July Crisis sources.docx

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Memoir of Count Franz von Harrach (bodyguard of Archduke Franz Ferdinand)

As the car quickly reversed, a thin stream of blood spurted from His Highness's mouth onto myright check. As I was pulling out my handkerchief to wipe the blood away from his mouth, the

Duchess cried out to him, "For God's sake! What has happened to you?"

At that she slid off the seat and lay on the floor of the car, with her face between his knees. I had no

idea that she too was hit and thought she had simply fainted with fright. Then I heard His Imperial

Highness say, "Sophie, Sophie, don't die. Stay alive for the children!"

At that, I seized the Archduke by the collar of his uniform, to stop his head dropping forward and

asked him if he was in great pain. He answered me quite distinctly, "It is nothing!" His face began

to twist somewhat but he went on repeating, six or seven times, ever more faintly as he gradually

lost consciousness, "It's nothing!" Then came a brief pause followed by a convulsive rattle in his

throat, caused by a loss of blood. This ceased on arrival at the governor's residence.

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Borijove Jevtic: The Murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo, 28 June 1914

A tiny clipping from a newspaper mailed without comment from a secret band of terrorists in

Zagreb, a capital of Croatia, to their comrades in Belgrade, was the torch which set the world afire

with war in 1914. That bit of paper wrecked old proud empires. It gave birth to new, free nations.

I was one of the members of the terrorist band in Belgrade which received it and, in those days, I and

my companions were regarded as desperate criminals. A price was on our heads. Today my little

band is seen in a different light, as pioneer patriots. It is recognized that our secret plans hatched in

an obscure caf in the capital of old Serbia, have led to the independence of the new Yugoslavia, the

united nation set free from Austrian domination.

The little clipping was from the Srobobran, a Croatian journal of limited circulation, and consisted

of a short telegram from Vienna. This telegram declared that the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand

would visit Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, 28 June, to direct army manoeuvres in the neighbouring

mountains.

How dared Franz Ferdinand, not only the representative of the oppressor but in his own person an

arrogant tyrant, enter Sarajevo on that day? Such an entry was a studied insult.

28 June is a date engraved deeply in the heart of every Serb, so that the day has a name of its own. It

is called the Vidovnan. It is the day on which the old Serbian kingdom was conquered by the Turks

at the battle of Amselfelde in 1389. It is also the day on which in the second Balkan War the Serbian

arms took glorious revenge on the Turk for his old victory and for the years of enslavement.

The fateful morning dawned. Two hours before Franz Ferdinand arrived in Sarajevo all the twenty-

two conspirators were in their allotted positions, armed and ready. They were distributed 500 yardsapart over the whole route along which the Archduke must travel from the railroad station to the


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town hall.

When Franz Ferdinand and his retinue drove from the station they were allowed to pass the first two

conspirators. The motor cars were driving too fast to make an attempt feasible and in the crowd were

Serbians: throwing a grenade would have killed many innocent people.

When the car passed Gabrinovic, the compositor, he threw his grenade. It hit the side of the car, but

Franz Ferdinand with presence of mind threw himself back and was uninjured. Several officers

riding in his attendance were injured.

The cars sped to the Town Hall and the rest of the conspirators did not interfere with them. After the

reception in the Town Hall General Potiorek, the Austrian Commander, pleaded with Franz

Ferdinand to leave the city, as it was seething with rebellion. The Archduke was persuaded to drive

the shortest way out of the city and to go quickly.

The road to the manoeuvres was shaped like the letter V, making a sharp turn at the bridge over the

River Nilgacka. Franz Ferdinand's car could go fast enough until it reached this spot but here it was

forced to slow down for the turn. Here Princip had taken his stand.

As the car came abreast he stepped forward from the curb, drew his automatic pistol from his coatand fired two shots. The first struck the wife of the Archduke, the Archduchess Sofia, in the

abdomen. She was an expectant mother. She died instantly.

The second bullet struck the Archduke close to the heart.

He uttered only one word; 'Sofia' - a call to his stricken wife. Then his head fell back and he

collapsed. He died almost instantly.

