tense situation in Europe. I heard that your country's president and prime minister both visited St. Petersburg. If I was just talking nonsense before, the current situation seems to be really dangerous."
Sheffield took the opportunity to remove himself from the suspect list to prevent his wife from suspecting his role in the matter.
"Okay, it will be announced soon." Annie nodded. "As for how to make up the story, you can make it up yourself. I don't have such a rich imagination."
"That's not a problem, dear!" Sheffield laughed, said a few sweet words to his wife and hung up the phone.
On July 22, while the two French heads of state were still visiting St. Petersburg, the Sheffield Associates announced that they had finally found the two grand duchesses who had gone missing after the attack deep in a dense forest in Texas.
Newspapers throughout the League of Nations immediately turned their attention to the two daughters of Nicholas II. Anne gave photos of the two grand duchesses to the Russian imperial delegation still stranded in Texas. It was a miracle that the emperor's daughters, who had been missing for nearly a month, were found.
This even alarmed the Russian ambassador in Washington. Upon hearing the news, he quickly reported it back to his country and immediately headed south, wanting to see with his own eyes whether the two girls found were the daughters of His Majesty the Emperor.
In the newspapers, fake news about the adventures of the princesses has begun to be serialized. "The two daughters of Nicholas II, through their extraordinary royal wisdom, found an opportunity to escape and have been hiding deep in the forests of San Antonio. We have to marvel that as daughters of the Russian emperor, the two noble grand duchesses have such rich life experience, which shows the good education and frugal character of the Russian royal family."
"These newspapers are too corny." Alice Roosevelt also saw the report about Nicholas II's daughter and said in disbelief, "They are making up stories."
"You don't understand. The citizens of our country just like this kind of reports. It doesn't matter whether they are true or not!" Sheffield already knew the citizens of the United States thoroughly. First, they worship Europe and fawn on foreigners, and second, they believe in conspiracy theories.
Many newspapers have speculated about who is behind this attack. It is definitely to undermine the relationship between the United States and European powers. The suspects range from Britain to the Republican Party and even Sheffield himself.
The slave owners must say that these tabloids that weave conspiracy theories are not completely without reason.
The daughter of Nicholas II, who had been missing for a month, was found. There were even rumors that members of the Imperial Russian delegation had met the Grand Duchess herself. Her disappearance for a month and her reappearance were enough to be called a legend.
The news of his daughter's recovery traveled across the ocean and reached the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, making Nicholas II, who had just seen off French dignitaries, ecstatic. "Your Majesty, the Americans said they would conduct necessary examinations on the Grand Duchess to ensure her health, and send a ship back to the country in a month."
Sheffield felt that the war would surely break out in a month, and Nicholas II's daughter would never be able to return. Now she could pretend to be a law-abiding citizen, but she couldn't do it anyway.
It has to be said that the appearance of Nicholas II's daughter spread throughout Europe immediately and even dispelled Europe's concerns about the outbreak of war. It brought a touch of warmth to the world before the world war.
(End of this chapter)
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