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Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg
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=== From the "blank check" to the outbreak of war === [[File:Ferdinand Schmutzer - Franz Ferdinand von Österreich-Este, um 1914.jpg|left|thumb|242x242px|[[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|Archduke Franz Ferdinand]], heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary]] At the turn of the year 1913/1914, the European atmosphere had calmed, and Bethmann Hollweg felt a new optimism in foreign policy. It seemed to him that the [[Treaty of Bucharest (1913)|Treaty of Bucharest]], which concluded the [[Second Balkan War]], had solved the problems in the Balkans in the medium term, and a recent exchange of letters with Russian Foreign Minister [[Sergey Sazonov]] had stabilized the situation in the east. The diplomatic crisis over the 1913 German military mission to the Ottoman Empire had been overcome in spite of the [[Pan-Slavism|pan-Slav]] sentiment in the [[Russian Empire]]. The Reich Chancellor's statements from the time reveal that he was anxious to prevent a major European war.{{Sfn|von Vietsch|1969|p=175}} Russia's actions in northern [[Persia]] also brought Britain temporarily closer to Germany. When in the early summer of 1914 the German government learned of a British-Russian naval agreement, it cast a shadow over Bethmann Hollweg's foreign policy.{{Sfn|von Vietsch|1969|p=180}} Disappointed in his confidence in British Foreign Minister Edward Grey, he wrote to the German embassy in [[Constantinople]] that it was a matter of muddling through without any major conflicts. A few days later, after a disagreement with the Chief of the Army's General Staff [[Helmuth von Moltke the Younger|Helmuth von Moltke]], he left for a summer vacation at his home in Hohenfinow. It was abruptly ended shortly after his arrival by the [[assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand]] of [[Austria-Hungary]] on 28 June 1914.{{Sfn|von Vietsch|1969|p=178}} After the assassination of the presumptive heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Wilhelm II issued the famous "blank check" to [[László Szőgyény-Marich Jr.|László Szőgyény]], Austria-Hungary's ambassador in Berlin. It affirmed that Germany would uphold its alliance obligations with Austria-Hungary and stand at its side. Bethmann Hollweg later wrote in his ''Reflections on the World War'' that "the Emperor's views coincided" with his own. On 6 July 1914, during the [[July Crisis]] that led up to the outbreak of World War I, the Reich Chancellor again assured the Austrian embassy that Germany would fight faithfully alongside its ally.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Geiss |first=Imanuel |title=Julikrise und Kriegsausbruch 1914. Eine Dokumentensammlung |publisher=Verlag für Literatur und Zeitgeschehen |year=1963–1964 |location=Hannover |pages=93 #27 |language=de |trans-title=July Crisis and the Outbreak of War 1914. A Document Collection}}</ref> Austria-Hungary's aggressive demands against [[Serbia]] thus took place with Bethmann Hollweg's backing. At the same time, he had State Secretary of the Foreign Office [[Gottlieb von Jagow]] telegraph [[Karl Max, Prince Lichnowsky|Prince Lichnowsky]], the German ambassador in London, that "everything must be avoided that could give the appearance that we are inciting the Austrians to war". Thinking that he could localize the conflict, Bethmann Hollweg endorsed the continuation of the Emperor's absence aboard his yacht. The Chancellor gave Austria a free hand, although not without criticism, as the French ambassador in Vienna testified.{{Sfn|Geiss|1963–1964|p=290–291 #213, Vol. 1}} His confidant [[Kurt Riezler]] noted that Bethmann Hollweg expressed early fears that if Austria adopted too expansionist a tone, the conflict could no longer be contained in the Balkans and "could lead to world war".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Riezler |first=Kurt |title=Tagebücher, Aufsätze, Dokumente |publisher=Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht |year=1972 |isbn=3-525-35817-2 |editor-last=Erdmann |editor-first=Karl Dietrich |location=Göttingen |language=de |trans-title=Diaries, Essays, Documents}}</ref> Even when the Foreign Office finally knew in July 1914 that Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia (July 1914) |url=https://alphahistory.com/worldwar1/austro-hungarian-ultimatum-1914/ |access-date=29 December 2022 |website=alpha history|date=28 July 2012 }}</ref> was to be formulated in a way that Serbia could not accept, the Chancellor let the Austrians have their way. The Reich Chancellery stated when asked, "We cannot comment on the formulation of the demands to Serbia, since it is Austria's affair." Believing in Great Britain's neutrality, Bethmann Hollweg telegraphed to the London Foreign Office: "Since Austria is safeguarding vital interests in its action, any interference by Germany as its ally is out of the question. ... Only if forced will we take up the sword."{{Sfn|von Vietsch|1969|pp=186 ff}} Serbia's reply to the Austrian ultimatum accepted almost all of Austria-Hungary's demands.