To my peoples!

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To my peoples!
Kaiservilla in Bad Ischl (view from the park)
The official alliance situation in the July crisis

To my peoples! on July 28, 1914 , the Austro-Hungarian government declared war on Serbia . It appeared in German in the Wiener Zeitung , No. 175, of July 29, 1914 and was the official communication to the peoples of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. In his proclamationon July 28, 1914 , Emperor Franz Joseph (1830–1916)proclaimedwar on Serbia from his villa in Bad Ischl , which marked the beginning of the First World War due to the complex alliancesituation.

The declaration of war

The introductory passage of the proclamation of the aged monarch reads:

“It was my ardent wish to consecrate the years that are still destined for me by God's grace to works of peace and to protect my peoples from the heavy sacrifices and burdens of war. In the council of providence it was decided otherwise. "

The proclamation was preceded by a short letter to the Prime Minister Karl von Stürgkh , in which the emperor confirmed the declaration of war on Serbia and expressed his need to address his beloved peoples in this fateful hour.

“To Meine Völker!” Had already served as a headline for a declaration of war, for example in the declaration of war on Prussia in 1866 and was also used in the 1915 announcement of Italy's entry into the First World War (against Austria-Hungary). Since Austria-Hungary was a multi-ethnic state , the plural of “people” was used in his public appeal.

After the assassination attempt on June 28, 1914 on the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (1863-1914) and his wife Sophie (1868-1914) in Sarajevo , diplomatic relations between Austria-Hungary and Serbia were strained. After weeks of discussion, the leaders of the government and the army of the empire decided to risk war with Serbia in the hope of a short and victorious campaign.

The document was distributed throughout the empire and published the morning of the next day. At that time, several European countries had already started to mobilize their troops. The text cites Serbia's hatred of the emperor and his house as the reason for the war and claims that the empire tried all possible ways to avoid the conflict. The document was signed by Emperor Franz Joseph and the Prime Minister Karl von Stürgkh . The conviction of some that a peaceful solution could still be reached was quickly dashed: all political parties, including the Social Democrats , expressed their support for the war.

On July 29, 1914, d. H. only a day later, Belgrade was attacked for the first time . On July 31, the Army High Command of Austria-Hungary announced a general mobilization and on August 12 the offensive in Serbia began. Other European powers entered World War I in early August.

On the occasion of the centenary at the beginning of the First World War, the Austrian National Library organized an exhibition entitled An Meine Völker! The First World War 1914–1918 .

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His k. and k. Your Apostolic Majesty have graciously deigned to issue the following Most High Handwriting and Manifesto:

Dear Count Stürgkh!

I have definitely found myself to instruct the Minister of My House and Foreign Affairs to notify the Royal Serbian Government of the entry into a state of war between the monarchy and Serbia.

In this fateful hour I feel the need to turn to my beloved peoples. I therefore instruct you to bring the stored manifesto for general announcement.

Bad Ischl, on July 28, 1914.

Franz Joseph mp
Stürgkh mp


To my peoples!

It was my ardent wish to consecrate the years that have still been granted to me through God's grace to works of peace and to protect my peoples from the heavy sacrifices and burdens of war.

In the council of Providence it was decided otherwise.

The activities of a hateful opponent force me to take up swords to preserve the honor of my monarchy, to protect their reputation and their position of power, to secure their property after long years of peace.

With quickly forgetting ingratitude, the Kingdom of Serbia, which had been supported and promoted by My Ancestors and Mir from the first beginnings of its state independence up to the most recent times, embarked on the path of open hostility against Austria-Hungary years ago.

When, after three decades of beneficial peace work in Bosnia and Hercegovina, I extended My rulers' rights to these countries, this My decree in the Kingdom of Serbia, whose rights were in no way violated, provoked outbreaks of rampant passion and bitter hatred. At that time my government made use of the beautiful prerogatives of the fittest and, with the utmost indulgence and leniency, only demanded that Serbia lower its army to the peacetime level and promise to follow the path of peace and friendship in the future.

Guided by the same spirit of moderation, when Serbia was engaged in battle with the Turkish Empire two years ago, My Government limited itself to maintaining the most important living conditions of the monarchy. It was to this attitude that Serbia owed in the first place the achievement of the war purpose.

The hope that the Serbian Kingdom will appreciate the long-suffering and love for peace of My Government and will keep its word has not been fulfilled.

The hatred against me and my house flares up higher and higher, the striving to tear away inseparable regions of Austria-Hungary by force becomes more and more uncovered.

A criminal activity reaches across the border in order to undermine the foundations of state order in the southeast of the monarchy, to make the people, to whom I give my full care in paternal love, wavering in their loyalty to the ruling house and to the fatherland, to mislead and mislead the adolescent youth to incite outrageous acts of madness and high treason. A series of assassinations, a systematically prepared and carried out conspiracy, the terrible success of which struck me and my peoples in the heart, forms the bloody trace of those secret machinations that were initiated and directed from Serbia.

This unbearable hustle and bustle must be put to a halt, the incessant challenges of Serbia must be put to an end if the honor and dignity of my monarchy is to be preserved intact and its state, economic and military development is to be preserved from constant shocks.

My government made one last attempt in vain to achieve this goal by peaceful means, to persuade Serbia to turn back by issuing a serious warning.

Serbia has rejected the measured and just demands of My Government and refused to fulfill those duties, the fulfillment of which in the life of peoples and states forms the natural and necessary basis of peace.

So I must then proceed to create the indispensable guarantees by force of arms, which are to secure my states the peace within and the lasting peace outside.

In this serious hour I am fully aware of the full scope of my decision and my responsibility before the Almighty.

I've checked and weighed everything.

With a clear conscience I tread the path that duty shows me.

I trust in my peoples, who have always gathered around my throne in unity and loyalty in all storms and were always ready to make the heaviest sacrifices for the honor, greatness and power of the fatherland.

I trust in Austria-Hungary's brave and passionate armed forces.

And I trust in the Almighty that He will give victory to My weapons.

Franz Joseph mp
Stürgkh mp

See also

References and footnotes

  1. ↑ text
  2. ↑ Text ("The King of Italy has declared war on Me.")
  3. ↑ See e.g. B. the leading article The Day of the German Nation by the then editor-in-chief Friedrich Austerlitz (1862–1931) in the Arbeiter-Zeitung on August 5, 1914.
  4. ^ The cascade of declarations of war after July 28, 1914 - nachrichten.at
  5. ↑ To My Peoples (in the web archive)
  6. ^ Facsimile of the Wiener Zeitung at ANNO

literature

Web links