Read July 1914: Countdown to War Online

Authors: Sean McMeekin

Tags: #World War I, #Europe, #International Relations, #20th Century, #Modern, #General, #Political Science, #Military, #History

July 1914: Countdown to War (57 page)

BOOK: July 1914: Countdown to War
13.98Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

29
. Citations in Turner, 104. Doumergue: cited in Turner, 89.

30
. Entry for 15/28 July 1914, in Schilling, 43.

31
. Sazonov to Izvolsky, copied to London, Vienna, Rome, and Berlin, 29 July 1914, no. 221 in IBZI, vol. 5.

32
. Albertini, vol. 2, 544.

33
. Paléologue to Paris, 28 July 1914 (7:35
PM
, received 11:10
PM
), no. 216 in DDF, ser. 3, vol. 11.

34
. Yanushkevitch to commanders of all of Russia’s military districts, 28 July 1914, no. 210 in IBZI, vol. 5. Incidentally, the Russian sources from this night are not precisely dated by hour—even in Schilling’s Foreign Ministry logbook (Schilling, 16, 43–45), which is more informative for other dates—but a reconstruction of the timeline is still possible by comparing the dispatches of the French and German ambassadors with the memoir accounts left by Sazonov, Sukhomlinov, Dobrorolskii, and Danilov. I have followed here Albertini’s excellent reconstruction of the most likely sequence of events, in vol. 2, 539–545.

Notes to Chapter 19
      
“I Will Not Be Responsible for a Monstrous Slaughter!”

1
. Churchill, vol. 1, 225.

2
. Viviani,
As We See It
, 98.

3
. Poincaré diary, cited in Jannen Jr., 177. “Many people here seem to think war imminent”: Poincaré,
Au service de la France
, vol. 4, 361–362.

4
. For analysis see Albertini, vol. 2, 590–591n6.

5
. Entry for 15/28 July 1914, in Schilling, 43. “They cannot send me any instructions”: Paléologue, vol. 1, 41.

6
. Viviani to Bienvenu-Martin, no. 190 in DDF, ser. 3, vol. 11.

7
. Bienvenu-Martin to Viviani, 26 July 1914 (4:30
PM
), no. 90 in DDF, ser. 3, vol. 11.

8
. Viviani to Paléologue, 27 July 1914 (noon), no. 138 in DDF, ser. 3, vol. 11, and note; for analysis, Albertini, vol. 2, 593.

9
. Citations in Jannen Jr., 177, and in Albertini, vol. 2, 597; for “enormous pile of telegrams,” Poincaré, vol. 2, 215.

10
. Poincaré,
Au service de la France
, vol. 4, 368–369.

11
. Log entry, 11:15
AM
on 29 July 1914, in QO Autriche-Hongrie (“Conflit austro-serbe”), vol. 31; and Sazonov to Benckendorff (passed on to Viviani by Izvolsky), 28 July 1914, no. 167 in IBZI, vol. 5.

12
. See Article II of the Franco-Russian Military Agreement, updated in 1913, reproduced (with commentary) in Albertini, vol. 2, 585.

13
. Consul Brück from Warsaw to Bethmann, 29 July 1914 (arrived afternoon 30 July), in PAAA, R 19873.

14
. Viviani to Paul Cambon, 29 July 1914, no. 260 in DDF, ser. 3, vol. 11.

15
. Moltke memorandum to Bethmann, “Zur Beurteilung der politischen Lage,” 29 July 1914 (marked received same day), no. 349 in DD, vol. 2.

16
. Cited in Albertini, vol. 2, 491.

17
. Moltke memorandum to Bethmann, “Zur Beurteilung der politischen Lage.”

18
. Bethmann to Schoen, 29 July 1914 (12:50
PM
), no. 341 in DD, vol. 2.

19
. Bethmann to Pourtalès, 29 July 1914 (12:50
PM
), no. 342 in DD, vol. 2.

20
. Szapáry to Berchtold, 29 July 1914 (11
PM
), reporting a conversation with Sazonov, in which Sazonov learned (by telephone) about the bombardment, no. 11003 in OeE-U, vol. 8. For the sequence of events detailed here, see Foreign Ministry log entry for 16/29 July 1914, in Schilling, 47–48.

21
. Pourtalès to Jagow, 29 July 1914 (8
PM
), no. 378 in DD, vol. 2.

22
. Schilling, 48–49 (I have translated the internal quotes, which Schilling gives in the original French).

23
. Entry for 16/29 July, in Schilling, 49; and, for the timing (which Schilling gets wrong), see Nicky-Willy telegram of 8:20
PM
, cited immediately following.

24
. Nicky to Willy from Peterhof, 29 July 1914 (8:20
PM
), arrived Potsdam 8:42
PM
, no. 366 in DD, vol. 2.

