On June 28th 1914, a group 6 of teenagers wishing for Serbia's independence hear news of the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand was to be driven down the streets of Serbia. The men prepare and all are armed when Franz arrives, and the setting makes assassination all too easy fore they were riding in a topless automobile, out for everyone on the streets to see. The first 4 men do not assassinate him or his wife due to weapon malfunctions, pity, or not being able to commit a murder and on by one, the car passes them all. Then a youngster walks up and throws a grenade, it misses Franz and hits and utterly destroyed innocent civilians. They caught the man and the final teenager, sad about the fact that they couldn't assassinate Franz, goes down a street and eats a sandwich. The driver to Franz's car takes a wrong turn and appears right in front of the teen, just inches away, and he murders both the Arch Duke and his wife with 2 bullets that would change the world forever. This assassination was the first event that led up to the horrible first world war, which would cost the lives over 37 million souls. This war would cause the US to be what we are today, the world power. It ushered in the modern age. It was the cause of WWII, the Holocaust, and Fascism. It was even the cause for 9/11 itself. The world would've been completely different had if Germany's won or if the war never happened in the first place. So that begs the question, what if didn't happen? This is going to be a long series, about what if the war never happened? I call it World War 0. Forget everything I just said, cue the story!
June 28th, 1914 Through August 11th, 1914
A group of assassins attempted to assassinate the Arch Duke of Austria-Hungary, and each of the 6 teens failed. They faced trial and were accused guilty of attempt of assassination, possession of illegal pills of cyanide, and terrorism of innocent lives. After the trial ended, Franz Ferdinand ordered the employment of over 50,000 constables in Serbia and this caused all crime in Serbia to drop completely. The current Czar of Russia, Nicolas the second, had questioned their alliance and Nicolas decided to end their alliance in the most insulting way possible, by ripping in half in front the Serbian representative's face. Needless to say that caused a lot of tension. Spain's king, Alfonso the Thirteenth, visits Franz Ferdinand and they have a conversation over some tea. Alfonso decided to ask the reason why he came, then, on August 11th, 1914, Spain and Austria-Hungary became allies.
August 14th, 1914
The idea of Spain and Austria-Hungary being allies was a horrifying thought, the fact two of the most powerful monarchies ever are working together shattered any idea of war. To add on to that, Austria-Hungary was allied with Germany, Europe's greatest war. War would be stupid and would cause utter destruction. But guess what happened? A minor and quick war. Portugal declared war on Spain which brought in Austria-Hungary and Germany to the fight. The president of Portugal, Manuel de Arriaga, knew that most of his empire would be straight up destroyed. But he knew it'd be worth it in the end. For this war gave all the reason more to go to the UK for something that he needed for to happen.
August 17th, 1914 Through August 20th 1914
Manuel sailed to the UK to visit the king himself, George the 5th. Manuel and George walked along the beach of England and talked for a while then Manuel pitched an alliance, at first, George denied but once Manuel offered fusion, that's when they got somewhere. So on August 20th, the UK became the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Ireland, and Iberia. This made Portugal still a republic but owned by the UK. So since Portugal is a part of the UK, that means Spain, Germany, and Austria-Hungary were at war with the one nation that could equal or best their power; the UK. This made Franz scared and a peace treaty was signed between the UK and the 3 nations and made UK unable to attack these nations but each of these nations would pay the UK 1000 US Dollars each month to balance everything out. Why did Manuel want this? Well, because although Portugal had decent power, a considerable amount of colonies, and was prosperous they could've been crushed in a second by the alliance between the three of the most powerful nation. He wanted Portugal to be powerful while keeping the citizens happy, and he knew only one thing to do, combine with the UK to make one of the most powerful nations ever even stronger.
Well, that's it for today.
