1914, die letzten Tage vor dem Weltbrand (1931)

On June 28, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife are murdered in the street in Sarajevo by the Serbian assassin Gavrilo Princip. In response, the Austrian Crown Council convenes in Bad Ischl to discuss the consequences and how to respond. Austria’s foreign minister, Count Berchtold, and Chief of the General Staff Conrad von Hötzendorf recommend a military punitive expedition against Serbia, while the emperor is skeptical about war and emphasizes the long period of peace during his reign. Count Tisza opposes war and instead calls for a strongly worded note to Serbia, presenting the emperor with a memorandum setting out his main points. The German Empire, under Kaiser Wilhelm II and represented by Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg, signals its military and political support to Vienna, giving it a free hand against Serbia, while hoping to keep the impending conflict confined to the Balkans. Certain of this blank check, Count Berchtold drafts a diplomatically harsh protest note containing stringent demands addressed to King Peter I of Serbia. It is shown to Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg, but too late for his protest and request to amend the unacceptable demands to be taken into account, leaving Germany faced with a fait accompli. The note allows an extremely short deadline of 24 hours. King Peter I is initially prepared to accept it in order to avert war. But his prime minister, Pašić, and Crown Prince Alexander urge him to reject it and appeal to Russian Tsar Nicholas II for support. Nicholas II, however, does not want to be drawn into a military adventure and recognizes the global danger. Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, by contrast, pressures the tsar to resist and calls for mobilization to keep Austria in check. The tsar initially continues to refuse. With the Russian Empire as a close ally behind it, Serbia dares to snub Austria-Hungary, prompting Vienna to declare mobilization. Wilhelm II, however, who considers Serbia’s reply “brilliant,” tries to mediate. But in Russia too, the pro-war forces around Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich and his generals have by now gained the upper hand, while the tsar still hesitates. Influenced by those around him, the monarch is finally persuaded to declare mobilization as well. Soon, events spiral completely out of control. France now also begins preparing for war against Germany, while England initially remains on the sidelines. But it too eventually mobilizes. With the death of outspoken opponent of war Jean Jaurès, who falls victim to an assassination by nationalist Raoul Villain at the Café du Croissant in Paris, the last hope for a peaceful solution fades.