"You think the Lord Emperor will let this go? Then, you don’t know him well enough. There must be war with the Turks. They’ve killed the royal nephew, so we must go and kick their ass. A war is guaranteed. Serbia and Russia will help us in that war. It will be a rumble."

Švejk looked radiant in this moment of prophecy. His simpleton-like face shone brightly. Everything was clear to him.

"Could be," he said, continuing his exposition of the future of Austria, "that, in case of a war with the Turks, the Germans will attack us, because the Germans and the Turks stick together. They are double-crossers without equal in all the world. But, we can unite with France. It has been waiting for an excuse to fight Germany since 1871. And, that’ll get things going then for sure. There will be war and I'll say no more."