Greece to roman road

In addition, with the development and growth of the Greek economy, the number of Greeks returning overseas has also increased rapidly and immigrated to the Greek mainland after the Greek army's consecutive victories.

In particular, Greeks in the Ottoman Empire had the strongest desire to immigrate to Greece.

The Greek government and the Ottoman government had been in contact specifically over the issue of Greeks in the Ottoman Empire. The two governments had reached a tacit understanding with each other that the Ottoman government would not prevent Christians from immigrating to Greece.

For the Young Turks, who were in power in the Ottoman Empire at this time, they wished that there were as few non-Turks in the country as possible.

This is also an important reason for the rapid growth of Greece's population.

In the final analysis, a prosperous and powerful country never lacks citizens.

A poor and weak country cannot help but dislike its own people.

After Constantine read the document, although he was physically exhausted, his spirit was still high because there was good news everywhere.

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When the time came to 1914, Constantine did not feel anything unusual, and the whole of Europe was still calm.

Under the wave of the second industrial revolution, the entire European economy is also developing rapidly, with a huge burst of productivity and a large amount of material surplus. Everything seems to be wonderful.

Constantine also took a break from trivial matters, and together with Sophie, took a navy destroyer to go to Crete for vacation.

Crete in June has bright sunshine, golden beaches, and azure sea water, which is like a flawless sapphire, as clear and transparent as rows of white waves, lapping on the beach with a "swishing" sound. .

Under the parasol, Constantine and Sophie lay on the soft chairs together, enjoying the sea breeze leisurely.

For Constantine, such carefree days are really rare.

In the past two years, the Balkans have been at war. As the de facto supreme commander of the Greek army, Constantine worked hard and slept hard.

Although Constantine did not have to take care of as many concrete things as Prime Minister Venizelos, Constantine still had a full schedule during the two Balkan wars: visiting wounded and wounded soldiers, and cheering for the people in public. Morale, follow the advice of the staff, instruct the general staff on the battle plan, etc.

The attendant in black uniform came under the parasol in a shocking manner and woke up the couple who were enjoying the Mediterranean style.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, His Royal Highness the Crown Princess, just received a telegram from Athens."

In order to facilitate contact, the destroyer was also stationed in Crete during the Constantine and his wife's vacation, so that Athens could contact the two at any time.

Sighing, Constantine pushed away the sunglasses on his face, squinted at the attendant and said, "Didn't I say, if you have anything to do, try to put it away and don't disturb me at this time."

The attendant seemed not to have heard anything and said loudly: "The telegram said that Athens has just received the news that Crown Prince Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was assassinated by a Serbian during an inspection in Sarajevo, including the crown prince's concubine. Including Sophia, both the couple died."

"What!"

Constantine swept away his laziness and snatched the telegram from the attendant to confirm the shocking news.

Sophie, who was also sunbathing, sat up from the lounge chair, covered her mouth and exclaimed: "Oh my God, poor Rudolf (the name of the Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire)"

Constantine, with a serious face, said to the attendant: "Cancel all vacation matters, inform the captain, prepare to sail immediately, and let the warship warm up the boiler immediately."

The Sarajevo incident was like a stone thrown into water, causing ripples throughout Europe.

At night on July 31, Constantine, who returned to Athens, had no time to rest and went directly to the Prime Minister's Office in Venizelos.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I am afraid that war will break out in Europe again," Constantine said in a heavy voice.

"Will it lead to such serious consequences?" Venizelos hesitated.

Venizelos, who is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, naturally has a clear understanding of the current European situation.

After the First Balkan War in 1912, Serbia's territory and population almost doubled, which greatly inspired the nationalists in Serbia.

After the Second Balkan War broke out in 1913, due to concerns that Serbia would once again expand its territory and become unruly, the Austro-Hungarian Empire used military means again - sending troops to carry out live-fire exercises on the north bank of the Danube River a short distance away from Belgrade. The roar of gunfire could be clearly heard in Gullah.

In a very humiliating way, Serbia was ordered not to participate in the war.

As a result, Greece won a great victory after the war, gained a large area of ​​territory and population, and reached a new level of strength.

As much as Serbia envied and envied Greece, it hated and hated the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The two countries already had old grievances - in 1908, the Austro-Hungarian Empire took advantage of the Ottoman revolution and annexed the Bohemian region, which was dominated by Slavs.

In addition, there were a large number of Slavs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the eyes of Serbian nationalists, these were their compatriots.

Also out of considerations of weakening Serbia, Austria-Hungary resolutely resisted the proposal to merge Montenegro with Serbia.

Precisely because the conflict between the two was sharp and intense, although Venizelos was shocked by the news of Ferdinand's assassination, he was not too surprised.

"Even if the two countries conflict, will it trigger a war that will affect the entire Europe?" Venizelos seemed to be asking Constantine, but also seemed to be asking himself as the foreign minister.

Venizelos was thinking quickly about the possible direction of the incident. Serbia was Russia's staunch ally in the Balkans. When the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, Russia was eager to recover from the trauma caused by the Russo-Japanese War and failed to respond. The little Slavic brother Serbia calls for help.

Relying on its alliance with Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was emboldened and threatened Russia with war.

The Poch incident in 1908 shook Russia's majesty as a great power. Bulgaria saw that its big brother was nothing more than that and could not even protect his younger brother. There was already a rift between Bulgaria and the Germans, and they immediately started to squabble with the Germans.

Russia is deeply ashamed.

Now that there is another turmoil between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbia, even if it is for its own face, Russia will not sit idly by and support its Slavic brother who has the same language and race.

After all, nearly ten years have passed since the Russo-Japanese War, and the wounds have long since healed.

Serbia has the support of the Russian big brother, so it is naturally confident.

On the Austro-Hungarian side, there is the support of Germany, the largest power in Europe.

Another alliance had been concluded between Russia and France.

There is an unforgettable hatred between France and Germany.

The Franco-Prussian War is an eternal hatred in the hearts of the French.

Italy is also an ally of Germany.

Although the UK has not made its position clear yet, according to the UK's consistent style, in order to achieve the goal of European balance, it has always been the UK's first choice to win over secondary powers to attack the European hegemon.

Therefore, between France and Germany, which just became Europe's largest industrial power last year, the UK's choice is easy to guess.

This is the complicated European political and diplomatic situation, in which one move can affect the whole body.