Germany received the news of Archduke Ferdinand's assassination on the afternoon of the 18th.

At that time, Kaiser Wilhelm II was driving his luxury yacht in Kiel for a regatta, and Admiral Müller, driving a motorboat, threw a telegram containing the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand onto Wilhelm II's yacht with a cigarette case. Wilhelm II opened the cigarette case and looked at the telegram inside, and after reading it he turned pale, after which the Kaiser ordered the yacht to turn back to shore.

The reason for the Kaiser's emotional disappointment was that Ferdinand was one of his few friends (at a royal party with Archduke Ferdinand, the Kaiser, in order to circumvent Austrian decrees, made the table sit only for 4 people, so that the Kaiser and his wife could only sit together, and the changed Sophie could only sit in the last embarrassment). ), and the heir to what is now Germany's most important ally, Austria-Hungary. Wilhelm II did not have a good relationship with the present Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph, and even if Austria-Hungary now had to ask Germany, it would not change this phenomenon. Archduke Ferdinand, on the other hand, had a common understanding of European politics and diplomacy with both Wilhelm II.

If Archduke Ferdinand had succeeded to the throne, Austria-Hungary and Germany would have been even more closely linked. Now that Europe is divided into two camps, Wilhelm II is very willing to see such a situation, but a gunshot in Sarajevo put an end to the Kaiser's dream

When Wilhelm II rushed back to Berlin the next day, he found that none of his trusted ministers were there. Prime Minister Holwig is on vacation at his country house in Hohenfino. The Chief of the General Staff, General Moltke Jr., is recuperating in Carlsbad. Admiral Tirpitz, Minister of the Navy, spent his summer holidays in the Black Forest region. Foreign Minister Jago is on his honeymoon. This means that the Kaiser has no advisers by his side, so he can only deal with this Balkan incident.

At this time, the German ambassador to Austria-Hungary, Chershki, sent a telegram hoping that Germany would agree to his cautious action, which made Wilhelm II furious. "Who authorized him to do this." The Kaiser, who was still distraught because of the death of his friend, saw such a report again. He scribbled a line of annotation in the margins of the report. "This is absolutely stupid! He had no right to make irresponsible remarks about Austrian affairs. If something happens in the future, they will say: it's all Germany's fault! Please Chhershki stop doing stupid things. ”

The Kaiser's reaction was what Austria-Hungary Foreign Minister Bertold wanted to see. Because of this assassination, the Kaiser turned his previous indifference to Serbia into hatred.

On 4 July, Berstold sent his deputy, Count Oyos, to explain to the Kaiser the response to the Austro-Hungarian assassination. In this diplomatic note to the Kaiser, Bernational made some changes without the help of Hungarian Prime Minister Tiza, the most important of which was to eliminate Serbia's political influence in the Balkans, which meant war.

Wait until Tisza finds out and asks to see the original diplomatic note. When he saw the substantially revised diplomatic note, he called to remove the amendment. Unfortunately, it was too late, and Oyos had already arrived in Berlin with Bertord's revised diplomatic note, and had already arrived at the Kaiser's palace with it.

At lunch with Kaiser Wilhelm II on 5 July, Oyos and the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to Germany, Strogtinny, took the diplomatic note to the Kaiser and informed him that this was the attitude of Austria-Hungary. To the disappointment of the two, however, Wilhelm II did not agree with the aggressiveness of the diplomatic note. It is clear that the Kaiser has recovered from the grief of losing his friend.

He calmly told the two men that he hoped Austria-Hungary would take some important steps towards Serbia. However, in this diplomatic note, the Kaiser felt that it could lead to a major war in Europe. Wilhelm II's statement did not discourage the two men, and they knew the character of the emperor, so they continued to talk about the Kaiser's advice to Austria. This is when the reckless side of Wilhelm II appeared.

"Our action against Serbia cannot be delayed. Russia's attitude is certainly hostile, but we have been preparing for this situation for several years. If war between Austria-Hungary and Russia is inevitable, we will be on the side of our loyal allies. Russia is not ready for war at the moment, and will certainly think twice before using force. ”

This was all advice from Wilhelm II, and Szoggetinny recorded the Kaiser's remarks and sent them back to Vienna. The Kaiser's conversation gave hope to Austria-Hungary.

At this time, Wilhelm II summoned the military advisers who remained in Berlin in the royal palace and asked for their opinions.

The military advisers, on the basis of the diplomatic note sent by Austria-Hungary, all regarded this as a sign that Austria-Hungary was going to war against Serbia, and they all agreed that the sooner Austria-Hungary went to war with Serbia, the better. And it was basically agreed that Russia, despite being an ally of Serbia, would not enter the war, so Germany would not have to mobilize militarily, and the Kaiser could continue to take a leave of absence (which is important).

The next day, the Kaiser and Chancellor Holwig summoned Oyos and Strogtinny. Chancellor Holwig was so sad from his wife's death and exhausted from his travels that he had no idea how serious the situation was.

At a meeting with the Austro-Hungarian envoy, Holwig argued; The timing is better now, and the good time to play may not be there. So far, the Kaiser and the Chancellor have provided Austria-Hungary with blank checks, and they did not know that Hungarian Prime Minister Tisza was firmly opposed to this plan.

Wilhelm II left Berlin on the same day and boarded a trip to the Baltic. Prior to this, he summoned the top brass of the army and navy to inform them that Austria-Hungary was going to war with Serbia, and that Russia and France were not ready for war. In the evening, Chancellor Holwig also returned to Hohenfeno.

In their opinion, Austria-Hungary took advantage of the fact that the other great powers had not yet paid attention to Serbia, and it should be a task that could be completed very quickly, and they did not need to worry much. Essentially, because of Tisza's opposition, the war would have dragged on until much later.

The first evidence of the Assassin's interrogation was available before German support was obtained. Verified Serbian officer Major Tankosvich in Belgrade. Three Assassins (Prinship, Chabrinovich, Grabezh) were trained. With this evidence, it will be difficult for Tissa to prevent the start of the war against Serbia.

On the afternoon of July 7, at Tiza's request, an emergency cabinet meeting was convened. At the meeting, Oyos, who had returned overnight, recounted the contents of his conversation with the German prime minister. The content of the raid on Belgrade and the partition of Serbian territory made Tisza horrified when he heard it.

He warned that if the Austro-Hungarian government used force without sufficient diplomatic effort, the whole of the Balkans, except Bulgaria, would be hostile to Austria-Hungary. In time Bulgaria was intended, but Bulgaria, which suffered heavy losses in the Second Balkan War, would not have helped much on the battlefield. In this case, Austria-Hungary is likely to be attacked on three sides in the war.

In order to avoid such a scenario, Tisza proposed to take cautious diplomatic steps before going to war with Serbia. First of all, Serbia should be asked to make an unacceptable demand, and if it refuses, then an ultimatum is an ultimatum to make a threat of force. If Serbia accepts, then a diplomatic victory in the Balkans can be achieved. If refused, then the means of war can be used. However, Tisza said that the goal of Austria-Hungary could only be to weaken Serbia and gain some territory, and it was absolutely impossible to carve up Serbia.

In response to Tisza's request, Foreign Secretary Berstold disagreed, but still could not make Tisza give in. Tisza then declared, in his capacity as Prime Minister of Hungary, that he himself was firmly opposed to the Austro-Hungarian occupation of any Serbian territory, preferably to the benefit of the smaller Balkan states.

In the face of Tiza's opposition, Conrad's hopes of preparing for a surprise attack were dashed, and he had to start diplomatically first.