The officers seized Princip. They beat him over the head with the flat of their swords. They knocked

him down, they kicked him, scraped the skin from his neck with the edges of their swords, tortured

him, all but killed him.

Then he was taken to the Sarajevo gaol. The next day he was transferred to the military prison andthe round-up of his fellow conspirators proceeded, although he denied that he had worked with

anyone.

He was confronted with Gabrinovic, who had thrown the bomb. Princip denied he knew him.

The next day they put chains on Princip's feet, which he wore till his death.

His only sign of regret was the statement that he was sorry he had killed the wife of the Archduke.

He had aimed only at her husband and would have preferred that any other bullet should have struck

General Potiorek.

The Austrians arrested every known revolutionary in Sarajevo and among them, naturally, I was one.

But they had no proof of my connection with the crime. I was placed in the cell next to Princip's, and

when Princip was taken out to walk in the prison yard I was taken along as his companion.

Source: John Carey, ed., Eyewitness to History (New York: Avon Books, 1987), pp. 441-4


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3

The Blank Cheque

Telegram from the Imperial Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg, to the German Ambassador at

Vienna.Tschirschky, July 6, 1914

Berlin, July 6, 1914

Confidential. For Your Excellency's personal information and guidance

The Austro-Hungarian Ambassador yesterday delivered to the Emperor a confidential personal letter

from the Emperor Francis Joseph, which depicts the present situation from the Austro-Hungarian

point of view, and describes the measures which Vienna has in view. A copy is now being forwarded

to Your Excellency.

I replied to Count Szgyny today on behalf of His Majesty that His Majesty sends his thanks to theEmperor Francis Joseph for his letter and would soon answer it personally. In the meantime His

Majesty desires to say that he is not blind to the danger which threatens Austria-Hungary and thus

the Triple Alliance as a result of the Russian and Serbian Pan-Slavic agitation. Even though His

Majesty is known to feel no unqualified confidence in Bulgaria and her ruler, and naturally inclines

more to ward our old ally Rumania and her Hohenzollern prince, yet he quite understands that the

Emperor Francis Joseph, in view of the attitude of Rumania and of the danger of a new Balkan

alliance aimed directly at the Danube Monarchy, is anxious to bring about an understanding between

Bulgaria and the Triple alliance [...]. His Majesty will, further more, make an effort at Bucharest,

according to the wishes of the Emperor Francis Joseph, to influence King Carol to the fulfilment of

the duties of his alliance, to the renunciation of Serbia, and to the suppression of the Rumanian

agitations directed against Austria-Hungary.

Finally, as far as concerns Serbia, His Majesty, of course, cannot interfere in the dispute now going

on between Austria-Hungary and that country, as it is a matter not within his competence. The

Emperor Francis Joseph may, however, rest assured that His Majesty will faithfully stand by

Austria-Hungary, as is required by the obligations of his alliance and of his ancient friendship.

BETHMANN-HOLLWEG

4

The Serbian UltimatumFrom Austria-Hungary to SerbiaJuly 23, 1914

The Royal Government, who disapprove and repudiate all idea of interfering or attempting to interfer

the destinies of the inhabitants of any part whatsoever of Austria-Hungary, consider it their duty form

to warn officers and functionaries, and the whole population of the Kingdom, that henceforward they

proceed with the utmost rigor against persons who may be guilty of such machinations, which they w


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all their efforts to anticipate and suppress."

This declaration shall simultaneously be communicated to the Royal army as an order of the day by

Majesty the King and shall be published in the "Official Bulletin" of the army.

The Royal Serbian Government shall further undertake:

(1) To suppress any publication which incites to hatred and contempt of the Austro-Hungarian Monar

and the general tendency of which is directed against its territorial integrity;

(2) To dissolve immediately the society styled "Narodna Odbrana," to confiscate all its means of

propaganda, and to proceed in the same manner against other societies and their branches in Serbia w

engage in propaganda against the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The Royal Government shall take th

necessary measures to prevent the societies dissolved from continuing their activity under another na

and form;

(3) To eliminate without delay from public instruction in Serbia, both as regards the teaching body an

as regards the methods of instruction, everything that serves, or might serve, to foment the propagand

against Austria-Hungary;

