Chronicling America
The First World War was an unprecedented catastrophe that form our mod world . Erik Sass is covering the events of the war exactly 100 years after they happened . This is the 134th installation in the series .
July 27-28, 1914: Austria-Hungary Declares War on Serbia
In the final hebdomad of July 1914 , after a 10 of confrontation and near misses , mounting tensions between the two independent European alliance blocs finally come to a head . Seizing on the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand as a pretext , Austria - Hungary delivered anultimatumcontaining unacceptable need to Serbia on July 23 . European diplomat scrambled to defuse the situation , but on July 25 , Serbia , assuredof Russian sustenance , refuse to knuckle under — and Austria - Hungary , likewise assured of German support , rejectedthe Serbian response , set the groundwork for war .
The wheels of fate were spin fast now , as Austria - Hungary ’s Emperor Franz Josef ordered militarisation against Serbia and Russia ’s Tsar Nicholas II dictate “ pre - mobilization ” measures and contemplated mobilizing against Austria - Hungary . But no one had declared war yet , so there was still a prospect — albeit ever - diminishing — that war might be averted by a face - saving compromise , handing Austria - Hungary a diplomatic victory while keep up Serbian sovereignty .
It was not to be . The legal action of Germany and Austria - Hungary on Monday , July 27 and Tuesday , July 28 clinched their guilt as the inadvertent author of the Great War . In the human face of growing evidence that Austria - Hungary ’s war against Serbia would not stay localize , they continued to usher out warnings from Russia , France , Britain , and Italy as bluff and proceed with their plan , employ deception to make it seem like intermediation had a luck — when in fact they never mean to negotiate .
July 27: British Suspicions
Such a request would require verbatim talks between Russia and Austria - Hungary — but behind closed door the Germans sabotaged the opening by telling the Austrians to reject both outside mediation . The curse proof comes from the Austro - Hungarian embassador to Berlin , Count Szőgyény , who sent a secret telegram to Foreign Minister Berchtold in Vienna say
In other word , the Germans were only going through the apparent motion in decree to make the British intend their intentions were passive , hopefully create enough mix-up and delay that Austria - Hungary could quickly crush Serbia while the Great Powers were still “ talking . ” And if the Russians left the negotiating board and hold warfare on Austria - Hungary , with any fate ( the Germans hoped ) the French and British would view Russia as the assailant and resist to come to her aid .
But the Germans were far too optimistic about their chances of “ splitting ” the Triple Entente through diplomatic subterfuge . While Grey may have been slow to dig what was really come about , he was n’t so naïve as to believe that Austria - Hungary would roleplay against her powerful friend ’s wishes . As early as July 22 , Grey ’s own Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs , Eyre Crowe , warned that the Germans were act in bad faith : “ It is difficult to understand the posture of the German Government . On the face of it , it does not give birth the mold of straightforwardness . If they really are anxious to see Austria kept reasonably in hitch , they are in the best location to mouth at Vienna . ” By the eve of July 27 , Grey ’s suspicions about Germany ’s genuine aim were growing , according to the German ambassador to London , Prince Lichnowsky , who warned Berlin that
Grey ’s room for manoeuvre was still throttle by the fact that many of his colleague in the Liberal cabinet opposed any involvement in a continental warfare , which forestall him from issuing explicit scourge . yet , on July 27 , he signal that Britain might become involved by allowing First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill keep the First and Second Fleets mobilized after the imperial review article from July 18 to 26 .
Berlin Goes All In
Berlin ’s response was simply to double down on its deception . Around midnight on the eventide of July 27 , Chancellor Bethmann - Hollweg ordered the German ambassador to Vienna , Tschirschky , to transcend along Grey ’s offer of mediation to Austria - Hungary — but only to debar the percept , both at home and abroad , that Germany was in the wrong :
This move was plainly insincere because Foreign Secretary Jagow never pull away his statement to Austria - Hungary ’s ambassador Count Szőgyény that Vienna should ignore the offer of intermediation . moreover , during the afternoon of July 27 , the Germans learned that Austria - Hungary planned to adjudge warfare the next day , but never need Vienna to delay the declaration to allow prison term for negotiations . Thus the Germans would just profess to sample to reason with Austria - Hungary until she declared war , presenting the other Great Powers with a fait accompli and ultimately call their four flush .
