On this day in history, July 5, 2014, Kaiser Wilhem II of Germany pledged his full support to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire to punish Serbia for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne and his wife Sophie, while they were on an official state visit to Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. Bosnian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, a member of a terrorist organization called the Black Hand shot the couple out of his radical desire for national independence for South Slavic people.
Germany pledged their support to Austria-Hungary to maintain a balance of power within Europe. The alliance of the two centrally-located nations within Europe provided a counterbalance towards the growing power of France to the west and Russia to the east. The Kaiser’s pledge of allegiance and “blank check” was an effort to ensure peace in the Slavic region and to preempt future Russia intervention in Austria-Hungarian affairs with Serbia. The July 5th pledge was read by other European powers as a step towards war.
Within less than a month, on August 4, 1914, the first shots were fired in the Great War and two rival alliances had been formed. The Central Powers was an alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. The Allies was an alliance of France, United Kingdom, Russia, Serbia and several other nations.
This “war to end all wars” was a quagmire. After twenty million men died and over twenty million men suffered injuries, an armistice was declared on November 11,1918.
The memory and mistakes of WWI still looms large in the national consciousness of many nations. In thousands of many small towns throughout the world there are statues, plaques and museums to remember the fallen dead. In Westminster Abbey in London a plaque remembering the unknown warriors of the First World War lies in the central aisle. In Australia and New Zealand, ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance of fallen soldiers who joined the fight for the British Empire. And in the United States, WWI soldiers are remembered on Veteran’s Day, commemorated every year on November 11th. Given the disastrous loss of life and the political upheaval caused by the entangling alliances of WWI, nations are still weary to enter into an alliance, especially an alliance with a “blank check.”
In light of WWI, it is illuminating to read God’s repeated refrain to Israel to avoid alliances. Even in the most difficult circumstances, God consistently told His people to not rely upon other nations in order to protect their land or further their interests. God has always called His people to rely solely and completely on Him. When Israel disobeyed Him and allied with other nations, God reprove them, as the Lord did through the Prophet Isaiah:
“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust
in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very
strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord! And yet
he is wise and brings disaster; he does not call back his words, but will arise
against the house of the evildoers and against the helpers of those who
work iniquity. The Egyptians are man, and not God, and their horses are
flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out his hand, the helper will
stumble, and he who is helped will fall, and they will all perish together. For
thus the Lord said to me, “As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey, and
when a band of shepherds is called out against him he is not terrified by their
shouting or daunted at their noise, so the Lord of hosts will come down to
fight on Mount Zion and on its hill. Like birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts
will protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it; he will spare and rescue
it” (Is.31: 1-4).
Human wisdom believes alliances will protect them from harm. Leaders of Austria-Hungary, on July 5, 1914, believed they were protected from further aggression from foreign powers due to the full-fledged German support. The opposite occurred. Due to the alliance system, over ten nations declared war on Austria-Hungary.
God knows that there is a better way. He knows what we truly need is to be allied with Him. He alone is able to protect us from the greatest enemy: Satan, sin and death. By allying ourselves with the Lord through faith in His Son, we are truly safe.
If we seek an alliance with a person, nation, cause, wealth, fame, a job, or anything else apart from Him, we will fail. Yet allying ourselves with the Lord will result in salvation, protection, deliverance and rescue. Isaiah’s prophecy did come to pass. Christ, “the Lord of hosts . . . [did] come down to Mount Zion on its hill” (Is. 31:4) to die on a cross, to show us that He is willing to ally with us in human form, even unto death, so that we may be wonderfully allied with Him to eternity.