(4) To remove from the military service, and from the administration in general, all officers and

functionaries guilty of propaganda against the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy whose names and deeds tAustro-Hungarian Government reserve to themselves the right of communicating to the Royal

Government;

(5) To accept the collaboration in Serbia of representatives of the Austro-Hungarian Government for

suppression of the subversive movement directed against the territorial integrity of the Monarchy;

(6) To take judicial proceedings against accessories to the plot of the 28th of June who are on Serbian

territory; delegates of the Austro-Hungarian Government will take part in the investigation relating th

(7) To proceed without delay to the arrest of Major Voija Tankositch and of the individual named Mil

Ciganovitch, a Serbian State employee, who have been compromised by the results of the magisterial

inquiry at Serajevo;(8) To prevent by effective measures the cooperation of the Serbian authorities in the illicit traffic in

and explosives across the frontier, to dismiss and punish severely the officials of the frontier service a

Shabatz Loznica guilty of having assisted the perpetrators of the Serajevo crime by facilitating their

passage across the frontier;

(9) To furnish the Imperial and Royal Government with explanations regarding the unjustifiable utter

of high Serbian officials, both in Serbia and abroad, who, notwithstanding their official position, have

hesitated since the crime of the 28th of June to express themselves in interviews in terms of hostility t

Austro-Hungarian Government; and, finally,

(10) To notify the Imperial and Royal Government without delay of the execution of the measures

comprised under the preceding heads.

The Austro-Hungarian Government expect the reply of the Royal Government at the latest by 5 o'clo

Saturday evening the 25th of July. (See Note 1)

(Note 1) The Austro-Hungarian Ambassador in a private letter on the 24th of July sent to the French

Minister for Foreign Affairs the following correction:

"In the copy of the dispatch which I had the honour to send to your Excellency this morning, it was sa

that my Government expected an answer from the Cabinet at Belgrade at latest by 5 o'clock on the ev

of Saturday the 25th of this month. As our Minister at Belgrade did not deliver his note yesterday unt

o'clock in the evening, the time allowed for the answer has in consequence been prolonged to 6 o'clocmorrow, Saturday evening.


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I consider it my duty to inform your Excellency of this slight alteration in the termination of the perio

ixed for the answer to the Serbian Government."

5

Serbian Response

The Royal Government has received the communication of the Imperial and Royal Government of

the 23rd inst. and is convinced that its reply will dissipate any misunderstanding which threatens to

destroy the friendly and neighbourly relations between the Austrian monarchy and the kingdom of

Serbia.

The Royal Government is conscious that nowhere there have been renewed protests against the great

neighbourly monarchy like those which at one time were expressed in the Skuptschina, as well as in

the declaration and actions of the responsible representatives of the state at that time, and which wereterminated by the Serbian declaration of March 31st, 1909; furthermore that since that time neither

the different corporations of the kingdom, nor the officials have made an attempt to alter the political

and judicial condition created in Bosnia and the Heregovina. The Royal Government states that the I.

and R. [Imperial and Royal] Government has made no protestation in this sense excepting in the case

of a textbook, in regard to which the I. and R. Government has received an entirely satisfactory

explanation. Serbia has given during the time of the Balkan crisis in numerous cases evidence of her

pacific and moderate policy, and it is only owing to Serbia and the sacrifices which she has brought

in the interest of the peace of Europe that this peace has been preserved.

The Royal Government cannot be made responsible for expressions of a private character, as for

instance newspaper articles and the peaceable work of societies, expressions which are of very

common appearance in other countries, and which ordinarily are not under the control of the state.

This, all the less, as the Royal Government has shown great courtesy in the solution of a whole series

of questions which have arisen between Serbia and Austria-Hungary, whereby it has succeeded to

solve the greater number thereof, in favour of the progress of both countries.

The Royal Government was therefore painfully surprised by the assertions that citizens of Serbia had

participated in the preparations of the outrage in Sarajevo. The Government expected to be invited to

cooperate in the investigation of the crime, and it was ready, in order to prove its complete

correctness, to proceed against all persons in regard to whom it would receive information.

