Royal Government of Servia not having given a satisfactory reply to
the note presented to it by the Austro-Hungarian Ministry in Belgrade
on July 23, 1914, the Imperial and Royal Government of Austria-Hungary
finds it necessary itself to safeguard its rights and interests and to
have recourse for this purpose to the force of arms. Austria-Hungary,
therefore, considers itself from this moment in a state of war with
Servia."

This declaration was signed by Count Berchtold, the Austrian minister
for foreign affairs.

The events that immediately preceded the declaration of war, as
summarized in a previous chapter, were as follows:

On June 28 a Slav student who thought he was a patriot killed the
Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, at Serajevo,
the capital of Bosnia, which had been lately made a province of Austria.
An inquiry was begun in which evidence was introduced to show that the
assassin's work was part of a plot for the revolt of the Southern Slav
provinces of Austria, and that it was instigated by Servians, if not by
the Servian Government. On July 23, however, before the investigation
was completed, Austria sent an ultimatum to Servia demanding that it use
every means in its power to punish the assassins and also to stop all
further anti-Austrian propaganda. Austria demanded that she be permitted
to have representatives in the work of investigation in Servia.

The next day, July 24, Russia joined the little Slav country in asking
for a delay. Austria refused to grant this.

On July 25, ten minutes before 6 p.m., the hour at which the ultimatum
expired, the Servian premier, M. Pashitch, gave his reply to the
Austrian ambassador at Belgrade. Servia agreed to all the conditions
and apologies demanded by Austria, except the requirement that Austrian
officials should be allowed to participate in the inquiry to be
conducted in Servia into the assassination of the Archduke. Even this
was not definitely refused.

On July 27 the Austrian foreign office issued a statement in which
appeared these words:

"The object of the Servian note is to create the false impression that
the Servian Government is prepared in great measure to comply with our
demands.

"As a matter of fact, however, Servians 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
it hitherto has extended to intri