#32: 28 July 1914 I - The Kaiser's Conundrum

When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

The 28 July 1914 is best remembered today as the point of no return, as Austria declared war on Serbia.

However, as we will see in this episode, the announcement of this Austro-Serb war, made in the afternoon, and reaching Europe's capitals by the evening, did not ruin the prospects for peace as we might expect. Many contemporaries still believed that it was possible to preserve peace, and foremost among these was Kaiser Wilhelm II. Weeks before, he had given the green light to the blank cheque, but on this morning, Wilhelm finally read Serbia's reply to Austria's ultimatum, and in his view, all reasons for war were now gone.

Wilhelm now proposed a way out of the crisis - Austria would occupy Belgrade, in lieu of Serbia's commitment to dismantle the Pan Serb propaganda and fulfil Austria's remaining demands. This was the Halt in Belgrade, and it was to have a short, but fascinating shelf life, while experiencing several ups and downs before it was eventually killed. In this episode, we trace this idea, and why some in the German government worked hard to push for it, while their colleagues worked to undermine them.

The German policy was confused, but also impatient. German Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg was running out of patience with his Austrian ally, and in his view, Vienna needed to be given a stark warning. She must make amends with Italy, and present her war plan to her ally - did she want to annex Serbia, or not? It was vital that these questions were clarified, as it would make all the difference when dealing with Serbia's protector, Russia. Could Germany stop the ball rolling, or were their efforts, like so many others, hampered by delusions, misinformation, and mistrust? Find out as we begin our coverage of this watershed moment in our history.

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