Already, well before the July Crisis, the Austrian General and Military chief of staff, Conrad von Hoetzendorf commented: "Only an aggressive policy with positive goals will be able to protect against collapse and achieve success."

Foreign Minister Count Leopold Berchtold urged "the use of force to eliminate the danger of Serbia for ever."

Imagined as the solution of the "South Slav Problem" was the partition of Serbia among Rumania, Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary.

Graphic evidence of AustroHungarian eagerness for war is this this contemporary phote of an Austrian soldier holding a "Death Certificate" with Serbia named as the deceased.