This was always going to be a huge gamble , but decisiveness makers in Berlin and Vienna seemed to be in the suitcase of a world - weary fatalism . On July 27 , Bethmann - Hollweg ’s friend and intimate , philosopher Kurt Riezler , drop a line in his journal : “ Everything depends on whether St. Petersburg immediately mobilizes and is encourage or keep back by the West … The Chancellor call back that fate , stronger than any human big businessman , is deciding the future of Europe and our masses . ” Later that evening , as the international scene maturate sour , another of Riezler ’s diary entrance sums up the unbelievable complexness of the situation , whose explosive elaborateness appeared to defy comprehension , rent alone control :
By the eventide of July 27 , panic was spreading across Europe . The gunstock exchanges fill up in Vienna and Budapest , the twin capitals of Austria - Hungary , as well as the Belgian capital of Brussels , reflecting unease over the possibility of a German invasion . In Berlin , German socialists organized anti - war protests which drew 60,000 mass ( contradicting afterwards wartime propaganda that Germans embraced warfare wholeheartedly ) . Meanwhile Joseph Joffre , tribal chief of the French general staff , ordered 40,000 Gallic troop from Morocco and Algeria to return to France in case of warfare .
July 28: The Kaiser’s About-Face
In Germany , the morning of Tuesday , July 28 set about on a bizarre note , with a sudden reverse by Kaiser Wilhelm II , who had hurriedly riposte from his yacht trip in the Norwegian fjords to in person oversee German foreign policy . However , his change of affection could n’t avert the at hand disaster — in part because his own subordinate ignore him .
The the true was that Germany ’s political and military leaders never really trusted their mercurial principal of DoS to follow through on his vow to support Austria - Hungary ’s flak on Serbia . In fact , their suspicion of Wilhelm ( who was notorious for mislay his nerve in crisis situations ) was such that several key players , including Chancellor Bethmann - Hollweg and Foreign Secretary Jagow , withheld information from him and dragged their feet carry out his orders at key moments in the crisis .
Even though the school text of the Serbian reply was received in Berlin around noon on July 27 , Wilhelm did n’t see the text until the next dayspring — at which gunpoint he decide that the Serbs ’ accord to nine out of 11 conditions meant there was now no need to fight , scribbling : “ A great moral success for Vienna ; but with it all intellect for state of war is go . ”
This unbelievable about - face was on the face of it the product of aspiring thinking and belated wisdom , as it was becoming light that Britain and Italy would not , in fact , abide away in a European war . or else , Wilhelm suggested a irregular occupation of Belgrade to secure Serbian compliance . In this scenario , Austria - Hungary would leave most of Serbia untouched so as to allay Russian fears , but still hold the Serbian capital as a bargaining cow chip , to be returned after the Serbs convey out all the Austrian demands : “ On reading the Serbian reply … I am persuaded that on the whole the wishes of the Danubian Monarchy are met . The few reservations made by Serbia on single points can in my opinion well be cleared up by dialogue … This will best be done by Austria ’s occupying Belgrade as security measure for the enforcement and execution of the promise … ”
Bethmann - Hollweg and Jagow doubtless rolled their eyes at the Kaiser ’s a la mode somerset - dud : The “ hitch in Belgrade ” estimate was not only impractical — there was no reason to think Russia would be more amenable to a circumscribed occupation of the Serbian majuscule — it also missed the whole point of the design and was border to annoy Austria - Hungary follow Germany ’s repeatedpromisesof support for a full - on state of war against Serbia . So they more or less brushed it off . Of course , they could n’t totally discount their Danaus plexippus ’s orders , but they waitress until the eve of July 28 — after Austria - Hungary had already declared war on Serbia — to kick the bucket the suggestion along to Vienna . Ironically the Kaiser , like the repose of Europe , find out himself present with a fait accompli .
