Originally, Rock only wanted to send 108,000 African slave troops to Europe to support the show, but now it seems that even Australia, which has a vast territory and a sparse population of only 4 to 5 million people, sent hundreds of thousands of troops to Europe to support the First World War.
More and more, southern Africa, which has far surpassed Australia, cannot be lazy.
What's more, Southern Africa, which has performed exceptionally well in previous regional conflicts, has become a powerful local supplement with its increasingly stronger industrial capabilities, and is already capable of providing support to Egypt, is now like an elephant squatting behind a hyena trying to hide its body.
There is no way to hide it. The intelligence agency of the Ministry of War in Nyasaland is not a freeloader. Over the years, various delegations in southern Africa have become more and more frequent. They have already looked at southern Africa.
Are hundreds of millions of dollars in arms purchases free of charge? They are all carrots in front of the donkey. In another time and space, Britain gave the order to the United States, and the United States still sent troops to work for the British.
After arriving in Pretoria, Ade immediately announced Roque's promotion to marshal and appointed Roque as the commander-in-chief of the Southern African Army.
Then a revolving door of meetings followed one after another non-stop. In the morning, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of the Interior discussed how to rectify the internal situation. In the afternoon, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Justice, and the Minister of Police discussed how to eradicate dissidents.
Roque himself was miserable, and the Prime Minister and Speaker, who had to attend every meeting, were even more exhausted.
Both of them are already in their 60s. They are still young people at the level of the country's top leaders, but after all, they cannot be as energetic as real young people. Over time, problems will definitely arise.
Real young people have to get together for a drink every day after get off work. At this time, most of the topics discussed at the dinner table are the unusual reactions of European countries to the assassination of the Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Since the assassination of the Crown Prince on June 28, , the Austro-Hungarian Empire had not declared war on Serbia until July 22, which is really abnormal.
"Because of Archduke Ferdinand's marriage, the relationship between the old emperor Franz Joseph I and Archduke Ferdinand was very bad. Archduke Ferdinand's funeral was very shabby. He didn't look like an heir to the empire at all, and he didn't even look like one.
Like a grand duke, there was only a small demonstration in Vienna a few hours after the death of Archduke Ferdinand, asking the government to declare war on Serbia and avenge Archduke Ferdinand. Then the demonstration was quickly quelled, Ma Zhao
Running around and dancing, nothing has changed." Stoudemire now also has a formal position. Like Sidney Milner, he serves as a member of the War Coordination Committee. This is a body specially established for the coming war. Rights during the war
It is very big and will be disbanded after the war.
Rock and Stoudemire met almost every day, sometimes with Henry, Owen, and Sidney Milner.
The usual gathering place is in a tavern next to the city square. The owner of this tavern is very good at making various snacks. Rock likes the peanuts here, Stoudemire likes the French fries here, and Henry likes the baked goods here.
Intestines, the bosses actually eat about the same as the farmers when they are not attending banquets.
It’s not even as fresh as the farmer’s food.
"The people of Vienna have too many concerns. They need the support of Germany, they need Russia to remain silent, and they need France to give up its support for Serbia before they dare to take bold action. The old emperor may be thanking the Serbians in his heart for the death of Archduke Ferdinand.
, giving him a reason to change the crown prince of the empire. Compared with this matter, revenge becomes insignificant. Even if the Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Serbia, it will definitely not be to avenge Archduke Ferdinand, but for Austria-Hungary.
The interests of the empire." Roque was disdainful. Archduke Ferdinand was not the biological son of the old emperor Franz Joseph I, so it was really not certain how deep his feelings were.
In fact, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has received a promise from Kaiser Wilhelm II, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire does not trust the promise of this madman, Wilhelm II. It is the German generals who control Germany, not the superior Wilhelm II, but William II
Feeling good about himself, he thinks everything is under control.
The reason why William II is said to be a madman has a lot to do with William II's performance during this period.
After the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, William II acted more actively than the old emperor Franz Joseph I. When summoning the Austrian envoy, William II issued the famous "blank check", promising that as long as the Austro-Hungarian Empire paid
If Serbia declares war, then Germany will stand firm and fight side by side with Austria-Hungary. Germany will provide whatever Austria-Hungary needs.
At the same time, Russian Czar Nicholas II was working hard to find a peaceful solution to the Balkan crisis, and British Foreign Secretary Gray also proposed the establishment of a multi-country dialogue organization, not wanting to see the outbreak of war.
