The Imperial Rescript and Manifesto.



     Ischl, July 28.



     Dear Count Stürgkh:



     I have resolved to instruct the Ministers of my Household and

     Foreign Affairs to notify the Royal Serbian Government of the

     beginning of a state of war between the Monarchy and Serbia. In

     this fateful hour I feel the need of turning to my beloved peoples.

     I command you, therefore, to publish the inclosed manifesto.



MANIFESTO.



     To my peoples! It was my fervent wish to consecrate the years

     which, by the grace of God, still remain to me, to the works of

     peace and to protect my peoples from the heavy sacrifices and

     burdens of war. Providence, in its wisdom, has otherwise decreed.

     The intrigues of a malevolent opponent compel me, in the defense of

     the honor of my Monarchy, for the protection of its dignity and its

     position as a power, for the security of its possessions, to grasp

     the sword after long years of peace.



     With a quickly forgetful ingratitude, the Kingdom of Serbia, which,

     from the first beginnings of its independence as a State until

     quite recently, had been supported and assisted by my ancestors,

     has for years trodden the path of open hostility to

     Austria-Hungary. When, after three decades of fruitful work for

     peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I extended my Sovereign rights to

     those lands, my decree called forth in the Kingdom of Serbia, whose

     rights were in nowise injured, outbreaks of unrestrained passion

     and the bitterest hate. My Government at that time employed the

     handsome privileges of the stronger, and with extreme consideration

     and leniency only requested Serbia to reduce her army to a peace

     footing and to promise that, for the future, she would tread the

     path of peace and friendship. Guided by the same spirit of

     moderation, my Government, when Serbia, two years ago, was

     embroiled in a struggle with the Turkish Empire, restricted its

     action to the defense of the most serious and vital interests of

     the Monarchy. It was to this attitude that Serbia primarily owed

     the attainment of the objects of that war.



     The hope that the Serbian Kingdom would appreciate the patience and

     love of peace of my Government and would keep its word has not been

     fulfilled. The flame of its hatred for myself and my house has

     blazed always higher; the design to tear from us by force

     inseparable portions of Austria-Hungary has been made manifest with

     less and less disguise. A criminal propaganda has extended over the

     frontier with the object of destroying the foundations of State

     order in the southeastern part of the monarchy; of making

     the people, to whom I, in my paternal affection, extended my full

     confidence, waver in its loyalty to the ruling house and to the

     Fatherland; of leading astray its growing youth and inciting it to

     mischievous deeds of madness and high treason. A series of

     murderous attacks, an organized, carefully prepared, and well

     carried out conspiracy, whose fruitful success wounded me and my

     loyal peoples to the heart, forms a visible bloody track of those

     secret machinations which were operated and directed in Serbia.



     A halt must be called to these intolerable proceedings and an end

     must be put to the incessant provocations of Serbia. The honor and

     dignity of my monarchy must be preserved unimpaired, and its

     political, economic, and military development must be guarded from

     these continual shocks. In vain did my Government make a last

     attempt to accomplish this object by peaceful means and to induce

     Serbia, by means of a serious warning, to desist. Serbia has

     rejected the just and moderate demands of my Government and refused

     to conform to those obligations the fulfillment of which forms the

     natural and necessary foundation of peace in the life of peoples

     and States. I must therefore proceed by force of arms to secure

     those indispensable pledges which alone can insure tranquillity to

     my States within and lasting peace without.



     In this solemn hour I am fully conscious of the whole significance

     of my resolve and my responsibility before the Almighty. I have

     examined and weighed everything, and with a serene conscience I set

     out on the path to which my duty points. I trust in my peoples,

     who, throughout every storm, have always rallied in unity and

     loyalty around my throne, and have always been prepared for the

     severest sacrifices for the honor, the greatness, and the might of

     the Fatherland. I trust in Austria-Hungary's brave and devoted

     forces, and I trust in the Almighty to give the victory to my arms.



     FRANZ JOSEPH mppria