25
. “Permission to S. D. Sazonov . . .”: Entry for 16/29 July, in Schilling, 49–50. “A war with a coalition”: Yanushkevitch to Yudenich, 16/29 July 1914, in RGVIA, fond 2000, opis’ 1, del’ 3796, list’ 19. On the mobilization orders being carried around in his pocket: citation in Albertini, vol. 2, 547.

26
. Entry for 16/29 July, in Schilling, 49–50.

27
. Dobrorolskii, 25 and passim.

28
. Willy to Nicky, 29 July 1914 (6:30
PM
): deciphered at 9:20
PM
and delivered to Peterhof Palace at 9:40
PM
, according to Schilling, 55.

29
. Citations in Albertini, vol. 2, 558–559.

30
. Dobrorolskii, 25 and passim. Dobrorolskii claims this all happened at 9:30
PM
, but as the tsar did not read Willy’s telegram until 9:40
PM
, this is too early; 10
PM
is a likelier estimate.

31
. Tirpitz, 287–288.

32
. Cited in Albertini, vol. 2, 500.

33
. Chelius to Jagow, 29 July 1914 (2:30
PM
, received Berlin 3:15
PM
), no. 344 in DD, vol. 2.

34
. Cited in Zuber, 157.

35
. German General Staff to Wilhelmstrasse, 29 July 1914 (4
PM
), no. 372 in DD, vol. 2, 91–94.

36
. Lichnowsky to Jagow, 29 July 1914 (2:10
PM
, arrived Berlin 4:34
PM
), no. 355 in DD, vol. 2.

37
. Lichnowsky to Jagow, 29 July 1914 (2:08
PM
, arrived Berlin 5:07
PM
), no. 357 in DD, vol. 2.

38
. Falkenhayn notes of 29 July 1914 meeting, cited in Albertini, 502.

39
. Prince Heinrich of Prussia to Kaiser Wilhelm II, 28 July 1914, no. 374 in DD, vol. 2, 96–97. On the timing of the prince’s arrival in Potsdam, see Fay, vol. 2, 500.

40
. Goschen to Grey, 30 July 1914 (1:20
AM
), reporting 10:30
PM
conversation with Bethmann, no. 293 in BD, vol. 11.

41
. Sir Eyre Crowe, minuting on Goschen to Grey, 30 July 1914 (1:20
AM
).

42
. Asquith, 30 July 1914, 136.

43
. Lichnowsky to Jagow, 29 July 1914 (6:39
PM
, arrived Berlin 9:12
PM
), no. 368 in DD, vol. 2.

44
. Buchanan to Grey, 24 July 1914 (5:40
PM
), no. 101 in BD, vol. 11.

45
. Cited in Jannen Jr., 198.

46
. Churchill, vol. 1, 216.

47
. Bethmann to Tschirschky, passing on Lichnowsky’s 6:39
PM
telegram with commentary, 30 July 1914 (2:55
AM
), no. 395 in DD, vol. 2.

48
. Bethmann to Tschirschky, 30 July 1914 (3:00
AM
), no. 396 in DD, vol. 2.

49
. Pourtalès to Bethmann Hollweg, 30 July 1914, 4:39
AM
(arrived Berlin 7:10
AM
), in PAAA, R 19873.

50
. Nicky to Willy from Peterhof Palace, 30 July 1914 (1:20
AM
, received Potsdam 1:45
AM
), no. 390 in DD, vol. 2.

Notes to Chapter 20
      
Slaughter It Is

1
. Kaiser’s marginal notes on Nicky to Willy from Peterhof Palace, 30 July 1914 (1:20
AM
, received Potsdam 1:45
AM
), no. 390 in DD, vol. 2.

2
. Kaiser’s marginal notes on Bethmann to Kaiser Wilhelm II, written 29 July 1914 and sent to Neues Palais 6
AM
on 30 July 1914, passing on Pourtalès of previous day, marked read by Kaiser 7
AM
, 30 July, no. 399 in DD, vol. 2.

3
. Willy to Nicky, 30 July 1914 (3:30
PM
), no. 420 in DD, vol. 2; and, for immediate backdrop, Bethmann to Kaiser Wilhelm II, passing on Grey/Lichnowsky of previous night, 30 July 1914 (dispatched to Potsdam 11:15
AM
by automobile), no. 407 in DD, vol. 2.

4
. Cited in Conrad, vol. 4, 151–152; see also Fay, vol. 2, 506–507 and 507n62.

5
. Albertini, vol. 3, 6.

6
. Turner, 108–109. “Far advanced”: Zuber, 157.

7
. Conrad, vol. 4, 152 (emphasis added).

8
. Cited in Turner, 109.

9
. Danilov,
La Russie dans la guerre mondiale
, 39.

10
. Cited in Albertini, vol. 2, 586–587.