Although the arms race has been going on for several years, the strange thing is that at the moment before the outbreak of the world war, it seemed that all countries except Germany were trying their best to avoid war. No one wanted to see the lights of Europe go out, except William II.
.
As for Russia, it is difficult to say what kind of reaction Russia would make if Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Although Russia has coveted the Balkans for a long time, in the previous two Balkan wars, Russia did not do anything except talk.
Any form of military action, and although Russia's war potential is strong, it has a vast territory and insufficient infrastructure. Even if it wants to participate in the war, it cannot be done in a day or two.
If the Austro-Hungarian Empire's army was more efficient, the war might have ended before Russia had completed its war mobilization.
What I want to explain here is the concept of "war mobilization". For different countries, the meaning of war mobilization is different. For example, in a country like Russia, after the tsar issued a mobilization order, Russia was subject to objective conditions and the country may enter a state of war.
It will take several months.
For a country like Germany, which has long been planned, has relatively advanced domestic infrastructure, and has a relatively complete reserve military service system, it may only take a week for the country to enter a state of war. Therefore, in 1913, war mobilization was a very scary signal. Once someone
If a country issues a mobilization order, then interested countries must respond.
"The dignity of the empire cannot be violated. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire does not respond appropriately, the image of the Austro-Hungarian Empire will plummet." Henry racked his brains and couldn't figure out why the Austro-Hungarian Empire didn't even have a symbolic ultimatum until now.
In addition to guarding against the Russian army, the Austro-Hungarian Empire now has 360,000 troops available to attack Serbia. Serbia suffered heavy losses in the first two Balkan wars and is in a critical stage of recovering its strength. It now only has 20,000 standing troops.
"The Austro-Hungarian Empire has no national image at all. This country is terrible from top to bottom." Stoudemire doesn't like the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This country is too weird. It is the only dualist country in the world. Archduke Ferdinand
He also wanted to turn the country into a tripartite system, probably because he felt that the triangle was more stable.
Needless to say, the Triarchy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire under the Dual System was no longer a normal country. It was like two divorced people bringing their children together to make ends meet. They should have worked together to rebuild.
A beautiful big family, but both parties seem to be inseparable and have too much selfishness.
Although many people are trying their best to avoid the outbreak of war, the war is still inevitable. On the 23rd, the Austro-Hungarian Empire finally issued an ultimatum to Serbia, demanding that it accept the ten-point demands put forward by the Austro-Hungarian Empire within 48 hours. One of them
It was the Austro-Hungarian Empire that requested direct intervention in Belgrade's investigation into the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife.
The Kingdom of Serbia agreed to most of the conditions, but did not agree to Austria-Hungary's request to intervene in the investigation. This request violated the Kingdom of Serbia's autonomy. However, the Kingdom of Serbia was willing to share with Austria-Hungary the progress of the investigation into the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife.
Such a result obviously did not satisfy the Austro-Hungarian Empire. From June 28th to July 23rd, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was ready to launch a war. The purpose of the ultimatum was to create an excuse to launch further war.
, so when the ultimatum time came, the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s ambassador to the Kingdom of Serbia, Baron Gisela, immediately announced that he was severing relations with the Kingdom of Serbia. His luggage had already been packed. Half an hour later, Baron Gisela boarded the train.
Ten minutes later, Baron Giselle had returned to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
From this time, we can see how close the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Serbia were.
Before replying to the ultimatum, the Kingdom of Serbia had also prepared for war. A few hours before replying to the ultimatum, the Kingdom of Serbia announced that the country had entered a state of general mobilization for war and moved its capital from Belgrade to the border away from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Also on the 25th, Russia announced that the country had entered a strange "war preparation period." In Nicholas II's mind, this so-called "war preparation period" was probably a period between peace and war.
At one stage, the Tsar was deceived by his generals. In the eyes of Kaiser Wilhelm II, this was general mobilization for war.
At this time, Germany had calm people besides William II, so Germany did not issue a mobilization order immediately.
On the 28th, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on the Kingdom of Serbia.
On the 30th, Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire simultaneously announced that their countries had entered a state of general mobilization for war.
On the 31st, Germany issued the famous "double ultimatum" to Russia and France.
France ignored Germany's threat. The French, who had long wanted to wash away the humiliation of the Franco-Prussian War, couldn't wait to issue a mobilization order on August 1.
Subsequently, Germany carried out war mobilization and declared a state of war with Russia.
One month after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, the World War finally broke out.
