The July Crisis is emphasized today, July 25, 1914, when the Russian government vows to support Serbia with military strength if necessary.
Belgrade
In the morning, Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pasic sends a telegram to his ambassadors. Still not sure about Russia's intentions. If all the weight of the Austro-Hungarian army is going to fall on Serbia, they don't have the men or the equipment to stop them for long. Telegram's content is backed up by a separate report on the government's attitude sent by Crackanthorpe to Sir Edward Gray. The Serbian government, at this moment, has no choice but to accept the ultimatum at every point. Therefore there will be no war.
And then the telegrams from Russia begin to arrive. By noon, the Serbian cabinet has in its power a message indicating that Russia will take "energetic measures, including mobilization" and that will publish an "official statement in which Russia takes Serbia under its protection." This, needless to say, is a radical game changer. The Serbian cabinet immediately begins drafting a new response to the ultimatum. It's too long to quote, and it takes them so long to write them out that they almost lose the deadline entirely.
With fifteen minutes to the end of the ultimatum period, they've finished their job. They have written a message aimed at almost everyone, except the Austro-Hungarian government. They have blatantly refused to accept point 6, which requires them to allow Austro-Hungarian officials to investigate and prosecute Serbs accused of being part of the plot for Franz Ferdinand's assassination. Many of the remaining spots are accepted only subject to coverages, conditions and inquiries.
And so the Austro-Hungarian ambassador in Belgrade, Giesl von Gieslingen, waits in his office for a message whose content he can already guess. By the afternoon of the 25, the orders had been leaving the cabinet. The Serbian army is mobilizing and institutions of all kinds are leaving for Kragujevac and Nis, away from the vulnerable location of Belgrade, across the Danube, from Austria-Hungary. Nikola Pasic shows up with five minutes to spare to deliver the message. 35 minutes later, Giesl von Gieslingen is pulling his diplomatic staff out of Belgrade and becoming the first of July's major stars to disappear from sight.
The reactions from the powers will come and because Serbia does not comply with all Austro-Hungarian demands, it is clear that there will be a war. The only question left is "how big will it be?". ".

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