11
. Entry for 15/28 July 1914, in Schilling, 43.

12
. See Schmidt, 334.

13
. Sazonov to Izvolsky, 17/30 July 1914, in LN, 289 (emphasis added).

14
. The best documentation of the evening’s timeline is in Schmidt, 231–232. For “Good God! . . . ,” see citations in Jannen Jr., 182–183, and Tuchman, 109 (her translation from the French is somewhat more colorful). Tuchman, however, gets the date of these encounters dramatically wrong: by two days. See also epilogue.

15
. Jules Cambon to Bienvenu-Martin, 25 July 1914, 1:15
AM
, received Paris 2:50
AM
, in QO Autriche-Hongrie, vol. 32.

16
. Viviani to Paléologue, 30 July 1914 (7
AM
), no. 305 in DDF, ser. 3, vol. 11; also no. 294 in BD, vol. 11 (emphasis added). For further analysis of this critical dispatch, see Albertini, vol. 2, 604n1; Schmidt, 319.

17
. Poincaré diary entry, 30 July 1914, cited in Schmidt, 322.

18
. Izvolsky to Sazonov, 30 July 1914, in LN, 290.

19
. Tsar Nicholas II, diary entries for 16 (29) and 17 (30) July 1914, in GARF, fond 601, opis’ 1, del’ 261, list’ 158–160.

20
. Entry for 17/30 July 1914, in Schilling, 62–63.

21
. Ibid., 63–64. For “coax out of the French a promise of neutrality . . . upon my telephone call in the afternoon”: cited in Fay, vol. 2, 469–470.

22
. As reported by Buchanan to Grey, 30 July 1914 (1:15
PM
), no. 302 in BD, vol. 11.

23
. Pourtalès to Jagow, 30 July 1914 (1:01
PM
), no. 421 in DD, vol. 2.

24
. Buchanan to Grey, 30 July 1914 (1:15
PM
), no. 302 in BD, vol. 11. That the Sazonov-Pourtalès meeting Sazonov discussed in Buchanan’s presence took place between 11
AM
and noon on 30 July 1914 is confirmed by the numbering of Pourtalès’ telegrams to Berlin (when compared against Sazonov’s noontime meeting with Paléologue/Buchanan, and his 12:30
PM
lunch with Krivoshein): Pourtalès’s 30 July 1914 (1:01
PM
) telegram was no. 192, directly following no. 191, sent off at 11
AM
; the one reporting the previous night’s confrontation with Sazonov, by contrast, was no. 189, sent off at 4:30
AM
. For more on the timing of these meetings, see Pourtalès, 46–47.

25
. Entry for 17/30 July 1914, in Schilling, 64.

26
. Cited in Albertini, vol. 2, 570.

27
. Entry for 17/30 July 1914, in Schilling, 64–65.

28
. Paléologue, vol. 1, 45.

29
. Entry for 17/30 July 1914, in Schilling, 65–66.

30
. Dobrorolskii, 28.

31
. Entry for 18/31 July 1914, in Schilling, 69.

32
. Tsar’s mobilization directive, 30 July 1914, to be made active at midnight, cited in Schmitt, vol. 2, 245.

33
. Sazonov to Izvolsky, 17/30 July 1914, in LN, 292.

34
. Paléologue to Viviani, 30 July 1914 (9:15
PM
), no. 359 in DDF, ser. 3, vol. 111. On the purging of the key sentence from this telegram from the
Yellow Book
, see Albertini, vol. 2, 620.

35
. Sazonov to Benckendorff, 17/30 July 1914, no. 281 in IBZI, vol. 5.

36
. Dobrorolskii, 28 and passim.

37
. Cited in Fay, vol. 2, 491.

38
. Viviani (via Abel Ferry) to Cambon, 30 July 1914: reproduced as no. 319 in BD, vol. 11. For analysis of
couverture
and its real nature, see Schmidt, 344–345.

Notes to Chapter 21
      
Last Chance Saloon

1
. Bethmann’s first urgent instructions to Vienna: Bethmann to Tschirschky, 30 July 1914 (9
PM
), received Vienna 3
AM
on 31 July, no. 441 in DD, vol. 2. Wired again to disregard: Bethmann to Tschirschky, 30 July 1914 (11:20
PM
), no. 450 in DD, vol. 2. Changed instructions again: Bethmann to Tschirschky, 31 July 1914 (2:45
AM
), arrived Vienna 9
AM
, no. 464 in DD, vol. 2.

BOOK: July 1914: Countdown to War
13.98Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

UlteriorMotives by Chandra Ryan
Cool Bananas by Christine Harris
Secret of the School Suitor by Jessica Anderson, David Ouro
Murder in Plain Sight by Marta Perry
Delicate by Campbell, Stephanie
The 823rd Hit by Kurtis Scaletta