While Italy was aggressively purchasing supplies from all over the world, the Bosnia and Herzegovina region of Austria-Hungary fell into restlessness.
Speaking of which, Bosnia and Herzegovina is actually not a good place. There are many mountains in the area, and only the northern part has some small plains because the Sava River flows through it.
However, due to its geographical location and Austro-Hungarian ambitions for southern expansion, this new territory that was incorporated into the Austro-Hungarian Empire received its attention.
Education, medical care and other public facilities were established with the help of the Austro-Hungarian government. However, although the Austro-Hungarian Empire expressed its goodwill, the Serbs, who accounted for nearly half of the population in the region, did not appreciate it.
, for them, rather than staying in Austria-Hungary and becoming second-class citizens, it is better to merge with their own Kingdom of Serbia.
Therefore, even though it has been more than 20 years since the merger of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is still not optimistic due to the resistance of the Serbs. Especially after the Kingdom of Serbia gained nearly half of Macedonia from the Balkan War and its power increased, the Serbs became even more
became restless.
Of course, Vienna is also very clear about why the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina are restless. In the past, because they were wary of Russia's attitude and their own needs, they mainly focused on appeasing the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
However, when appeasement fails and the situation becomes more and more intense with the support of the Kingdom of Serbia, then some other means must be arranged.
Yes, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has been silently preparing for the war in Serbia.
However, they were afraid of Russia behind the Serbs, so Austria-Hungary had been holding back.
Perhaps relying on the support of the Russians behind them, Serbia has become more and more restless. Anti-Austrian propaganda activities have appeared in Serbia, as well as patriotic groups established based on this. For example, the "Black Hand" was established in 1910. (Not paying attention.
I thought it was a gangster)
The founder of this organization is very famous, that is, Colonel Ragutin, the head of the Serbian intelligence department. Before founding the Black Hand, this colonel (who was still a captain at the time) led his men to shoot his country’s King Alexander I and his wife.
Yes, it was this colonel who led the men who shot the king at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Because the Serbian king was unpopular at the time, many people in the kingdom were very disappointed. However, many military officers hoped to force Serbian King Alexander I to abdicate. However, Lagutin believed that if the king abdicated, it would probably trigger a civil war, so
He shot him dead. Not only the king and his wife were killed, but the prime minister, military minister, etc. were also killed in this coup.
After the king was shot, Lagutin was packaged by his henchmen as the savior of the Kingdom of Serbia. This coup also made Lagutin believe that the enemy could be easily defeated through violence, assassination and secret sabotage. This
It became his creed.
After he became the head of the intelligence department, he began to study how to conduct a war against the Austro-Hungarian Empire in this way.
At this time, in the minds of most Serbians, it has become their ideal to unify the Serbian residential areas into the Kingdom of Serbia. Yes, this is Serbia’s Greater Serbia plan. In the Balkans, in addition to Serbia, Romania also has its own Greater Serbia plan.
The Romanian plan, the Bulgarians have their own Great Bulgaria plan, and so do Greece.
Anyway, in countries like the Balkans, there are various plans inspired by nationalism to bring people of the same race together.
However, many areas in the Balkans are a mixture of various ethnic groups, so the plans promoted by these nationalists overlapped. This also led to previous wars in the Balkans.
As for Serbia, it definitely supports the Greater Serbia Plan. It is precisely because of the promotion of this plan that the Kingdom of Serbia captured nearly half of Macedonia.
Of course, nationalism is also a double-edged sword. After seizing a large number of Serb gathering places in the south, what they faced was the Bosnia-Herzegovina region occupied by Austria-Hungary.
Although the Kingdom of Serbia is now more fanatical, it does not think that it can seize Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Austrians through war.
In this case, some unconventional means are within the scope of consideration. Of course, if the government does these things, it will leave a bad impression on European countries. At this time, it will be much more convenient to promote organizations established by individuals.
It was also with the government's acquiescence that the Black Hand established by Colonel Lagutin grew day by day. In less than three years, the organization had five hundred core members and thousands of peripheral members.
In addition, the association is also filled with a large number of lower-level officers of the Serbian army. These officers who have undergone rigorous military training can help the association train members who are skilled in guerrilla warfare and sabotage operations. Of course, because of these officers, the Black Hand can easily obtain
Various weapons and ammunition.
These trained members were sent by the Black Hand to Bosnia and Herzegovina to carry out sabotage activities and disrupt Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
From this entire line, we can see that the Black Hand will be composed of a large number of fanatical nationalists. With fanatical nationalist emotions, it will lead to an irreversible situation in the region.
The emergence of the radical mafia has also led to a large number of assassinations and sabotage activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the first half of this year alone, Austria-Hungary suffered more than a dozen assassinations and sabotage activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The most serious one was that the mayor of Tuzla, Gustavo, was shot by a conspirator in front of the city hall. This
The dedicated mayor was hit by three bullets and died on the spot, while the murderer was captured by guards at the scene.
According to subsequent police interrogations, the murderer was a radical from Serbia, and it was the Black Hand who sent him.
In response, Austria-Hungary issued a serious warning to Serbia, asking it to stop its reactionary remarks against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, otherwise Austria-Hungary will inflict a heavy price on Serbia.
Naturally, Serbia did not dare to take Austria-Hungary's warning seriously, and immediately warned the Black Hand to stop its sabotage operations against Bosnia and Herzegovina temporarily.
However, how could these fanatics take the government's warnings seriously and still go on their own to cause destruction in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Seeing that the warning did not work, Austria-Hungary decided to conduct a military exercise in Bosnia and Herzegovina to give a warning.
Moreover, the location chosen by Austria-Hungary for the exercise is very subtle, it is close to the Serbian border. This time Austria-Hungary will mobilize more than 40,000 troops to conduct a large-scale exercise to let the Kingdom of Serbia know the consequences.
In order to show the importance he attaches to this exercise, Crown Prince Archduke Ferdinand will also come to watch the exercise in person.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Chapter 2: Steamed Bun works so hard, where are the votes?
