On June 29, 1914 Francis Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Countess Sophie, were shot to death in their carriage while riding to a state ceremony in Sarajevo, a city in the Austrian province of Bosnia.
The man who fired the shots was Gavrilo Princip, one of a group of seven conspirators of Slavic descent but residents of Bosnia. They believed the province had been unjustly seized by Austria, and demanded its return to Serbia, to which its inhabitants were ethnically related.
The conspirators had no personal animosity against the Archduke. He was simply a symbol of an alien and oppressive government. They were carrying out a terrorist raid against Austria-Hungary.
The Austrian government denounced the terrorists and blamed the Serbian nation for the crime. Austria was eager to bring the Balkans into its sphere of influence to facilitate the opening of trade routes to the Middle and Far East and seized on the murder as an excuse to make demands for favored treatment by Serbia. The Serbian government expressed official regrets for the murder, but among the people there was an undercurrent of approval of the assassination as a nationalistic defiance of the Austrian Empire.
The Austrian leaders were pleased. The Charge d’affaires in Serbia boasted, “Serbia must learn to fear us.” The Austrian foreign minister proclaimed, “Serbia must be beaten to earth.” Austria issued an ultimatum. Serbia rejected it. Austria declared war. Serbia called on its Slavic protestor, Russia, for help.
Austria asked Germany to fulfill its treaty obligations to defend Austria against Russia. France and England had treaty alliances with Russia and joined their ally. Turkey and Bulgaria enlisted on the side of Austria and Germany. World War I began. Italy and the United States came in later.
England’s Lord Grey mourned: “The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”
Four years of war ended with millions of young men killed and maimed in the “meat grinder” colossal destruction of property and wealth. Austria-Hungary was dismembered into three different nations. Turkey was torn up to form the warring countries of the Middle East – Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
Germany was split in two by the Polish corridor. Russia was driven into communism. Germany was pushed into Nazism. The centers of world power moved from London and Berlin to Washington and Moscow. Gavirilo Princip, who triggered it all died of tuberculosis in prison in 1918.
Behind it all was a struggle for access to and control of the commerce and wealth of Asia. My history professor called it the war between the Suez Canal and the Berlin-to-Bagdad railroad. Who won? The Panama Canal.
Two pistol shots in Sarajevo, followed by retaliation and retribution, triggered the greatest world-wide carnage known until that time, and set the stage for World War II 20 years later.
Terrorism is no new phenomenon in the world, but terrorism is not curbed by retaliation and retribution. Counter strikes only accelerate, multiply and intensify terrorist outbreaks. The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians bear eloquent testimony to this truth. The threats by the administration in Washington only provoke more terrorism. In more ways than one, the situation is reminiscent of Austria and Serbia.
What can be done? Nothing, by shooting off with the mouth or with guns.
First, let’s talk with each other; find out what our opponents want and whether their desires are reasonable. Can we help them attain their legitimate objectives? A labor union official once told me, “As long as opposing sides talk, they don’t shoot. When they stop talking the shooting begins.”
Second, nations to which terrorists belong can be brought before the World Court. The World Court decision in the Iranian hostages case in 1980 gave Jimmy Carter additional leverage to get the hostages freed with no loss of life. Unfortunately, Ronald Reagan has forfeited the use of the World Court by refusing to recognize its jurisdiction concerning CIA terrorism in mining and coastal waters of Nicaragua, and in issuing a manual of instruction for assassinating Nicaraguan leaders.
Finally we can experience a conversion from a people who want to dominate the world to become a people who serve. When the mother of James and John tried to get places of power for her two boys in Jesus’ kingdom, Jesus told his disciples, “You know the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. Not so shall it be with you, but whosoever would be great among you must be your servant.” Those words apply to nations as well as to individual persons.
No comments:
Post a Comment