(Apologies for the delay) 19th JULY, 1914 The Austro-Hungarian Crown council finally agrees upon the wording of its ultimatum to Serbia. In something of a humiliation to the Austro-Hungarian state, the German Foreign Minister, Von Jagow, instructs the Austrians to hold back presenting their Ultimatum by one day (the 23rd of July, rather than the 22nd) to ensure that the French Foreign Minister and Premiere are at sea following the conclusion of their diplomatic summit in St. Petersburg. Germany decides that the element of surprise it had hoped for with an Austrian invasion of Serbia will be lost, and instead changes direction, planning a policy of localization attempting to minimize the conflict to Austria and Serbia while using diplomatic channels to avoid additional entanglements. Foreign Minister Von Jagow blunders and informs the North German Gazette, a semi-official publication, that the rest of the world should allow the Austrian resolution of dispute with the Serbs to be a localized matter. The suspicious French Foreign Office questions what the Germans could possibly know that the rest of the world does not. The British Ambassador to Berlin responds to French concerns by stating, We do not know the facts. The German government clearly do know. They know what the Austrian government is going to demand...and I think we may say with some assurance that they had expressed approval of those demands and promised support should dangerous complications ensure...the German government did not believe that there is any danger of war.” #TheGreatWar
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 03:41:10 +0000
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