History of the American Negro in the Great World War | Page 8

The assassination
occurred at Sarajevo in Bosnia, a dependency, or rather, a Slavic state
that had been seized by Austria. It was the lightning flash that
preceeded the thunder's mighty crash.
Much has been written of the causes which led to the tragedy. Prinzip
may have been a fanatic, but he was undoubtedly aided in his act by a
number of others. The natural inference immediately formed was that
the murder was the outcome of years of ill feeling between Serbia and
Austria-Hungary, due to the belief of the people in the smaller state,
that their aspirations as a nation were hampered and blocked by the
German element in the Austrian empire. The countries had been on the
verge of war several years before over the seizure of Bosnia and
Herzegovina by Austria, and later over the disposition of Scutari and
certain Albanian territory conquered in the Balkan-Turkish struggle.
Events are coming to light which may place a new construction on the
causes leading to the assassination at Sarajevo. It was undoubtedly the
pretext sought by Germany for starting the great war. Whether it may
not have been carefully planned to serve that object and the Serbian
Prinzip, employed as a tool to bring it about, is not so certain.
Several years prior to the war, the celebrated Russian, Tolstoy, gave
utterance to a remarkable prophecy. Tolstoy was a mystic, and it was
not unusual for him to go into a semi-trance state in which he professed
to peer far into the future and obtain visions of things beyond the ken of
average men. The Russian czar was superstitious and it is said that the
German emperor had a strong leaning towards the mystic and psychic.
In fact, it has been stated that the Kaiser's claim to a partnership with
The Almighty was the result of delusions formed in his consultations
with mediums--the modern descendants of the soothsayers of olden
times.
Tolstoy stated that both the Czar and the Kaiser desired to consult with

him and test his powers of divination. The three had a memorable
sitting. Some time afterwards the results were given to the world.
Tolstoy predicted the great war, and he stated his belief that the torch
which would start the conflagration would be lighted in the Balkans
about 1913.
Tolstoy was not a friend of either Russian or German autocracy, hence
his seance may have been but a clever ruse to discover what was in the
minds of the two rulers. Germany probably was not ready to start the
war in 1913, but there is abundant warrant for the belief that she was
trimming the torch at that time, and, who knows, the deluded Prinzip
may have been the torch.
The old dotard Francis Joseph who occupied the throne of
Austria-Hungary, was completely under the domination of the Germans.
He could be relied upon to further any designs which the Kaiser and the
German war lords might have.
The younger man, Francis Ferdinand, was not so easy to handle as his
aged uncle. Accounts agree that he was arrogant, ambitious and had a
will of his own. He was unpopular in his country and probably
unpopular with the Germans. Being of the disposition he was, it is very
likely that the Kaiser found it difficult to bend him completely to his
will. Being a stumbling block in the way of German aims, is it not
reasonably probable that Germany desired to get rid of him, thus
leaving Austria-Hungary completely in the power of its tool and puppet,
Francis Joseph, and in the event of his death, in the power of the young
and suppliant Karl; another instrument easily bent to the German will?
The wife of the archduke, assassinated with him, was a Bohemian, her
maiden name being Sophie Chotek. She was not of noble blood as
Bohemia had no nobles. They had been driven out of the country
centuries before and their titles and estates conferred on indigent
Spanish and Austrian adventurers. Not being of noble birth, she was
but the morgantic wife of the Austrian heir. Titles were afterwards
conferred upon her. She was made a countess and then a duchess. Some
say she had been an actress; not unlikely, for actresses possessed an
especial appeal to Austrian royalty. The cruel Hapsburgs rendered dull

witted and inefficient by generations of inbreeding, were fascinated by
the bright and handsome women of the stage. At any rate, Sophie
Chotek belonged to that virile, practical race Bohemians, (also called
Czechs) that gave to the world John Huss, who lighted the fires of
religious and civil liberty in Central Europe, giving advent later to the
work of Martin Luther.
Bohemians had always been liberty-loving. They had been anxious for
three centuries to throw off the yoke of Austria. There is