Chapter 758 - 348: Austria-Serbia Peace Talks (Part 2)

The remaining Cabinet Ministers were also sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment. Among them, the trusted Foreign Secretary of the former Prime Minister Nikola Hristic was sentenced to life imprisonment, with no possibility of reduction or early release under any pretext or reason.

Compared to these confidants of the former Cabinet Prime Ministers who were purged, the confidants of Serbian King Milan Obrenovic and some military non-partisan individuals were widely promoted.

The most representative of these is the Serbian Chief of Staff, Costa Protic. To gain military support, Serbian King Milan Obrenovic directly appointed Chief of Staff Costa Protic to head the Provisional Military Government and promised him that he would serve as the next Prime Minister of the Serbian Cabinet Government in the future.

This can be considered a political exchange of interests. After Chief of Staff Costa Protic was promoted to the supreme leader of the government, Serbian King Milan Obrenovic also successfully placed a few of his confidants within the military.

Precisely because Serbian King Milan Obrenovic gained the support of the military, his purge of the former Cabinet Government went very smoothly.

Even though the previous Cabinet Government had Russian support, it was still unable to withstand the joint purge by the military and the King.

Besides the few Ministers of the Cabinet Government who suffered, many members of the Prime Minister’s party were also purged.

The more serious cases were directly expelled from Serbia, while the less serious ones were sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment.

One must admit that Serbian King Milan Obrenovic’s political tactics are relatively clever. Not only did he completely shift the responsibility for Serbia’s defeat onto the Cabinet Government, but he also indirectly gained a degree of influence by collaborating with the military.

Although he cannot completely control the government yet, by cooperating with the military, he can still secure his throne.

It should be known that in the original history, this King, due to his overly pro-Austrian inclination, was eventually forced to abdicate to his son Alexander in 1889, which is this year.

As things stand, due to the impact of this war, Milan Obrenovic’s throne can remain stable for a few more years.

Of course, Milan Obrenovic’s ability to stabilize his throne once again through a series of means cannot be separated from the support given to him by Austria-Hungary.

When the pro-Russian Cabinet Government was in power, the Austrian Army’s attacks were quite fierce. Austrian media continued to spread bad news about the war in Serbia, stirring up dissatisfaction among Serbians towards the Cabinet Government.

But after Milan Obrenovic took control of the government through a series of means, the Austrian Army not only began to orderly withdraw from Serbia but also left behind a batch of supplies to help Serbia restore order.

Of course, in name, these supplies were not voluntarily left by the Austrians but were obtained after the great King of the Serbs, Milan Obrenovic, argued with reason, persuading the Austrians to give them up.

In any case, whatever excuses may be used, some disaster-stricken Serbians indeed received this batch of supplies.

Although these supplies are not many, they can ensure that those Serbians whose families have been shattered do not go hungry for the time being.

In comparison to the previous Cabinet Government, which caused their families to be destroyed, Serbians can see that the current King does possess a certain degree of capability.

After temporarily consolidating domestic order, the Serbian Provisional Government immediately contacted Austria-Hungary to begin peace negotiations between the two sides.

According to normal logic, this war erupted due to the border conflict between Serbia and Austria-Hungary, which means that peace negotiations had to include resolving the border conflict between Serbia and Austria-Hungary.

However, the peace talks between Germany and Russia have stalled, mainly due to the debate over the Serbian issue.

Austria-Hungary, having controlled the situation through the pro-Austrian Serbian King, naturally would not foolishly wait for Russia to come to the negotiating table.

Much can still be said about this pro-Austrian Serbian King, Milan Obrenovic.

After Serbia’s independence, there were extremely fierce disputes and contradictions in Serbia regarding the pro-Austrian and pro-Russian directions.

As a pro-Austrian Serbian King, Milan Obrenovic, to gain support from Austria-Hungary, signed a trade treaty and a secret agreement with Austria-Hungary.

This trade treaty forfeited Serbia’s economic sovereignty, allowing Austro-Hungarian industrial products to flood the Serbian market instantly.

The secret agreement, in effect, forced Serbia to relinquish sovereignty. During that period, Serbia had to follow the lead of Austria-Hungary, maintaining alignment in diplomacy.

Serbia’s strong pro-Austrian stance left Tsarist Russia, self-styled leader and protector of the Slavs, utterly astonished.

Geographically, Serbia holds great importance, even more so than Bulgaria to some extent.

It serves as both the front line for Russia against Serbia and a bridgehead for Austria-Hungary’s southern expansion.

Whoever can gain Serbia’s support will gain the upper hand in the struggle for the Balkans.

To make Serbia a pro-Russian country once more, Tsarist Russia took various efforts, ultimately fostering a pro-Russian government that sidelined the King.