The news of Romania's declaration of war on Austria-Hungary was spread to all senior Austro-Hungarian officials two hours after it submitted the declaration of war, and spread throughout Europe that night.
On the Allied side, Britain and France vigorously promoted Romania's participation in the war to defend the continuation of civilized society the next day. Even The Times, which is known for its fairness and rigor, sang praises for Romania. It praised Romania's social harmony, economic prosperity, and people's enthusiasm. For a time,
Romania seems to have become a beacon of European social civilization.
For the Allies, especially the Kaiser, this news caused him to break his two most beloved crystal cups. Edel's brother-in-law, Karl I, was furious in the palace. Some guards spread the news that Karl I would kill King Edel of Romania that night.
I am associated with bad words such as bitch and prostitute. It is hard to believe that a monarch would say such words.
And later that day, Karl I convened his military ministers at the palace to discuss Romania's response to Austria-Hungary's declaration of war. The unanimous result of the discussion was to let the Austro-Hungarian army already in Transylvania immediately deploy defenses and step up the attack.
The Russian troops are still being mobilized back. In order to prevent the distant water from quenching the near thirst, at the same time, the 9th Army (120,000 people) currently being repaired in Budapest was immediately stopped to replenish weapons and ammunition and transferred to Transylvania.
In addition to military preparations, in order to prevent local Romanians from leading the way, Austria-Hungary also decided to impose martial law in Transylvania. Romanian people are not allowed to gather in more than five people, and the government will confiscate all their belongings in the name of public security.
arms.
One more thing needs to be said here. Because of dissatisfaction with the previous Austro-Hungarian army's tendency to Germany, and in order to eliminate Germany's influence in Austria-Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Karl I personally served as the Chief of General Staff of Austria-Hungary. In Europe, the monarch serves as the Chief of General Staff.
It can be regarded as a pioneering work, and Austria-Hungary is at the forefront of the world.
However, the results of the discussions between Austria-Hungary and Yu that night were overturned the next day.
"Damn it, can't your military do anything serious? Look at your judgment. Romania still needs at least three months to prepare. As a result, we received a declaration of war a month later. Yesterday you told me Taran
Sylvania is impregnable, but now the main passes have fallen into the hands of the Romanians, and a steady stream of their soldiers have set foot on Austro-Hungarian soil. Archduke Friedrich, can you give me an explanation?"
In the palace, Karl I was furious. After receiving the news of Romania's surprise attack on the night of the declaration of war, Karl I felt bad. He felt that he had been fooled by his brother-in-law Edel, which Karl could not accept. He also served as the general staff.
The post of chief actually held military power, but he could not criticize himself, so Field Marshal Archduke Friedrich became his punching bag despite his good temper and not abusing his power.
Archduke Friedrich, who was scolded by him, remained silent. As the nephew of Archduke Albrecht, the last famous marshal of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Friedrich admired his uncle since he was a child, and when Archduke Albrecht
After his death, he was trusted by Emperor Franz Joseph I. After the outbreak of World War I, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Austro-Hungarian army, and on December 8 he was promoted to field marshal. He was basically a nominal supreme leader.
Commander-in-Chief. He wisely did not interfere in the specific affairs of the army. The actual power of the army was in the hands of Chief of General Staff Conrad. It was not until February this year that Karl I actually took control of the military.
"Your Majesty, we see that we made a mistake in judgment at the moment, but we will make up for this mistake soon. We will speed up the deployment of troops from newly acquired lords, and will also mobilize the troops that are still being repaired at home to Transylvania.
.”
When Archduke Friedrich faced the wrath of Karl I, he wisely gave way. This was one of the reasons why he gained the trust of the Habsburg family.
However, Archduke Friedrich's words made Karl I frown. "Will this affect Italy's preparations?"
Facing the emperor's inquiry, Archduke Friedrich knew at that time that the emperor was referring to fear of affecting the Italian front, so he said after careful consideration, "There will be some impact."
When he heard that it would have an impact on the Italian battlefield, Karl I, who was no longer dazzled by anger, thought for a while and said, "Then we will reduce this impact to a minimum."
What made the two senior Austro-Hungarian officials extremely concerned about the Italian battlefield was all caused by Edel's butterfly. Because Russia withdrew from the war early, it gave Austria-Hungary and Germany more time to move their troops away from the already peaceful battlefield.
Eastern Front.
There are not many other options in how Vienna should use these troops. Looking around, only Italy is an opponent worthy of the Austro-Hungarian army. So in September, the Austro-Hungarian military began to prepare for an offensive against Italy, a rebel.
.Planned to use the troops mobilized from the Eastern Front to launch an attack in an effort to drive Italy out of the war.
Therefore, even if Romania has declared war on Austria-Hungary, in Karl's opinion, only by defeating Italy can the Austro-Hungarian Empire gain temporary respite. Therefore, he is extremely reluctant to use his precious troops on the Romanian front line to let Italy, which has been repeatedly defeated by Austria-Hungary,
The army got a breather.