The Declaration of War
Exactly one calendar month after theassassinationof Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo , at 11 am on Tuesday , July 28 , Emperor Franz Josef signed the declaration of war against Serbia . Ten moment later on , Count Berchtold station a wire to Belgrade ( a fitting opening to the first warfare of the advanced geological era , as this was apparently the first time in account warfare was hold by wire ) stating simply :
At the same fourth dimension , Berchtold sent a message to all the other Great Powers reprising the reasons for its announcement of warfare , while reassuring the Russians , once again , that Austria - Hungary had no programme to annex Serbian territory . Unsurprisingly , these premises and promise did not impress St. Petersburg , where military expediency was about to overshadow exhausted diplomacy .
Madison.com
Austria - Hungary ’s resolve of war on Serbia showed that all Germany ’s talk of the town of attempt to keep back its ally had basically been a sham , because Austria - Hungary would never have launched the war without German support . After hearing the news around 4 p.m. , Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Sazonov reacted with fury , summoning the German embassador , Friedrich Pourtalès , and launching into a tirade to the effect ( as Pourtalès tell ) that
Increasingly desperate , Sazonov turned yet again to Britain , the only Great Power that might still be able-bodied to get Germany to rein in Austria - Hungary — despite the fact that Foreign Secretary Edward Grey had already repel several call to make explicit threats to Germany . In his teaching to the Russian ambassador to London , Benckendorff , Sazonov wrote :
Russians Draw Up Mobilization Orders
As his diplomatical efforts ran into the sands , Sazonov now tried to use the threat of military legal action to get Austria - Hungary to arrest military training against Serbia . This was a dangerous escalation , carry of a fatalistic attitude exchangeable to the one prevailing in Germany . General Sergei Dobrorolski , the boss of the mobilization division of the Russian general staff , recounted : “ On 28 July , the day of the Austro - Hungarian declaration of war against Serbia , Sazonov all at once abandons his optimism . He is interpenetrate by the thought that a worldwide warfare is inescapable … ”
Already on July 25 , Tsar Nicholas II had ordered “ pre - mobilization ” measures include promotion of cadets to full officers , bringing frontier units up to full strong point , and recall soldiery out on maneuver , and he also tally “ in principle ” to a fond mobilization against Austria - Hungary ( which , the Russians hoped , would indicate they did not intend to lash out Germany ) . On July 28 , Sazonov and the other member of the Imperial Council were disposed to ask the Tsar to order fond mobilization as soon as the next daylight — but they soon learn it was n’t the simple .
On July 26 , the Quartermaster General of the Russian Army , Yuri Danilov , look sharp back from a duty tour of the provinces to excuse that partial mobilization against Austria - Hungary by itself was impossible , as the universal staff only had program for a universal mobilization against both Germany and Austria - Hungary . establish the incredible scale leaf and complexness of mobilization plans , which necessitate coordinating the movements of grand of trains , there was no way to improvise a fresh plan for partial mobilization against Austria - Hungary in just a few day . And even if it were possible , fond mobilization would be positively dangerous because the improvised measure would almost certainly contrive a monkey wrench into the plans for general mobilization — leaving Russia defenseless if Germany come to Austria - Hungary ’s aid ( as she needs would ) .
Largely because of these protests from the oecumenical staff , on the even of July 28 , Tsar Nicholas II , indecisive as ever , govern the Imperial Council to draw up two militarization decrees , or ukazes — one order partial militarisation and the other ordering general militarisation . He would sign both of them on the dayspring of July 29 so that Sazonov could bring out the order straight off if Austria - Hungary did n’t halt its military preparations against Serbia . Russia was about to cross the Rubicon .
Alarm in Germany
In fact , Russian pre - mobilization mensuration were already stoking fear in Germany , where the general staff knew that the winner of theSchlieffen Plandepended on beating France before Russia had time to mobilize . As shortly as the Russians commence preparing for state of war — irrespective of whether they called it “ pre - mobilization ” or something else — the clock was ticking for Germany , which had just six weeks to defeat France before the Russians would start to well over East Prussia .
