. In July 1914 William II.'s action was
typically Hohenzollern; and by this time his engaging personality and
fiery speeches, aided by professorial and Press propaganda, had
thoroughly Prussianised Germany. In regard to _moral_ as well as
_materiel_, "the day" had come by Midsummer 1914.

[Footnote 549: Frederic, _Hist. de la guerre de sept Ans_, i. p. 37.]

Moreover, her generally passive partner, Austria, was then excited to
frenzy by the murder of the heir to the throne, Archduke Francis
Ferdinand. The criminals were Austrian Serbs; but no proof was then or
has since been forthcoming as to the complicity of the Servian
Government. Nevertheless, in the state of acute tension long existing
between Servia and Austria-Hungary, the affair seemed the climax of a
series of efforts at wrecking the Dual Monarchy and setting up a
Serbo-Croatian Kingdom. Therefore German and Magyar sentiment caught
flame, and war with Servia was loudly demanded. Dr. Dillon, while
minimising the question of the murder, prophesied that the quarrel would
develop into a gigantic struggle between Teuton and Slav[550]. In this
connection we must remember that the Central Empires had twice dictated
to the rest of Europe: first, in the Bosnian crisis of 1908-9; secondly,
in the negotiations which led to the Treaty of Bukharest (August 1913).
On other occasions Kaiser William had bent the will of Tsar Nicholas
II., notably in the Potsdam interview of November 1910. It is therefore
possible that Berlin reckoned once more on the complaisance of Russia;
and in that event Austria would have dragooned Servia and refashioned
the Balkan lands at her will, Germany meanwhile "keeping the ring." This
explanation of the crisis is, however, open to the objection that the
questions at issue more vitally affected Russia than did those of
1908-10, and she had nearly recovered normal strength. Unless the
politicians of Berlin and Vienna were blind, they must have foreseen
that Russia would aid Servia in resisting the outrageous demands sent
from Vienna to Belgrade on July 23. Those demands were incompatible with
Servia's independence; and though she, within the stipulated forty-eight
hours, acquiesced in all save two of them, the Austrian Government
declared war (July 28). In so doing it relied on the assurances of the
German Ambassador, von Tchirsky, that Russia would not fight. But by way
of retort to the Austrian order for complete mobilisation (July 31, 1
A.M.), R