"But will this make Romania wanton and may cause local Romanians to have inappropriate thoughts?"
Faced with Archduke Friedrich's concerns, King Karl I said pointedly, "We have been attacked, should we ask for help from our allies? And since there is no war on the Eastern Front, it would make sense to ask Berlin for help."
"
Hearing the emperor's words made Archduke Friedrich feel that his majesty has changed a lot recently. You must know that when he succeeded to the throne last year, the emperor was not satisfied with Germany's dictation of Austria-Hungary. He would rather replace the chief of general staff, General Conrad.
To ensure the power of the Habsburg army in the army, and not to ask for reinforcements from the German army unless absolutely necessary. Now that there has not been a fight, we need to call for reinforcements first.
This is of course also related to the experience of Karl I. At first, the new emperor thought that he could withdraw from this war that caused heavy casualties to Austria-Hungary through separate peace talks. However, Britain and France flatly rejected Karl's hope for peace talks, so the young
The Austro-Hungarian emperor knew that Britain and France would not let go of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Of course, as its royal family, the Habsburg family, the Allies could not let it go either. So now he is fighting to protect his family and country. Without peace talks, he will either win or lose.
To avoid the war, now he has no choice.
In the afternoon of the same day, a telegram from Austria-Hungary requesting reinforcements was sent to Berlin. This time, Austria-Hungary asked for reinforcements in a very serious tone. It directly asked for 200,000 reinforcements. Also sent was a telegram asking Germany to fulfill its alliance obligations and declare war on Romania.
Soon because of these two messages, the Kaiser convened a meeting of government officials and the military to discuss the matter.
After everyone had read the two messages, William II asked, "Does anyone have any other opinions on the issue of declaring war on Romania?"
Everyone present said they had no objections. Out of their fondness for Austria-Hungary and Romania's betrayal (the Kaiser considered this a betrayal), no one would disagree with the declaration of war. The reason why they did not declare war in the first place was that
Because there are many things that are not over yet.
Seeing that the simplest telegram was perfectly resolved, William II asked again, "What about Austria-Hungary's request for reinforcements?"
As soon as the Kaiser finished speaking, Director of Munitions Ludendorff spoke. "Your Majesty, now we need to prepare for the offensive on the Western Front next year. We really can't spare many troops to help the Austrians. We can mobilize at most two divisions and about 30,000 people.
.”
The reason why Ludendorff had such a huge reaction was not only because he had to prepare for a new offensive against France after the New Year, but also the various small actions of Austria-Hungary. It was not right to ask him to send reinforcements before the Austro-Hungarian army officially started fighting.
To disgust him?
However, Ludendorff's words aroused opposition from the government, especially Foreign Minister Zolf who said as soon as Ludendorff finished speaking, "Your Excellency, I do not agree with your view. As an ally, Austria-Hungary
And when facing Romania's attack, we have to help it. Moreover, we have helped Austria-Hungary before, and the number of 30,000 troops is too small, so it is better not to send reinforcements."
"It's really better not to send it."
"Okay, don't argue anymore."
Seeing that Ludendorff and Zolf were about to confront each other, the Kaiser stood up at this time. He looked at Hindenburg and said, "Chief of the General Staff, how many troops do you think should be sent to reinforce Austria-Hungary?"
Hindenburg, who was named by the Kaiser, thought of a new idea. "Now it seems that we need to send a sufficient number of reinforcements to help Austria-Hungary attack Romania. But I don't think it has to be sent to Austria-Hungary to help them."
"Marshal, if you have any ideas, please tell me."
Hindenburg became more and more clear about his ideas, and he said, "We can flank Romania from the Ukrainian side to contain the Romanian army."
"Will this make Austria-Hungary dissatisfied with us?"
Faced with the inquiry, Hindenburg explained. "That's not possible. Austria-Hungary requested reinforcements to reduce the pressure on their army. It seems that they don't want to delay preparations for Italy, so this will be easier for us. We can definitely
We can find ways to deal with the troops currently stationed on the Eastern Front without delaying our operational plan for the Western Front at all."
At this time, Prime Minister Hedlin sounded another concern. "Will this cause the Soviet government to regret it?"
Faced with the Prime Minister's inquiry, Hindenburg explained. "This is not possible at all. People in the Soviet Russian regime do not dare to turn against us now. They will abide by the terms of the signing, because their opponents in Russia
Too much."
After final discussion, Germany replied to Austria-Hungary that they would send 240,000 troops under the command of General Mackensen on the Eastern Front to conduct a flank attack on Romania's Moldova to contain its army and cooperate with the Austro-Hungarian army's plan to capture Romania.
Although this plan was quite good, it took twenty days to prepare because the dispersed German troops needed to regroup and replenish their ammunition.
