Serbia, conciliatory, accepted all ten points of the ultimatum except the sixth, which required that Austro-Hungarian officials oversee the internal affairs of Serbia, an unacceptable affront to the latter’s national sovereignty. This refusal was the pretext Austria-Hungary was waiting for to set off hostilities. Count Leopold von Berchtold, the Austro-Hungarian foreign minister, sent a telegram with the unequivocal ending: “Henceforth, Austria-Hungary considers itself at war with Serbia.” The Serbs mobilized their army.
Image from the Apocalypse World War I series.
©Gaumont Pathé Archives