Reiwa Chemist Yōko Takatsukasa Reincarnation: Saving Japan with Plastic Material

Anything to Crush the Russians. No Regrets.

Basically, Japan's diplomatic policy in this era was pro-British, with Russia as the perennial virtual enemy, followed by China. Japan primarily supported Britain and even cooperated to make Tibet independent to harass China. However, amid all this, there was a country that rapidly deepened its relationship with Japan after the Russo-Japanese War – Austria-Hungary.

Austria-Hungary was a major country located to the south of Germany, encompassing modern Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and roughly half of the former Yugoslavia, and has strength in its sophisticated culture. While there had been historical conflicts with Germany, they were currently in a military alliance, with 40% of foreign investments coming from Germany.

So, why did Japan approach Austria-Hungary, which they hadn't had particularly good relations with? The ostensible reason was to contain Russia. Russia was supporting Serbia in its conflict with Serbia over Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Austria-Hungary saw Serbia as a Slavic nation, similar to Russia. Yōko's plan was to "intervene in the Sarajevo incident if possible and prevent World War I." However, it was not believable to suddenly say, "The Archduke will be assassinated! Austria will be destroyed!" So, Hiromichi came up with a more plausible reason and proposed it to the Japanese government.

Although Japan had approached Austria-Hungary for rather dubious reasons, Austria-Hungary held positive feelings toward Japan, which had overwhelmed Russia in land battles, and even considered the possibility of breaking away from Britain. As a result, they had substantial interactions, deeper than historical records suggest. The Japanese government provided scholarships for Austrians to study and sent Army officers to learn the secrets of winter warfare. In return, the Japanese military simulated the Russian army from the Russo-Japanese War for military exercises to prepare for a potential conflict with Russia. Despite being often underestimated as a weak army in European countries, Austria-Hungary was somewhat improved by this exchange. The two countries, which rapidly deepened their relationship, were met with suspicion from the dominant powers in their respective alliances. However, they simply stated, "We're doing it to detach Austria [Japan] from Germany [Britain]," and since this was indeed the case, further investigation was not pursued.

. . .

And on that fateful day of June 28, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Archduke and Duchess were visiting Sarajevo. Japan, which had been building a spy network in the Balkans, with Croatia within Austria-Hungary as its base, had caught wind of movements to assassinate the Archduke and had warned the Austro-Hungarian government through its army. Despite the Archduke's insistence on visiting Sarajevo, the proposal from the local military commander, which was also an OTL thing, to "strengthen security" was accepted, and soldiers were stationed along the inspection route at regular intervals.

"Look, the local residents are welcoming us so warmly. There's nothing to worry about."

"Is that really so? I have a bad feeling about this..."

Amidst cheers from the local residents, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie talked to each other. It was at that moment.

"A bomb! Get down!"

As soon as the security soldier shouted, there was a deafening explosion, blowing everything around. As Japan had warned, Serbian nationalists had been lying in wait to assassinate the Austro-Hungarian Archduke and his wife.

"Sophie! Sophie, are you okay!?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm unharmed."

"Thank God... Driver, step on it! Get us out of here!"

It seemed the driver had the same idea, as the parade procession sped down the road and rushed into Sarajevo City Hall. There were other assassins waiting along the road, but they couldn't do anything to the speeding car.

"It seems that some fools tried to kill me, but I'm rejoicing that their attempt ended in failure."

Afterward, Franz Ferdinand stated this at the welcome ceremony at Sarajevo City Hall, but the assassins had not given up yet.

The group was heading to Sarajevo Hospital to visit those injured in the bombing earlier. The lead car took a wrong turn and made a right instead of going straight, causing the Archduke and Duchess' car to follow suit.

"No, not that way! Go straight!" the Bosnia-Herzegovina governor, who was in the car, pointed this out, and the car stopped at that moment.

"What are you doing!?"

As the security soldier shouted, two gunshots were fired at the Archduke and Duchess. Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist who had been hiding in the crowd, rushed towards the couple's car and fired. However, due to the shout from the security soldier, Princip staggered, causing his aim to deviate. As a result, the two shots hit the Archduke and Duchess in the chest, but they were wearing bulletproof vests made by Teijin, so the bullets did not penetrate, causing only minor bruises.

"Bastard! What have you done!"

"Kill that son of a bitch!"

The crowd on the road erupted in anger, and Princip was beaten. There were still other assassins, but they couldn't do anything against the reinforced security, and ultimately, they failed to assassinate the Austro-Hungarian Archduke and Duchess. This was the outcome of the Sarajevo incident in this timeline.

. . .

"Alright! The Austro-Hungarian Archduke survived! If this means no First World War, hooray!"

"I don't think it's going to be that simple..."

Upon hearing of the Sarajevo incident and the survival of the Archduke, Yōko couldn't contain her joy and made a triumphant pose. However, Hiromichi calmly pointed out the flaws in her optimism.

"I doubt it'll go that smoothly, you know...?"

"Put simply, our country is to blame. We gave Russia a beating in the Russo-Japanese War, right? From the German perspective, they want to strike before Russia fully recovers from the losses back then."

"So, you mean even if the Austro-Hungarian Archduke survives, they'll use the attempted assassination incident as an excuse to start a war?"

Hiromichi's analysis was correct. Austria-Hungary, as in OTL, presented Serbia with a set of ten demands, some of which Serbia didn't accept, leading Austria-Hungary to declare war. This triggered Russia's declaration of war on Austria-Hungary, followed by France, and eventually, Germany sided with Austria-Hungary. In the end, just like in OTL, the First World War, which resulted in 16,6 million deaths and missing persons, began in this timeline as well.

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It was mentioned in the comments section that the Sarajevo incident might have ended without incident, but upon further investigation, it became clear that simply ensuring the survival of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke and Duchess wouldn't have prevented it, leading to this kind of development. Now, what will happen in Europe in the aftermath of this event remains to be seen...

- Toshitsugu Utei