5 July 1914

[Andrew Hesketh]

Meeting at Potsdam between Kaiser and Austrian Ambassador. Kaiser believed to have delivered the so-called blank cheque, giving Austria the green-light for their war with Serbia............the consequences being everything ever written on this forum and much, much more.

[BottsGreys]

"Sir M. de Bunsen to Sir Edward Grey (Received July 9)

Confidential

Vienna, July 5, 1914

Sir,

I had some conversation to-day with M. Schebeko, Russian Ambassador, concerning the feeling of bitterness which exists here against Servia and its possible consequences. M. Schebeko doubts if the animosity penetrates deep down among the Austrian people though it certainly pervades upper society circles. He cannot believe that the country will allow itself to be rushed into war, for an isolated combat with Servia would be impossible and Russia would be compelled to take up arms in defence of Servia. Of this there could be no question. A Servian war meant a general European war. ....I fear there is ground to regard almost all sections of the population as being just now blindly incensed against the Servians, and I have heard on good authority that many persons holding usually quite moderate and sensible views on foreign affairs are expressing themselves now in the sense that Austria will at least be compelled to give evidence of her strength by settling once and for all her long-standing accounts with Servia, and by striking such a blow as will reduce that country to impotence for the future. In military circles these views certainly prevail..."

(My bold)

Chris

[duckman]

Eyes Wide Shut.

While Kaiser Wilhelm is lunching with Szögeny - and giving him the "blank cheque" - Arthur Zimmermann (later of "that" telegram fame) meets with Berchtold's secretary Alexander Hoyos.

Zimmermann, fresh from reading two General Staff papers on Russias growing readiness for war, tells Hoyos that if Austria acts against Serbia, "there is a 90 percent probability of a European war." He goes on to say that if Austria became entangled in the Balkans the German army was capable of fighting alone of both fronts."

When Hoyos later repeated those remarks to Conrad, the Austrian Chief-of-Staff would retort "Zimmermann does not know what he is talking about."

As Hoyos was leaving Zimmermann he remarked, "You could not have believed that Austria-Hungary would quietly accept the murder of the heir apparent and do nothing about it?" To which Zimmermann replied "No, but we were a little afraid you might."

[Doug Lewis]

1st Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment- South Africa

"in June training was interrupted by orders to stand by for strike duties in the Rand,where serious disturbances had occcured. On 5th July the Battalion,less the band and details,entrained for Germinston,a few miles east of Johannasburg,to find the town filled with rioters wearing red rosettes,waving red flags and brandishing revolvers. However the presence of the troops had a calming effect,for they were not involved."

History of the South Staffordshire Regiment

Vale 1969.

This was their last duties as a garrison force,within six weeks they would be returning home to join up with the rest of the 7th Division in Lyndhurst camp.

Regards Doug.

[ianw]

I find this slow and inevitable (with hindsight) slide towards war absolutely chilling.

Thanks to those who have taken the trouble to post details of those diplomatic meetings so far away in Central Europe. Surely war can still be averted. These chaps are like something out of a comic opera - various counts and Grand-Dukes of odd sounding places.

It's easy to see how, in the midst of a beautiful summer (much better than our current one !), war is a ridiculous and absurd impossibility. The cricket season is in full swing , don't you know !

[duckman]

German Foreign Minister Gottlieb von Jagow departs on his honeymoon. Nothing happening in Berlin that could warrant his attention....

[michaeldr]

Meeting at Potsdam between Kaiser and Austrian Ambassador. Kaiser believed to have delivered the so-called blank cheque, giving Austria the green-light for their war with Serbia

From “Ambassador Morgenthua’s Story” by Henry Morgenthau [uS Ambassador to Ottoman Turkey]

Chapter VI

‘Wangenheim tells the American Ambassador how the Kaiser started the War’

“I have already mentioned that the German Ambassador had left for Berlin soon after the assassination of the Grand Duke, and he now revealed the cause of his sudden disappearance. The Kaiser, he told me, had summoned him to Berlin for an imperial conference. This meeting took place at Potsdam on July 5th. The Kaiser presided and nearly all the important ambassadors attended. Wangenheim himself was summoned to give assurance about Turkey and enlighten his associates generally on the situation in Constantinople, which was then regarded as almost the pivotal point in the impending war. In telling me who attended this conference Wangenheim used no names, though he specifically said that among them were---the facts are so important that I quote his exact words in the German which he used---"die Häupter des Generalstabs und der Marine"---(The heads of the general staff and of the navy) by which I have assumed that he meant Von Moltke and Von Tirpitz. The great bankers, railroad directors, and the captains of German industry, all of whom were as necessary to German war preparations as the army itself, also attended.

Wangenheim now told me that the Kaiser solemnly put the question to each man in turn: "Are you ready for war?" All replied "yes" except the financiers.

They said that they must have two weeks to sell their foreign securities and to make loans. At that time few people had looked upon the Sarajevo tragedy as something that would inevitably lead to war. This conference, Wangenheim. told me, took all precautions that no such suspicion should be aroused. It decided to give the bankers time to readjust their finances for the coming war, and then the several members went quietly back to their work or started on vacations. The Kaiser went to Norway on his yacht, Von Bethmann-Hollweg left for a rest, and Wangenheim returned to Constantinople.

In telling me about this conference Wangenheim, of course, admitted that Germany had precipitated the war. I think that he was rather proud of the whole performance, proud that Germany had gone about the matter in so methodical and far-seeing a way, and especially proud that he himself had been invited to participate in so epoch-making a gathering. I have often wondered why he revealed to me so momentous a secret, and I think that perhaps the real reason was his excessive vanity---his desire to show me how close he stood to the inner counsels of his emperor and the part that he had played in bringing on this conflict. Whatever the motive, this indiscretion certainly had the effect of showing me who were really the guilty parties in this monstrous crime.”

ps: It seems likely that this meeting preceded that between the Kaiser and the Austrian Ambassador, and that as a result of the German financiers' request for two weeks in which to raise funds, the Kaiser’s asked Austria-Hungary two wait for a couple of weeks before ‘cashing’ his blank cheque. Austria duly obliged and its ultimatum to Serbia was issued eighteen days later. Morgenthau’s chapter goes on to quote examples from the financial markets which he believed prove that the German financiers used this time well.

Edited 3 August , 2004 by michaeldr