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Serbia's Response to the Austro-Hungarian Ultimatum (1914) |url=https://alphahistory.com/worldwar1/serbias-response-austro-hungarian-ultimatum-1914/ |access-date=29 December 2022 |website=alpha history|date=4 February 2013 }}</ref> When it arrived in Berlin on 27 July 1914, the Emperor saw no need for war. He suggested that Austria should occupy [[Belgrade]] with the aim of furthering negotiations towards a permanent solution to the Balkan question. Bethmann Hollweg, seeing the threat of British entry into the war, briefly advocated the halt-in-Belgrade proposal combined with Austrian renunciation of annexation of Serbia. But he knew that it would be considered unsatisfactory by the Russians.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Geiss |first=Imanuel |date=1966 |title=The Outbreak of the First World War and German War Aims |journal=The Journal of Contemporary History |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=81 |doi=10.1177/002200946600100304 |s2cid=159102511 |issn=0022-0094}}</ref> When the Emperor "threatened to weaken again", the Chancellor and the Foreign Office undermined the proposal calling for restraint by forwarding the letter from the German ambassador in London belatedly and not entirely correctly to Vienna.{{Sfn|Geiss|1963–1964|p=378 #789, Vol. 2}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=Österreich-Ungarns Außenpolitik von der bosnischen Krise 1908 bis zum Kriegsausbruch 1914. Diplomatische Aktenstücke des österreichisch-ungarischen Ministeriums des Äußeren |year=1930 |editor-last=Bittner |editor-first=Ludwig |volume=8: 1 May to 1 August 1914 |location=Vienna |pages=910 #11026 |language=de |trans-title=Austria-Hungary's Foreign Policy from the Bosnian Crisis of 1908 to the Outbreak of War in 1914. Diplomatic Records of the Austro-Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs |editor-last2=Uebersberger |editor-first2=Hans}}</ref> The last (here italicized) sentence was deleted before it was sent:<blockquote>If we rejected every attempt at mediation, the whole world would hold us responsible for the conflagration and represent us as the real warmongers. That would also make our position impossible here in Germany, where we have got to appear as though the war had been forced on us. Our position is the more difficult because Serbia seems to have given way very extensively. We cannot therefore reject the role of mediator; we have to pass the British proposal on to Vienna for consideration, especially since London and Paris are continuously using their influence on Petersburg. ''AIso, the whole world here is convinced, and I hear the same from my colleagues, that the key to the situation lies in Berlin, and that if Berlin seriously wants peace, it will prevent Vienna from following a foolhardy policy.''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fischer |first=Fritz |url=https://ia600204.us.archive.org/31/items/FischerFritzGermanysAimsInTheFirstWorldWar/Fischer%2C%20Fritz%20-%20Germany%E2%80%99s%20Aims%20in%20the%20First%20World%20War.pdf |title=Germany's Aims in the First World War |publisher=W.W. Norton |year=1967 |location=New York |pages=70–71}}</ref></blockquote> [[File:Portrait of Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon (cropped).jpg|thumb|256x256px|[[Sir Edward Grey]]]] At the same time, Italy, a supposed ally of the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]], demanded compensation for Austria's actions in the Balkans. Vienna responded by offering to divide Serbia between Russia, which had not previously made any territorial claims in Serbia, and Austria. The proposal was rejected with loud protest in Berlin. For the first time Bethmann Hollweg was openly furious at the Danube monarchy and telegraphed his views to the foreign office. British Foreign Secretary Grey warned Germany that if the conflict was not limited to Austria and Russia but also involved France and the Reich, Britain could not stand aside either. Bethmann Hollweg then informed the German ambassador in Vienna that Austria should not resist negotiations with the Russian Empire. Although Germany was prepared to fulfill its alliance obligation, it was not prepared to be "recklessly dragged ... into a world conflagration".{{Sfn|von Vietsch|1969|p=190}} Meanwhile, the military of Austria-Hungary and Russia were on the move, and Chief of the General Staff Moltke called for the Chancellor to initiate German general mobilization. Austria must not be abandoned, he said. The General Staff's strategic route through Belgium (a key part of the [[Schlieffen Plan]] for the German attack on France) ultimately undermined all of Bethmann Hollweg's efforts to localize the conflict.{{Sfn|von Vietsch|1969|p=191}} In his memoirs, Admiral Tirpitz described the Chancellor's situation in those days as that of a "drowning man".<ref>{{Cite book |last=von Tirpitz |first=Alfred |title=Erinnerungen |publisher=K F Koehler |year=1919 |location=Leipzig |pages=242 |language=de |trans-title=Memoirs}}</ref>
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