The July Crisis

[Valmy]

Just reflecting a bit that this week one hundred years ago Count Berchtold was lobbying Franz Joseph and Hungarian Prime Minister Tisza to support his plan to provoke war with Serbia now that the they had received the "Blank Cheque" from the German Empire.  I have considered Berchtold the #1 non-Serb villain in this whole shitshow, one wonders if things might have been different if it were not for him.

I just thought it would be nice to track the Centennials as they roll by this month.

[CountDeMoney]

#1 non-Serb villain in this whole shitshow,

[Sheilbh]

#1 non-Serb villain in this whole shitshow,

Yeah

There's a phrase that echoes down the ages.

[Valmy]

When I publish my biography of the Count perhaps that should be the title.

[The Minsky Moment]

Conrad has got to be up there as well, for the same reasons.

[grumbler]

Thanks, Valmy.  I look forward to your continued coverage of this, and the editorials.  I expect one quotable quote per day.

[Valmy]

Thanks, Valmy.  I look forward to your continued coverage of this, and the editorials.  I expect one quotable quote per day.

I shall do my best.

Hoping to convince Tisza and gain Hungarian support for his war, on July 10th Berchtold sends his deputy to Sarajevo to get the results of the Austrian investigation into Serbian involvement in the assassination.  Of course most of what they had to go with at this point was the interrogations of the conspirators who did their best to pass themselves off as anarchists and idealists and denied working for the Serb government. 

One of the conspirators, a Bosniak named Muhamed Mehmedbašić, escapes to Montenegro and the Montenegrin police are looking for him.  They promise to apprehend him and extradite him back to Austria.  Gosh it would sure look bad if Montenegro let him escape instead wouldn't it?

[The Brain]

Was he at the same time Mehmedcomplex?

[Valmy]

Not really.  He was a simple Mehmedbašić sort of man.

Anyway on July 12th the Montenegrins nabbed him and on July 14th he mysteriously escaped before he could be extradited back to Austria.  He would finally be captured and executed for his role in the assassination in 1943.  This indicated that Montenegro was all in with Serbia not that there was much doubt.

On Monday, July 13th, Berchtold heard back from his deputy that there was no evidence of participation in the assassination by the Serbia government.  Naturally he suppressed this as well as intercepting several letters sent by Prime Minister Tisza to Franz Joseph.  On July 12th the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to Germany informed the government that Germany was demanding Austria stop screwing around and declare war on Serbia quickly.  This pressure, combined with nationalist douchebaggery appearing all over the Serb press, finally convince Tisza to agree to the war so long as Austria-Hungary did not annex any new territory.  Berchtold crossed his fingers and promised no more dirty Slavs in Austria-Hungary.  Austria then informed Germany they would be sending the ultimatum sometime later that month whenever they got around to it.

Kind of a big day today really as Tisza was probably the last reasonable person on the Central Powers side who could have done anything to stop it.

[Maladict]

Good stuff.

[Valmy]

Good stuff.

I find it funny how much pussy footing around Austria-Hungary does here.  They cannot even launch a world altering war in an efficient manner.  It takes them weeks to do anything.

[grumbler]

Kind of a big day today really as Tisza was probably the last reasonable person on the Central Powers side who could have done anything to stop it.

Yes, it is ironic that the only sane and rational person high in the government was a Hungarian! 

[grumbler]

Good stuff.

I find it funny how much pussy footing around Austria-Hungary does here.  They cannot even launch a world altering war in an efficient manner.  It takes them weeks to do anything.

You must do things properly, and you must keep the Emperor informed and consult his opinion - and he is on vacation in his rustic mountain retreat, so hard to get to.  And the Austrians wren't in a rush.  They just needed to declare war early enough to have the boys back home before the leaves fall.

[CountDeMoney]

Muhamed Mehmedbašić,

Lulz, the Prophet's Ballsack, PBUH.