János Csernoch received the red biretta from Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (who was to be assassinated in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914). He was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen in 1915. On 30 December 1916, as Primate of Hungary he crowned King Charles IV of Hungary, who was at the same time Charles I of Austria. He participated in the conclave of 1914, which elected Pope Benedict XV, and in that of 1922, which elected Pope Pius XI. He died in office in 1927. János Csernoch János Csernoch ("Slovak": Ján Černoch) S.T.D. (18 June 1852
French entry into World War I was not sincere in seeking peace. The French consensus was that war was inevitable. The war arose from conflict between two alliances: the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria and Italy, and the Triple Entente of France, Russia and Britain. France had had a military alliance with Russia since 1894, designed primarily to neutralize the German threat to both countries. Germany had a military alliance with Austria-Hungary. In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, was assassinated. The government of Austria decided to destroy Serbia once and for all, for stirring up trouble among ethnic Slavs. Berlin