37 Day Count Down to War - Day 24

July 20th 1914 -Day 24

The ultimatum is delivered to Bad Ischl. franz Josef gets his first look at the "jewel":

"This duplicity of Austria is intolerable." German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg

Count Leopold von Berchtold Imperial foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary

Franz Joseph of Austria

Because of the Austrian delay in writing the ultimatum, the element of surprise that Germany had counted upon in the war against Serbia was lost. Instead, the strategy of “localisation” was adopted, which meant that when the Austro-Serbian war began, Germany would pressure other powers not to become involved even at the risk of war. On July 19th, Jagow published a note in the semi-official North German Gazette warning other powers “that the settlement of differences which may arise between Austria-Hungary and Serbia should remain localized”. Asked by Jules Cambon, the French Ambassador to Germany, how he knew about the contents of the Austrian ultimatum as he had revealed in the North German Gazette,Gottlieb von Jagow pretended to be ignorant of it. Sir Horace Rumbolf of the British Embassy in Berlin reported:

“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.”

Though Jagow’s pretence was not widely believed, it was still believed at this time that Germany was aiming for peace, and could restrain Austria.

General Moltke of the German General Staff again strongly approved of the idea of an Austrian attack on Serbia as the best way of bringing about the desired world war.

On July 20, the German government informed the directors of the Norddeutscher Lloyd and Hamburg America Line shipping companies that Austria would soon present an ultimatum that might cause a general European war, and they should start withdrawing their ships from foreign waters back to the Reich at once. That same day, the German Navy was ordered to start concentrating the High Seas Fleet, in case of a general war. Riezler’s diary has Bethmann Hollweg saying to him on July 20 that Russia with its “growing demands and tremendous dynamic power would be impossible to repel in a few years, especially if the present European constellation continues to exist.” Riezler ended his diary with noting that Bethmann Hollweg was “determined and taciturn”, and quoted his former Foreign Minister Kiderlen-Waechter who “had always said we must fight”.

Austria-Hungary: Preparations on Serbian frontier

Information sourced from the following sites:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/richardpreston/100269861/ww1-94-days-to-go-and-in-britain-members-of-the-stock-exchange-race-walk-from-london-to-brighton/
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_Crisis
http://www2.uncp.edu/home/rwb/July_Crisis_1914_Chronology.htm