New York Times via Wikimedia
On July 27 , the German ambassador to St. Petersburg , Pourtalès , had warned Berlin of the “ very considerable increase in Russian military unit , ” while the Germany military attaché , Major Eggeling , warned the Russian Minister of War , Sukhomlinov , that “ even mobilization against Austria alone must be involve as very dangerous . ” The message was restate by Pourtalès , who tell Sazonov on Bethmann - Hollweg ’s instructions that “ Preparatory military measures on the part of Russia organize in any elbow room against us would oblige us to take counter - measures which would have to dwell in the mobilisation of the United States Army . Mobilization , however , means warfare . ” The other member of the Triple Entente also inspire care , with the British embassador , Buchanan , recommending on July 27 that Russian militarisation should be “ put over as long as potential , ” and the ferociously anti - German French embassador , Paléologue , giving the same advice on July 28 — but only because it would help convince the British that Germany and Austria - Hungary , not Russia , were responsible for the war .
By the evening of July 28 , the mood in Berlin was dreary indeed , as War MinisterFalkenhaynwarned Kaiser Wilhelm that they had already “ lost control over events ” and the chief of the worldwide staff Helmuth von Moltke forecast , in an overview he wrote for Bethmann - Hollweg that Europe was about to embark on a “ world warfare … that will destroy civilization in almost all of Europe for decades to come”—but added that Germany would never have a better chance to succeed than she did now .
Germany Negotiate Treaty with Ottoman Empire
With warfare looming and Italy , the third extremity of the Triple Alliance , reckon increasinglyunlikelyto fight on their side , the Germans were desperate to scoop up any allies they could . Now they give up their longstanding policy of calculatedambiguitytowards the Ottoman Empire and in mid - July signaled that they would look at a full - fledge alignment with Constantinople .
Naturally , the Turks — who justly fear Russian designs on Constantinople , and had been look for a patron and guardian among the other Great Powers for eld — jump at the opportunity . After drawing up a first draft on July 24 , on July 27 and 28 Minister of War Enver Pasha met secretly with the German embassador , Baron Hans von Wangenheim , to forge out the final wording of the arrangement they would signalize on August 2 . But in the week that followed , the tricky Turks added a telephone number of conditions , include the total abolition of the humiliating “ capitulation ” which pass European powers authority over Ottoman subjects , and monumental financial and military assistance .
The Germans ’ task was made easy by Britain ’s confiscation of twobattleshipsunder construction for the Ottoman Empire , the Reshad V and Sultan Osman I , on July 28 , which sparked scandalization in the Turkish world ; average Turks had evoke money to pay for the ship with public subscriptions and fund drive . First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill justified the confiscation on the ground of military essential , but many critic said his highhanded move press the Ottoman Empire into Germany ’s arm . It just so happened that two German battlewagon , the Goeben and the Breslau , were cruising in the Mediterranean when the warfare better out — and they would provide perfect recompense for the ship stolen by the treacherous British .
Madame Caillaux Found Innocent
Even the dark-skinned moments in chronicle have their unexpected moments of absurdity . On July 28 , as the domain was coming apart at the bed , a French jury line up Madame Henriette Caillaux , the wife of left-wing politico Joseph Caillaux , not guilty of themurderof Gaston Calmette , the editor program of the materialistic newspaperLe Figaro , on March 16 , 1914 .
This was an interesting verdict to say the least , as Madame Caillaux freely admitted to shoot Calmette in his power , in orderliness to forbid him from publishing scandalous letters compose to her by Joseph Caillaux when he was still married to another woman . Ironically , some of the letters were read out in lawcourt anyway , include one suggestive reference to “ a thousand million kisses all over your adore little body”—apparently touch to intimate acts that were sealed to raise brow in early 20th one C France , causing Madame Caillaux conk in the court from the sheer opprobrium of it all .
In a especially French turn ( which also reflected the ingrain sexism of the meter ) , the jury find Madame Caillaux not hangdog of murder because , as a fair sex , she was more prostrate to give in to irrational , passionate feelings , and therefore not responsible for her military action when she killed Calmette . However , this reasoning did n’t seem to win over the angry crime syndicate that besiege the courthouse , squall “ murderess , ” after the verdict was announce .
See theprevious installmentorall entries .
