After the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary openly held various rallies to mourn the death of the crown prince. However, secretly, Austria-Hungary was making various preparations for war.
The support of the two allies was particularly crucial to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Therefore, Vienna also spent some careful thought on this, especially for Italy.
Today, the Vienna Central Railway Station is surrounded by military police, and no one is allowed to intrude. Because a nobleman is leaving here by car. The previous experience of the crown prince made these military policemen dare not relax their vigilance, because of this
If something happens to this noble person, it will be more terrible than the assassination of the crown prince.
So who is this noble man?
Yes, it was Queen Maria of Italy. This Italian queen was born in the Habsburg family. When Ferdinand died, she should have appeared at his funeral, let alone her brother's funeral.
Yes, Queen Maria and Archduke Ferdinand both have a common father, that is Archduke Carl Ludwig. However, they were born to the Archduke’s second and third wives respectively.
There is a generation gap caused by the age gap (the two are 13 years apart), so this also leads to the relationship between the two not being very close.
Moreover, after Maria married into the Savoy family, her contact with the Habsburgs was much less, basically limited to more than ten letters to her mother every year.
Even his son Vittorio has only met his grandparents a few times since he was a child.
The reason for all this is the subtle relationship between Rome and Vienna. The relationship between the two countries is far less close than that with Germany. Yes, both Italy and Austria have close relations with Germany, but their relationship with each other has changed.
It is difficult to deal with, and this is caused by many reasons.
The first is historical reasons. When the Habsburg family was glorious, it ruled half of Italy. Everyone knows the subsequent results. After the decline of the Habsburgs, Italy took the opportunity to gain independence and unity. Of course, this was the case in other countries.
Completed with the help of .
As we all know, independence with the help of others will definitely not be so satisfying. This is also true. Italy and Austria still have many disputed territories. The most important one is the well-known Tyrol region. This is
Although this mountainous area is sparsely populated, it is like a prominent corner embedded in northern Italy, allowing it to directly overlook the Po River Plain, the most important food and industrial area in northern Italy.
How can you let the Italians sleep when such an important place is controlled by the Austrians?
This also made it difficult to have trust between the two countries. Even if Carlo married Maria, this would only make the relationship between the two countries more friendly.
This time, if Austria-Hungary wants to seek Italian support, it will need to make concessions in the Tyrol region.
Of course, Vienna was also mentally prepared for this, otherwise Deputy Foreign Minister Zolni, the diplomatic envoy visiting Italy, would not secretly disguise himself as Queen Maria's entourage and go to Rome with her.
"Queen, please go first."
On the platform, Count Zolny stood behind the queen and reminded her in a low voice.
"Then I have wronged Your Majesty the Count."
"For Habsburg and the Empire, all this is as it should be."
Then the group of people boarded the train back to Rome, and this Italian royal family train was very luxurious, allowing them to live very comfortably on the train.
The special train is very fast because it does not need to stop at any platform, and trains along the line need to avoid it.
So early the next morning, the train arrived in Rome.
Then a long motorcade pulled the queen, the Austro-Hungarian envoy and others into the palace. Of course, the queen and her entourage were going home, while Count Zolny and his entourage were led by their entourage to the conference room. Here
, King Carlo, the Prime Minister, the military and others have been waiting for a long time.
After the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, Italy held discussions among military and political officials. Regarding the assassination of the Archduke, many people believed that this would lead to the outbreak of war between major powers.
That's right, unlike Austria-Hungary who believes that relying on the support of Germany and Italy, Russia does not dare to act rashly, Italy believes that this is very likely to cause a confrontation between the two camps. The reason is very simple. Russia cannot bear the consequences of losing Serbia. This will
It had devastating consequences for its influence in the Balkans.
Just as Russia does not dare to let go of Serbia, France also does not dare to let go of Russia. This will lead to a reversal of its strategy, from the two countries allowing Germany to fight on two fronts, to allowing France to face Germany alone.
For Italy, the outbreak of war in Europe is also in line with Italy's needs. Because Italy's war preparations are almost complete, although there are still some war preparation plans that have not fully achieved the planned goals.
But as the saying goes, you should avoid comparison in everything. Compared with Germany, Italy and Austria, which are not yet fully prepared, Britain, France and Russia should be in the process of preparation. Currently, among the three Allied Powers, France is the most well-prepared. Only this year will France
The two-year military service system was changed to three years, and the service age was also changed from 21 to 45 years old to from 20 to 48 years old.
According to the French military's plan, France will complete war preparations in 1915. France is doing well, but Russia needs to wait until 1916 to complete war preparations.
From this we can see which of the two parties is more prepared for war.
Based on this understanding, senior Italian military and political officials believed that they could not drag it out any longer. They had to strike first before the three Allied Powers were ready. Even the place had been discussed, and that was Crete, where the civil war broke out.
Italy forcibly started a civil war on the island, and then merged the island into the Kingdom of Italy. Britain and Greece would never watch Italy annex Crete, which would just be a great opportunity to start a war in Europe.
However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. Austria-Hungary took the lead and triggered a conflict with Serbia, which also cost the life of its own crown prince.
In this case, it is Italy's turn to negotiate its demands. After all, who doesn't know Austria-Hungary's ambition to annex Serbia?
Besides, Italy has territory in the Balkans, and it happens to be facing Austria-Hungary across Serbia to the north and south. In every aspect, Austria-Hungary needs Italian support. Otherwise, it will not be able to annex Serbia at all.
"Count Zolny, welcome your arrival."
Carlo brought a group of military and political officials to welcome the arrival of the special envoy.
Seeing the King of Italy and his senior military and political officials welcoming him in front of him, Count Zolni felt that he was under a lot of pressure.
