The proximate cause of the Great War was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the crown prince of Austria,

by a Serb nationalist extremist, and Austria's wish to punish Serbia for the murder.

Austria's declaration of war against Serbia set off a series of events that led to a massive German offensive through neutral Belgium,

which captured the world's attention, not least because on the Eastern Front nothing was happening.

It took the Austrian army two weeks to mobilize in preparation for an assault on Serbia, but now at last, 45 days after the

assassination, Austria is ready to take her revenge. Or so she thinks. Welcome to the history

of the 20th century.

Music history of the 20th century. Episode 85 Zerbian Muststherbian.

The sentence Serbian muststermian translates into English as Serbia must die.

Now, if you've studied German, you probably know that the German word for die is Sturban, not Scherbien, but this is a case of poetic license for the sake of the rhyme.

It was part of a jingle popular in Austria in the early days of the Great War.

There are different versions, but a typical one would go something like this.

Bullets for the Russians, shots for the French, hits for the Brits,

and Serbia must die. Catchy. The Austrian grievance against Serbia triggered the Great War,

but as we have seen, it was far from the only grievance now bursting into open warfare.

It was just the spark. French revengeism,

German resentment that had perceived encirclement, a Russian desire to maintain a stake in the

Balkans and Steinmet Austria, and the traditional British opposition to allowing any one nation

to dominate continental Europe. These were the kindling that fed the flames.

Nevertheless, this Austrian grievance against Serbia remains for the Austrians, the main focus of the war.

You'll recall that the Austrian chief of staff, Field Marshal Franz Konrad von Hutzendorf,

had been agitating for war against Serbia for years.

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