According to the wishes of the I. and R. Government, the Royal Government is prepared to surrenderto the court, without regard to position and rank, every Serbian citizen for whose participation in the

crime of Sarajevo it should have received proof. It binds itself particularly on the first page of the

official organ of the 26th of July to publish the following enunciation:

The Royal Serbian Government condemns every propaganda which should be directed against

Austria-Hungary, i.e., the entirety of such activities as aim towards the separation of certain

territories from the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and it regrets sincerely the lamentable

consequences of these criminal machinations....

The Royal Government regrets that according to a communication of the I. and R. Government

certain Serbian officers and functionaries have participated in the propaganda just referred to, and

that these have there fore endangered the amicable relations for the observation of which the Royal


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Government had solemnly obliged itself through the declaration of March 31st, 1909....

The Royal Government binds itself further:

1. During the next regular meeting of the Skuptschina to embody in the press laws a clause, to wit,

that the incitement to hatred of, and contempt for, the Monarchy is to be most severely punished, as

well as every publication whose general tendency is directed against the territorial integrity of

Austria-Hungary.

It binds itself in view of the coming revision of the constitution to embody an amendment into Art.

22 of the constitutional law which permits the confiscation of such publications as is at present

impossible according to the clear definition of Art. 12 of the constitution.

2. The Government possesses no proofs and the note of the I. and R. Government does not submit

them that the society _Narodna_ _Odbrana_ and other similar societies have committed, up to the

present, any criminal actions of this manner through any one of their members. Notwithstanding this,

the Royal Government will accept the demand of the I. and R. Government and dissolve the society

_Narodna_ _Odbrana_, as well as every society which should set against Austria-Hungary.

3. The Royal Serbian Government binds itself without delay to eliminate from the public instruction

in Serbia anything which might further the propaganda directed against Austria-Hungary providedthe I. and R. Government furnishes actual proofs of this propaganda.

4. The Royal Government is also ready to dismiss those officers and officials from the military and

civil services in regard to whom it has been proved by judicial investigation that they have been

guilty of actions against the territorial integrity of the Monarchy; it expects that the I. and R.

Government communicate to it for the purpose of starting the investigation the names of these

officers and officials, and the facts with which they have been charged.

5. The Royal Government confesses that it is not clear about the sense and the scope of that demand

of the I. and R. Government which concerns the obligation on the part of the Royal Serbian

Government to permit the cooperation of officials of the I. and R. Government on Serbian territory,but it declares that it is willing to accept every cooperation which does not run counter to

international law and criminal law, as well as to the friendly and neighbourly relations.

6. The Royal Government considers it its duty as a matter of course to begin an investigation against

all those persons who have participated in the outrage of June 28th and who are in its territory. As far

as the cooperation in this investigation of specially delegated officials of the I. and R. Government is

concerned, this cannot be accepted, as this is a violation of the constitution and of criminal

procedure. Yet in some cases the result of the investigation might be communicated to the Austro-

Hungarian officials.

7. The Royal Government has ordered on the evening of the day on which the note was received the

arrest of Major Voislar Tankosic. However, as far as Milan Ciganovitch is concerned, who is a

citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and who has been employed till June 28th with the

Railroad Department, it has as yet been impossible to locate him, wherefore a warrant has been

issued against him.

The I. and R. Government is asked to make known, as soon as possible for the purpose of conducting

the investigation, the existing grounds for suspicion and the proofs of guilt, obtained in the

investigation at Sarajevo.

8. The Serbian Government will amplify and render more severe the existing measures against the

suppression of smuggling of arms and explosives.

It is a matter of course that it will proceed at once against, and punish severely, those officials of thefrontier service on the line Shabatz-Loznica who violated their duty and who have permitted the


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perpetrators of the crime to cross the frontier.

9. The Royal Government is ready to give explanations about the expressions which its officials in

Serbia and abroad have made in interviews after the outrage and which, according to the assertion of

the I. and R. Government, were hostile to the Monarchy. As soon as the I. and R. Government points

out in detail where those expressions were made and succeeds in proving that those expressions have

actually been made by the functionaries concerned, the Royal Government itself will take care that

the necessary evidences and proofs are collected.

