To the Greater Belgrade Freedom Herald

TO THE GREATER BELGRADE FREEDOM HERALD
Third of July 1914

I write to you concerning the recent assassination of the Austrian Archduke and heir to the Austro Hungarian Empire, Franz Ferdinand. We as Serbians and Slav 's must celebrate the actions of Gavrilo Princip and must realise that he is a hero for Slav 's over Europe. Although Gavrilo killed the Austrian and his Wife in a most undignified manner it is the only way for us as loyal Serbians to reject the ways of the imperialistic Austro-Hungarians. We have been run by foreign powers for too long my brothers! Princip is a 54hero! The Black Hand and Mlada Bosna are heroes! The Hapsburgs want to control us as the Ottomans did! I as a loyal and proud Serbian will not stand for this and it is our actions today that will either make or break our nation of Serbia. One hundred years ago our forefathers rose up against the Sultan and now the Hapsburgs wish to run our country for us? My Grand-Father fought the Ottoman 's in Belgrade in 1862 and they managed to send the Turk 's back to Turkey! Surely we can remain a sovereign nation keeping the Austrians out.

The mere presence of a member of the Austro-Hungarian nobility in our country is a matter of disgrace for our country. Why is it that we had the heir to the Austrian throne visiting our country? Inspecting our troops? Surely the Arch-Duke was here to show off that Serbia was still dragging behind our Austrian neighbours? Well Gavrilo Princip and the Black Hand showed them!! And his own countrymen detain him on behalf of the Hapsburgs? This is not how Serbians should treat our hero 's. We must come together as a single Slavic nation to free our Slavic brothers throughout the Balkans, in Bosnia the Hapsburg directly rule the Slav 's there. We must follow our Prime Minister of Serbia Nikola Pasic in our quest for freedom from the Great Powers of Europe.

We as a Slavic country must also recognise the Russians as a powerful ally that can come to our aid against the Germanic Hapsburgs. As a largely Slavic state we must push Pan-Slavism until we have a united Slavic country nestled in the bosum of the Balkans. The Russians are Orthodox Christians like us and they have come to help us against the Ottomans and I as a loyal Slav and Serbian am sure they would help us against the Austro-Hungarians.

As a faithful Serbian I see it as my duty too support my country against the foreign power of Austro-Hungary and as any proud Serbian should be!

Sincerely Dragoslav Jovanovik

References
-The Origins Of World War One various authors 1998 New Holland Publishing
-WW1 Document Archive.com wwi.lib.byu.edu
-www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/origins
-The Fall Of Eagles C Sulzberger, 1977 Crown Publishers Inc
-Europe since Napoleon D Thomson 1966 Pelican Books
-FirstWorldWar.com
-The various texts we have been given in class specifically Chapter 10 The Final Crisis , Chapter 7 War Clouds Over The Balkans and Chapter 4 The Balkan Powder Keg

Emperor Franz Josef 's Diary

1/7/14
I always knew that Ferdinand was going to cause me trouble and even in his death he has caused me problems on a national scale. But alas a higher power has restored that order which unfortunatly I was unable to maintain. Even with all of his faults however Ferdinand was a member of the Hapsburgs and was the heir to my throne. My dear Brother would have been shocked and ashamed to have seen his son in the state he was in during his final hour. Bleeding to death hand in hand with his so called wife. I shall not miss her passing one bit, she was always a nuisance for myself and for the Austro-Hungarian court. Why would Ferdinand find comfort in a commoner such as herself I have no idea but Ferdinand was always an outlandish charcter. If only Rudolf God bless his soul, was with us then the whole situation would be far more stable than it is at present. That poor excuse of a heir Ferdinand would never have made a good Emperor, to be an Emperor you need strength not weakness. I am thinking that I will not attend his funeral.

8/7/14
The Austrian Parliament is largely in favour with an all out war against the Serb 's not as much for vengence for Ferdinands assassination but as a chance to sort the Serbians out for their continued threat to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Count Hoyos is pushing for a war with Count Leopold Berchtold also strongly pro war. The only Count that does not want to go to war is Tisza, the Jew lover has always warned me of the possibility of the Romainians in Transylvania revolting to join with Romainia during a state of conflict, He continues to stress this while we discuss the possibility of going to war against Serbia. I am not sure about his claims towards the Romainians rebelling but I have no doubt in my mind that the Austro-Hungarian army could demolish the Serbians easily.

Now that Count Hoyos has been dispatched to Berlin to secure Germany 's support for our actions Count Berchtold the foreign affairs minister is now the spokesperson for the so called Young Rebels who are the ministers who are strongly pushing for a war against Serbia, Berchtold 's focus on Serbia has grown out of a fear of Serbian territorial expansion in the Balkans and also how foreign complications could eventually result in the dissolution of the Empire itself. I find it fair to comment myself that if Franz Ferdinand was too take the throne the Empire would have fallen into disrepair anyway.

