The reconstruction of South-Eastern Europe

THE RECONSTRUCTION OF

the interests and ambitions of her ruling caste into complete harmony with those of Germany. And it is equally true that the governing quarters in Austria-Hungary would never have embarked upon such a perilous enterprise, had they not been backed by the tremendous military organisation of Germany and protected by her shining armour.

Germany, who prepared everything in a methodical and punctual way, left nothing to chance. During the Algeciras crisis Europe was on the verge of war, and peace was only preserved thanks to the unpreparedness of Austria-Hungary and her reluctance to accept the Moroccan question as an issue for a European conflagration. Germany on that occasion swallowed the humiliation, but she resolved in deadly earnest to lie in ambush and to use the first Austrian incident to precipitate a crisis surpassing everything in the magnitude and weight of the interests involved. Of course she was sure that she would not have to wait long, and used the few succeeding years in supervising her own preparations and adding some last devices to her vast arsenal of deadly weapons. This is why the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand was used as the pretext for the war. And here we propose to dwell upon the part AustriaHungary consciously and unconsciously played in that terrible plot against European liberties and world civilisation.

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