10. The Royal Government will notify the I. and R. Government, so far as this has not been already

done by the present note, of the execution of the measures in question as soon as one of those

measures has been ordered and put into execution.

The Royal Serbian Government believes it to be to the common interest not to rush the solution o

this affair and it is therefore, in case the I. and R. Government should not consider itself satisfied

with this answer, ready, as ever, to accept a peaceable solution, be it by referring the decision of this

question to the International Court at The Hague or by leaving it to the decision of the Great Powers

who have participated in the working out of the declaration given by the Serbian Government on

March 18/31st, 1909.

6

Memorandum sent by Russia to Serbia after being wired for advice

Subsequent to the declaration made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs regarding the most recent

measures taken by the Austro-Hungarian Government against Serbia.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs informed the Council of Ministers that, according to information

received by him and according to the announcement made by the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to

the Imperial Court, the Austro-Hungarian Government had turned upon the Serbian Government

with demands which appeared, in fact, to be quite unacceptable to the Serbian Government as a

sovereign State, and which were drawn up in the form of an ultimatum calling for a reply within a

definite time, expiring tomorrow, July 12, at 6 o'clock in the evening.

Therefore, foreseeing that Serbia would turn to us for advice, and perhaps also for aid, there arose a

need to prepare an answer which might be given to Serbia.

Having considered the declaration made by Marshal Sazonov in its relation to the information

reported by the Ministers of War, Marine, and Finance concerning the political and militarysituation, the Council of Ministers decreed:

1 -- To approve the proposal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to get in touch with the Cabinets of

the Great Powers in order to induce the Austro-Hungarian Government to grant a postponement in

the matter of the answer to the ultimatum demands presented by the Austro-Hungarian Government,

so that it might be possible for the Governments of the Great Powers to become acquainted with and

to investigate the documents on the Sarajevo crime which are in the hands of the Austro-Hungarian

Government, and which, according to the declaration of the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador, it is

willing to communicate to the Russian Government.

2 -- To approve the proposal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to advise the Serbian Government, in

case the situation of Serbia should be such that she could not with her own strength protect herself


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against the possible armed invasion by Austro-Hungary, not to offer armed resistance to the invasion

of Serbian territory, if such all invasion should occur, but to announce that Serbia yields to force and

that she entrusts her fate to the judgment of the Great Powers.

3 -- To authorize the Ministers of War and of Marine, in accordance with the duties of their offices,

to beg your Imperial Majesty to consent, according to the progress of events, to order the

mobilization of the four military districts of Kiev, Odessa, Moscow, and Kazan, and the Baltic and

Black Sea fleets.

4 -- To authorize the War Minister to proceed immediately to gather stores of war material.

5 -- To authorize the Minister of Finance to take measures instantly to diminish the funds of the

Ministry of Finance which may be at present in Germany or Austria.

The Council of Ministers considers it its loyal duty to inform your Imperial Majesty of these

decisions which it has made.

Countersigned: President of the Council of Ministers,

STATE SECRETARY GOREMYKIN

7

Telegram from the Imperial Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg, to the German Ambassador

at Vienna, Tschirschky, July 28, 1914

Telegram 174

Berlin, July 28, 1914

Urgent

The Austro-Hungarian government has distinctly informed Russia that it is not considering any

territorial acquisitions in Serbia. This agrees with Your Excellency's report to the effect that neither

the Austrian nor the Hungarian statesmen consider the increase of the Slavic element in the

monarchy to be desirable. On the other hand, the Austro-Hungarian government has left us in the

dark concerning its intentions, despite repeated interrogations. The reply of the Serbian government

to the Austrian ultimatum, which has now been received, makes it clear that Serbia has agreed to the

Austrian demands to so great an extent that, in case of a completely uncompromising attitude on the

part of the Austro-Hungarian government, it will become necessary to reckon upon the gradual

defection from its cause of public opinion throughout all Europe.

According to the statements of the Austrian General Staff, an active military movement againstSerbia will not be possible before the 12th of August. As a result, the Imperial government is placed

in the extraordinarily difficult position of being exposed in the meantime to the mediation and

conference proposals of the other cabinets and if it continues to maintain its previous aloofness in the

face of such proposals, it will incur the odium of having been responsible for a world war, even,

finally, among the German people themselves. A successful war on three fronts cannot be

commenced and carried on on any such basis.