11/7/14
During a conversation with General Conrad von Hotzendorf he asked “if Germany 's reply is that they are on our side, do we engage in war with Serbia?” I told him “Then yes” “But what if they reply differently?” after a moment of contemplation I said “ then the Monarchy will be alone”. Now there is no doubt in my mind that we will go to war with Serbia it must be done to restore honour to the Hapsburgs and to quell any chances of a Balkan threat to the Empire. However it must be done in a tactful way to remove any chance of Russia siding with the Serbs against us, and so it was proposed by Berchtold to give the Serb 's an Ultimatam with a seires of grounds that will be specifically designed so that no nation with any self respect could accept them. Tisza still disapproves of a war against Serbia but in the interests of the Austro-Hungarian empire we have to remove the Serbian threat, and although I was initially wary of attacking the Serb 's my advisors and counsel all agree (with the exception of Tisza) that it must be done. Certarin members of my counsel have been eager to take a preemptive strike at Serbia, notably Conrad von Hotzendorf and now with the death of Franz Ferdinand the opportunity has risen to attack Serbia.

14/7/14
I am sure now that Count Tisza is on side with an attack on the Serb 's and the composition of the Ultimatum is well underway, we have also secured the support of the Germans. A war against Serbia is definatly on its way however we can only go to war after the Summer harvest has been brought in as Von Hotzendorf rightly said. I am also aware now that Kaiser Willhelm supports the war and promises to neutralise a Romanian attack.

Yesterday the results for the investigation of Franz Ferdinands assination came in saying that there was no evidence to show that the Serbian government were involved in the assassination. However the results are of no consequence and we have an obligation to seek retribution from the Serb 's as well as to remove any threat they may be in the Balkans. However it was obvious that Berchtold was dismayed with the findings.

On the 12th Szogyeny reported from Berlin that the German government wanted to see Austria-Hungary declare war on Serbia at once and were tired of Austrian indecision. The Germans although a powerful ally and very similar to Austria have little sense of tact and are quick to rush things they also do not fully recognise the need to bring the harvest in either.

22/7/14
The Ultimatum has been prepared and will be delivered tomorrow by the Austrian Minister in Belgrade Baron Giesl von Gielslingen and the immediate mobilisation of troops will commence as well. The Austro-hungary empire is geared for war and no doubt will invade by the 25th when the Ultimatum reaches its expiry date. The Germans are behind us to remove any threat of a Russian or Romainian counter attack, the war will be over in a matter of weeks. Who would have thought that Ferdinand whould be useful for more than just shooting stags?

References
-The Fall Of Eagles C Sulzberger, 1977 Crown Publishers Inc
-FirstWorldWar.com
-www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/origins
-WW1 Document Archive.com wwi.lib.byu.edu
-Liddel Harts History of The First World War L Hart 1973 Book Club Associates
-The Kaiser and His Times M Balfour 1986 W.W. Norton & Company
-Various Given Texts notably Chapter 10 The Final Crisis, Chapter 4 The Balkan Powder Keg and Chapter 7 War Clouds over the Balkans

Berlin Bugle Interview with the German Diplomat Hans Schneider 15th of July 1914
Mr Schneider, as a worker for our foreign minister Gottlieb von Jagow what do you think of the Assassination of Franz Ferdinand?
I am sure you are aware Franz was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and with the age of Emperor Franz Josef who although a well deserving Emperor you could say he is in no way a spring chicken, it is a devastating loss for our Austrian cousins. Thankfully Ferdinands brother Karl is able to become crown prince of the Empire.

Can we expect the Austro-Hungarians to take military action on behalf of Franz Ferdinand?
I am not sure of the present workings of what is happening in Vienna, but it is my belief in working under our foreign minister Von Jagow that the Austrians are seeking a peaceful solution for the crisis through means of a set of terms to prevent all out war but if necessary military action will be taken to dissolve any anti Austro-Hungary movements that potentially lead to more suffering for the Hapsburgs.

What is Germany 's standing on the present situation?
The Austria-Hungary Empire is Germany 's closest allay and we must continually support and uphold our cousins across the border. In fact Count Hoyos of the Austrian Parliament recently came to Berlin to ensure solidarity between our two countries, He was told that Germany will back the Hapsburg Empire wholeheartedly!

And how would we as a nation back Austro-Hungary?
There are certain concerns that in the event of a military conflict between Austro-Hungary and Serbia that the Romanians would use it as a chance to strike against the Empire as well as the Russians may side with the Serbians however the Kaiser will not stand for this and as a nation we would stand side by side with our Austro-Hungarian Brothers in the fight for justice! We would quell any form of aggression by the Romanians if required and would happily go into combat with the Russians who have a ill equipped and poorly organised army.

Is there a possibility that this potential situation could lead to an all out war between Germany and Russia?
There is zero chance of Russia being able to face Germany square on and win, they are poorly organised, ill equipped and their own Czar is unable to provide unity amongst his people, look at the confrontations in Russia in 1905, There is no way Russia can engage in a full continental war.

You didn 't answer the question Mr Schneider
Well, I guess the possibility is certainly there by getting involved in the Balkans but like I said before there is no way Russia can engage in a full continental war against Germany. However we have plans on how to completely prevent such a situation as well as preventing our frog eating neighbours from a military strike against our Fatherland.

I 'm afraid that 's all we have time for Mr Schneider thank you
It was a pleasure. References
-firstworldwar.com
-www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/origins
-Europe Since Napoleon D Thompson 1966 Pelican Books
-Various given texts notably Chapter 9 Planning for Victory and Chapter 10 The Final Crisis

References: -firstworldwar.com -www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/origins -Europe Since Napoleon D Thompson 1966 Pelican Books -Various given texts notably Chapter 9 Planning for Victory and Chapter 10 The Final Crisis