Evening star., 1914-08-02
THE GERMANS AND THE SLAVS

July 2S 10 a date destined to count for
much in tho European calendar. On
that day Count Berchtold,
Austria's Austrian minister Of foreign
Demand Affairs. declared war against
The royal government Of Servia," he
said. mot having replied in satisfactory
manner to the note remitted to It by the
Austro- Hungarian minister In Belgrade
July "a. 1914. the imperial and royal gov
efnment dnds itself compelled to proceed
Itself to safeguard it's rights and inter-
ests and to have recourse for this pur-
pose to force OF arms. Austria Hungary
considers itself therefore from this mo-
ment In state Of war with Servia"
Austria had demanded that servia
should take steps to stop q panservian
propaganda on Austrian territory and
punish the servians indirectly concerned
In the Assassination in Bosnia (June 2s) Of
Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the
nstro-Hungarian throne
On the eve Of q war which appears to
have begun by the shelling Of Belgrade,
the substance Of servia's reply to the
Austrian note should be reviewed. Ser
Na~agreed to publish Q condemnation Of
the suoversive propaganda and to deplore
the participation Of Servian officers In
the propaganda: warn all Servians that
rigorous proceedings would in the future
Do taken against persons guilty Of such
case would be published to the army; 80
cieties fomenting intrigues against Aus
trta would be dissolved; press laws would
BE- revised: ofhcers Of army and navy and
| ION Nfo oI 1A n nA
against whom anti-Austrian propaganda
might be proved. But the Servian gov
ernment would not permit Austrian on
cials to take part In the inquiry: the
participation Of Austrian officials in an
inquiry In accordance with international
law and good neighborly relations: that
Servia accepted all Austria's demands
barring Austrian officials in the inquiry.
but on this point reserved its forma! re-
Finally. II the Austrian government found
Sefvia's reply inadequate. Servia would
appeal to The Hague tribunal and to the
powers which signed the declaration OF
Austria-Hungary communicated to the
press the following:
'"The object Of the servian note is to
create the false impression that we Ser
Wan government Is pre-
Dishonesty pared in great measure to
comply with our demands.
ona1Be0. As q matter Of fact, how
ever, Servia's note is filled with the spirit
Of dishonesty. which clearly lets it be
seen that the Servian government is not
seriously determined to put an end to the
culpable tolerance 1t hitherto has extend
~ 80 V~t -
garian monarchy"
Such insulting and uudiplomatic lam
guage. it was surmised by the Austro-
Hungarian government would not be ap-
proved by the powers, and hence It was
given the form Of . communication to the
press.
Furthermore. this unomcial note claimed
that the servian note contained such res
sions insigniflcant; that the proposition
that Austria-Hungary participate in the
measures to be taken to dissolve Austro-
phobe associations had not even been con-
sidered; thus the eervian answer was un-
satisfactory, and that the 6ervian govern
ment itself was conscious that Its note
was not acceptable is proven by the
proposition to submit the dispute to arbi-
tration. an invitation which is thrown
into its proper light by the fact that three
minutes before the expiration OF the time
limit the mobilization Of the Servians
took place.
Austria.s ultimatum to servia was
promptly met by Russia by the notlfca. 2.
be crushed and would fulfill her duty to
that small kingdom. which had already
suffered At Austria's hands. Russia
would not Be- frightened BY any threats
Austria might make; she knew her obli-
cations to her Slav brethren In the Bal
kans and would not consent to Servia
being turned into an Austrian vassal. The
European equilibrium demanded that the
Slav kingdom should retain its independ-
ence, which Russia would uphold to the
end. To that effect Russia would take
all the measures the gravity OF the SIT
uation required 90 as to be able success
fully to Offset Austria intrtgues.
This bold announcement was like peal
Of thunder from . clear sky. It created
sympathetic echo and wild enthusiasm in
St Petersburg and among all classes OF
Russia's 6lavonic peoples.
"
Sir Edward Grey meanwhile took the
initiative Of requesting the European
powers to permit their am
Efforts for bassadors in London to con-
fer with q view to a peace
1' full solution Of the contro-
versy. Italy and France promptly signi-
fed their adherence, but Germany and
Austria refused. Germany supported her
ally in the contention that 1t would be
undignined for q great power like Aus
tria to appear before a tribunal Of Euro
pean powers on the same status as
Balkan state. When the cxar was in
formed Of the rejection OF the proposed
mediation Of Great Britain. France and
Italy. he Is reported to have exclaimed:
I'VE have stood this sort OF thing for
seven and . half years; that is enough"
And the czar thereupon ordered the par
tial mobilization Of the 1xth Army Corps
on the Austrian frontier. At the same
time Germany was informed that mobil-