It is imperative that the responsibility for the eventual extension of the war among those nations not

originally immediately concerned should, under all circumstances, fall on Russia. At Mr. Sazonoff's

last conversation with Count Pourtals, the Minister already conceded that Serbia would have to

receive her "deserved lesson." At any rate the Minister was no longer so unconditionally opposed to


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the Austrian point of view as he had been earlier. From this fact it is not difficult to draw the

conclusion that the Russian government might even realize that, once the mobilization of the Austro-

Hungarian Army had begun, the very honor of its arms demanded an invasion of Serbia. But it will

be all the better able to compromise with this idea if the Vienna Cabinet repeats at Petersburg its

distinct declaration that she is far from wishing to make any territorial acquisitions in Serbia, and

that her military preparations are solely for the purpose of a temporary occupation of Belgrade and

certain other localities on Serbian territory in order to force the Serbian government to the complete

fulfillment of her demands, and for the creation of guarantees of future good behavior -- to which

Austria-Hungary has an unquestionable claim after the experiences she has had with Serbia. An

occupation like the German occupation of French territory after the Peace of Frankfort, for the

purpose of securing compliance with the demands for war indemnity, is suggested. As soon as the

Austrian demands are complied with, evacuation would follow. Should the Russian government fail

to recognize the justice of this point of view, it would have against it the public opinion of all

Europe, which is now in the process of turning away from Austria. As a further result, the general

diplomatic, and probably the military, situation would undergo material alteration in favor of

Austria-Hungary and her allies.Your Excellency will kindly discuss the matter along these lines thoroughly and impressively with

Count Berchtold, and instigate an appropriate move at St. Petersburg. You will have to avoid very

carefully giving rise to the impression that we wish to hold Austria back. The case is solely one of

finding a way to realize Austria's desired aim, that of cutting the vital cord of the Greater-Serbia

propaganda without at the same time bringing on a world war, and, if the latter cannot be avoided in

the end, of improving the conditions under which we shall have to wage it, insofar as is possible.

Wire report.

BETHMANN-HOLLWEG

8

The Kaiser's letters to the Tsar, copied from the government archives in Petrograd, and

brought from Russiaby Isaac Don Levine, ed., with an introduction by N.F. Grant. London,

Hodder and Soughton Ltd, 1920

Tsar to Kaiser, July 29, 1:00 A.M.

Peter's Court Palais, 29 July 1914

Sa Majest l'Empereur

Neues Palais

Am glad you are back. In this serious moment, I appeal to you to help me. An ignoble war has been

declared to a weak country. The indignation in Russia shared fully by me is enormous. I foresee

that very soon I shall be overwhelmed by the pressure forced upon me and be forced to take

extreme measures which will lead to war. To try and avoid such a calamity as a European war I beg

you in the name of our old friendship to do what you can to stop your allies from going too far.Nicky


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Kaiser to Tsar, July 29, 1:45 A.M.

This and the previous telegraph crossed.

28 July 1914

It is with the gravest concern that I hear of the impression which the action of Austria against

Serbia is creating in your country. The unscrupulous agitation that has been going on in Serbia for

years has resulted in the outrageous crime, to which Archduke Francis Ferdinand fell a victim. The

spirit that led Serbians to murder their own king and his wife still dominates the country. You will

doubtless agree with me that we both, you and me, have a common interest as well as all

Sovereigns to insist that all the persons morally responsible for the dastardly murder should receive

their deserved punishment. In this case politics plays no part at all.

On the other hand, I fully understand how difficult it is for you and your Government to face the

drift of your public opinion. Therefore, with regard to the hearty and tender friendship which bindsus both from long ago with firm ties, I am exerting my utmost influence to induce the Austrians to

deal straightly to arrive to a satisfactory understanding with you. I confidently hope that you will

help me in my efforts to smooth over difficulties that may still arise.

Your very sincere and devoted friend and cousin

Willy

Kaiser to Tsar, July 29, 6:30 P.M.

