The government managed to pass the loan through a vote in parliament despite furious opposition. The debate took place among numerous fist fights. The prime minister was seen to wave a revolver above his head. The government claimed the loan had been approved by show of hands. The loan agreement was a heavy defeat for Russian and French diplomacy, whose attention was also diverted by the July Crisis surrounding the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. At this point, it did not yield a firm commitment by Tsar Ferdinand and Bulgaria to the cause of the Central Powers. On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian-Serb student and member of Young Bosnia, assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo, Bosnia. This began a period of diplomatic manoeuvring between Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France and Britain called the July Crisis. Wanting to end Serbian interference in Bosnia conclusively, Austria-Hungary delivered the July Ultimatum to Serbia, a series of ten demands that were intentionally meant to be unacceptable in order to precipitate a war with Serbia. When Serbia acceded to only eight of the ten demands levied against it in the ultimatum, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914. Within days, the conflict spread to most of Europe and encompassed all of the major Great Powers. Many other European countries however, including Italy and Romania who had previously been affiliated with one of the major war alliances, preferred to stay neutral. Immediately following the outbreak of hostilities, the Bulgarian tsar and prime minister decided to declare a policy of "strict and loyal" neutrality, a stance that was popular with both ruling and opposition parties. Radoslavov also realized that the lack of proper diplomatic preparation and support from some of the Great Powers had been a major cause for the Bulgarian defeat in 1913, and he intended not to repeat the same mistakes. In order to adjust to the new reality of war, the government managed to pass a bill for the declaration of martial law and a bill for an internal loan of 50 million leva for the needs of the army. The news of Bulgarian neutrality was received well in Entente capitals, even if their approach towards the country differed. Initially, these powers thought the war would be short. Bulgaria was not given an important role in their plans, as its diplomatic isolation was viewed as weakness. Romania, with its large population and strategic position on the flank of Austria-Hungary, was reckoned a more attractive ally.