Moreover, Italy had just burned through military funds far exceeding expectations in the Italo-Turkish War. If they stubbornly tried to compete with the Austro-Hungarian Empire's navy, they would likely tear their own pants first.
"Your Highness, it is our supreme honor for you to grace SMS Vienna with your presence."
The Admiral of SMS Vienna and a group of officers lined up to welcome him.
The massive new battleship, fresh from the shipyard, was enough to get one's blood pumping just by being anchored there.
Karl couldn't help but feel some anticipation.
What would the vienna-class of the Austro-Hungarian Navy actually be like?
...
Karl arrived in Trieste by battleship, then transferred to a train to reach Vienna. He didn't even have time to step into his own home before arriving, naturally, at Schönbrunn Palace.
The Emperor and various ministers were already waiting there.
In the suffocating meeting room, no one dared to speak easily. All the ministers kept their mouths tightly shut, fearing the Emperor's wrath would fall upon them.
If one wanted to spend the rest of their life in peace at home at this moment, the simplest way would be to ignite the temper of this sensitive Emperor.
The atmosphere was far more severe than imagined. Serbia, which already had strained relations with the Empire, had allowed two royal family members with succession rights to be nearly assassinated.
It was no exaggeration to say that if Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Karl had died, the Empire would have lost its future from then on.
The Empire would inevitably face violent upheaval, and after the octogenarian Emperor, the only person left to inherit the throne would be Karl's newborn child, Otto.
But he was far too young—too young to bear any political reality. If both heirs were lost at once, this massive empire, pieced together from multiple ethnicities and regions, would ultimately be unable to escape the fate of falling apart. The Habsburg Dynasty's balance, maintained for centuries, would collapse in an instant.
This was an event far greater than imagined.
However, not everyone in the world follows the crowd. There are always those who, in the most tense moments, still insist on their own views and say what they want to say.
People usually call such individuals madmen.
"Your Majesty!"
Hetzendorf, who had once been dismissed and transferred from the Imperial Guard to Chief of Staff, and had now returned to the position of Chief of the General Staff, suddenly stood up from his seat and shouted loudly.
"The Empire has already suffered threats and challenges from the outside! Serbia covets Bosnia! Romania intends to seize Transylvania! Italy desires to extend its influence to Trentino and even the entire Balkan Peninsula! Therefore, the Empire must prove to the world that we are still strong! Habsburg remains a power in Europe that cannot be ignored!"
As expected, Hetzendorf had not changed at all; every word out of his mouth was about war. His thinking was still stuck in the 19th-century way of solving everything through military action.
But the Emperor's expression seemed unusually hesitant. Both the Emperor and Franz Ferdinand remained opposed to war.
The Emperor knew well that once war broke out, the Empire would inevitably need to make more concessions to the Slavic peoples, which was a dangerous move that would shake the Empire's foundations. As for Franz Ferdinand, he always believed that war would only accelerate the Empire's fragmentation and cause the already fragile ethnic structure to spiral out of control.
Even after being severely injured in this attempted assassination, Franz Ferdinand's thoughts remained unshaken.
No matter what, they must not move toward war.
However, even if the Emperor and Franz Ferdinand held such beliefs, the Empire could not turn a blind eye to the current situation, nor could it choose to escape.
If it had only been a local governor assassinated, there might have been room for maneuver. With the Russian Empire or other great powers mediating, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire gaining some interests in return, the matter would have passed. Such precedents were not uncommon in European diplomatic history.
But Karl and Franz Ferdinand were different.
This was a blatant humiliation of the Empire, a provocation that no major power could tolerate. Even if only for the sake of outward appearance, they could not simply swallow their pride.
To have no reaction when two royal heirs were nearly killed would directly shake the Empire's prestige. What talk could there be of rule and order for an empire that could not even protect its own heirs?
"Behind Serbia is the Russian Empire."
When the words "Russian Empire" were spoken, the sound of someone swallowing hard was clearly audible in the meeting room.
From Petersburg's perspective, the only country capable of restraining the Austro-Hungarian Empire and projecting power into the Balkan Peninsula was Serbia. The banner of pan-slavism was the tool they used to leverage this region.
So, what action would Russia actually take?
Even though it had just suffered a crushing defeat in the Russo-Japanese War and was reeling from a wave of domestic revolution, the Russian Empire was still that empire spanning Europe and Asia with massive military forces.
"Your Majesty, strike first! In the name of the assassination, completely subdue Serbia and clear the path to the Balkans!"
"Chief of Staff, be quiet."
The Emperor raised his hand, silencing Hetzendorf's loud clamor.
He detested war, yet he also understood that the Empire had to take action.
In that case...
"Your Majesty, how about sending an ultimatum to Serbia?"
"An ultimatum?"
"In any case, the assassination attempt on my uncle and me cannot simply be brushed aside. But my uncle and I are also opposed to war. We should use the mediation of the great powers to force Serbia to bow at the diplomatic level."
Karl was also against war. No one knew better than Karl what kind of preparation war required, and for that reason, he understood even better that for the sake of peace, one must always be prepared for war. But as for war itself, it was best if it did not happen at all.
However, Serbia could not be left alone. If they backed down now, it would only make them more brazen in provoking the Empire.
Serbia was exactly that kind of gutsy nation. Back then, regarding the issue of Albanian independence, they were almost willing to go to war with the great powers over it.
Since a clash was inevitable sooner or later, it was better to suppress them when there was a legitimate reason.
Against Serbia, mild measures were absolutely impossible. Given the weight of the two heirs, Serbia had to pay a heavy price for this.
The only question was whether the Russian Empire would tolerate all this. But even so, they could not back down out of fear. Karl and the others were nearly killed; were they supposed to take a step back because of that?
If it could be resolved as peacefully as possible, pushing the war further back, there might still be room for maneuver.
"Foreign Minister."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Send someone to Berlin. After securing Germany's support, then send the ultimatum to Serbia.