Berlin, 29. July 1914

I received your telegram and share your wish that peace should be maintained. But as I told you in

my first telegram, I cannot consider Austria's action against Servia an "ignoble" war. Austria knows

by experience that Servian promises ono paper are wholly unreliable. I understand its action must

be judged as trending to get full guarantee that the Servian promises shall become real facts. This

my reasoning is borne out by the statement of the Austrian cabinet that Austria does not want to

make any territorial conquests at the expense of Servia. I therefore suggest that it would be quite

possible for Russia to remain a spectator of the austro-servian conflict without involving Europe in

the most horrible war she ever witnessed. I think a direct understanding between your Government

and Vienna possible and desirable, and as I already telegraphed to you, my Government iscontinuing its exercises to promote it. Of course military measures on the part of Russia would be

looked upon by Austria as a calamity we both wish to avoid and jeopardize my position as mediator

which I readily accepted on your appeal to my friendship and my help.

Willy

Tsar to Kaiser, July 29, 8:20 P.M.

Peter's Court Palace, 29 July 1914

Thanks for your telegram conciliatory and friendly. Whereas official message presented today byyour ambassador to my minister was conveyed in a very different tone. Beg you to explain this


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Tsar to Kaiser, July 31

This and the previous telegram crossed.

Petersburg, Palace, 31 July 1914

Sa Majest l'Empereur, Neues Palais

I thank you heartily for your mediation which begins to give one hope that all may yet end

peacefully. It is technicallyimpossible to stop our military preparations which were obligatory

owing to Austria's mobilisation. We are far from wishing war. As long as the negociations with

Austria on Servia's account are taking place my troops shall not make any provocative action. I

give you my solemn word for this. I put all my trust in Gods mercy and hope in your successful

mediation in Vienna for the welfare of our countries and for the peace of Europe.

Your affectionate

Nicky

Tsar to Kaiser, August 1

Peter's Court, Palace, 1 August 1914

Sa Majest l'Empereur

Berlin

I received your telegram. Understand you are obliged to mobilise but wish to have the same

guarantee from you as I gave you, that these measures do notmean war and that we shall continue

negociating for the benefit of our countries and universal peace deal to all our hearts. Our long

proved friendship must succeed, with God's help, in avoiding bloodshed. Anexiously, full of

confidence await your answer.

Nicky

Kaiser to Tsar, August 1

Berlin, 1. August 1914

Thanks for your telegram. I yesterday pointed out to your government the way by which alone war

may be avoided. Although I requested an answer for noon today, no telegram from my ambassador

conveying an answer from your Government has reached me as yet. I therefore have been obliged

to mobilise my army.Immediate affirmative clear and unmistakable answer from your government is the only way to

avoid endless misery. Until I have received this answer alas, I am unable to discuss the subject of

your telegram. As a matter of fact I must request you to immediatly [sic] order your troops on no

account to commit the slightest act of trespassing over our frontiers.

Willy


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9

German Declaration of War on Russia

(July 19th Russian calendar)

Presented by the German Ambassador to St. Petersburg

The Imperial German Government have used every effort since the beginning of the crisis to bring

about a peaceful settlement. In compliance with a wish expressed to him by His Majesty the

Emperor of Russia, the German Emperor had undertaken, in concert with Great Britain, the part of

mediator between the Cabinets of Vienna and St. Petersburg; but Russia, without waiting for any

result, proceeded to a general mobilisation of her forces both on land and sea. In consequence of

this threatening step, which was not justified by any military proceedings on the part of Germany,

the German Empire was faced by a grave and imminent danger. If the German Government had

failed to guard against this peril, they would have compromised the safety and the very existence of

Germany. The German Government were, therefore, obliged to make representations to the

Government of His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias and to insist upon a cessation of theaforesaid military acts. Russia having refused to comply with [not having considered it necessary

to answer]* this demand, and having shown by this refusal [this attitude]* that her action was

directed against Germany, I have the honour, on the instructions of my Government, to inform your

Excellency as follows:

His Majesty the Emperor, my august Sovereign, in the name of the German Empire, accepts the

challenge, and considers himself at war with Russia.

July Crisis sources.docx

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Transcript of July Crisis sources.docx