The Sleepwalkers (113 page)

91
. Ibid.

92
. Riezler, diary entry 11 July 1914, in Karl Dietrich Erdmann (ed.),
Kurt Riezler. Tagebücher Aufsätze Dokumente
(Göttingen, 1972), p. 185.

93
. Geiss (ed.),
Julikrise
, vol. 1, doc. 123, p. 198.

94
. ‘German View of French Disclosures',
The Times
, 17 July 1914, p. 7, col. C; ‘Attitude of Germany', ibid., 25 July 1914, p. 10, col. C.

95
. Mombauer,
Helmuth von Moltke
, pp. 194–5, n 44.

96
. Thus the inference of Count Kageneck, German military attaché in Vienna, see ibid., p. 194. On the impact of the Humbert revelations on German thinking during the crisis, see also Theodor Wolff (editor-in-chief of the
Berliner Tageblatt
), diary entry 24 July 1914, reporting official scepticism about French readiness, in Bernd Sösemann (ed.),
Tagebücher 1914–1919: der Erste Weltkrieg und die Entstehung der Weimarer Republik in Tagebüchern, Leitartikeln und Briefen des Chefredakteurs am ‘Berliner Tageblatt' und Mitbegründers der ‘Deutschen Demokratischen Partei' Theodor Wolff
(Boppard, 1984), pp. 64–5; Hopman, diary entry 14 July 1914, in Epkenhans (ed.),
Tagebücher
, p. 389.

97
. Risto Ropponen,
Italien als Verbündeter. Die Einstellung der politischen und militärischen Führung Deutschlands und Österreich-Ungarns zu Italien von der Niederlage von Adua 1896 bis zum Ausbruch des Weltkrieges 1914
(Helsinki, 1986), pp. 139, 141–2, 209–10.

98
. Bethmann to Schoen and Bethmann to Lichnowsky, both Berlin, 27 July 1914, in Geiss (ed.),
Julikrise
, vol. 2, docs. 491, 492, p. 103.

99
. Jagow to Lichnowsky (private letter), Berlin, 18 July 1914, in Karl Kautsky (ed.),
Die deutschen Dokumente zu Kriegsausbruch
(4 vols., Berlin, 1927), vol. 1, doc. 72, pp. 99–101, here p. 100.

100
. On the German confidence in ‘localization', see Hopman, diary entries 8, 13, 24, 26 July 1914, pp. 386, 388, 394–5, 397–8; on Jagow's anxiety, see same 21 July, pp. 391–2; on Bethmann as ‘drowning man', see Alfred von Tirpitz,
Erinnerungen
(Leipzig, 1920), p. 242; on these features of the crisis, see also Williamson and May, ‘An Identity of Opinion', esp. n 107, p. 353.

101
. Wilhelm II to Franz Joseph, Balholm, 14 July 1914,
ÖUAP
, vol. 8, doc. 10262, pp. 422–3.

102
. See esp. Wilhelm's notes on Tschirschky to Jagow, Vienna, 10 July 1914, in Imanuel Geiss,
July 1914. The Outbreak of the First World War. Selected Documents
(New York, 1974), doc. 16, pp. 106–7.

103
. Wilhelm II, comments on Tschirschky to Bethmann, Vienna, 14 July 1914, in ibid., doc. 21, pp. 114–15.

104
. Lamar Cecil,
Wilhelm II
(2 vols., Chapel Hill, 1989 and 1996), vol. 2,
Emperor and Exile, 1900–1941,
p. 202; Jagow to Wedel (imperial entourage), Berlin, 18 July 1914, in Geiss,
July 1914
, doc. 29, p. 121.

105
. David Stevenson,
Armaments and the Coming of War, Europe 1904–1914
(Oxford, 1996), p. 376.

106
. See G. A. von Müller,
Regierte der Kaiser? Aus den Kriegstagebüchern des Chefs des Marinekabinettes im Ersten Weltkrieg Admiral Georg Alexander von Müller
(Göttingen, 1959); Holger Afflerbach,
Kaiser Wilhelm II. als Oberster Kriegsherr im Ersten Weltkrieg. Quellen aus der militärischen Umgebung des Kaisers
(Munich, 2005), p. 11.

107
. Holger Afflerbach,
Falkenhayn: Politisches Denken und Handeln im Kaiserreich
(Munich, 1994), p. 153.

108
. Wilhelm to Jagow, Neues Palais, 28 July 1914, in Geiss,
July 1914
, doc. 112, p. 256; Afflerbach,
Falkenhayn
, p. 153.

109
. Cited Afflerbach,
Falkenhayn
, p. 154.

110
. Cited in Volker Berghahn,
Germany and the Approach of War in 1914
(Basingstoke, 1993), pp. 202–3.

111
. Albertini,
Origins
, vol. 2, p. 467; Geiss,
July 1914
, p. 222.

112
. Lichnowsky to Jagow, London, 27 July 1914, Geiss,
July 1914
, doc. 97, pp. 238–9.

113
. Bethmann to Tschirschky, Berlin 10.15 a.m., 28 July 1914, Geiss,
July 1914
, doc. 115, p. 259; Stevenson,
Armaments
, pp. 401–2; on the divergence between Bethmann's and Wilhelm's views on that day, see Geiss (ed.),
Julikrise
, vol. 2, pp. 164–5 (commentary by Geiss).

114
. Bethmann to Wilhelm II, Berlin 10.15 p.m., 28 July 1914, in Geiss,
July 1914
, docs. 114, 117, pp. 258, 261.

115
. Trumpener, ‘War Premeditated?', pp. 66–7.

116
. Chelius to Wilhelm II, St Petersburg, 26 July 1914, in Geiss (ed.),
Julikrise
, vol. 2, doc. 441, pp. 47–9, here p. 48.

117
. Cited in Trumpener, ‘War Premeditated?', p. 66.

118
. Ibid.

119
. General Staff, report by the Intelligence Assessment Board, 28 July 1914, cited in ibid., p. 72.

120
. See, for example, Bethmann to Tschirschky, Berlin, 29 July 1914 and same to same twice on 30 July 1914, in Geiss (ed.),
Julikrise
, vol. 2, docs. 690, 695, 696, pp. 287–8, 289–90, 290.

121
. Falkenhayn diary, 29 July 1914, cited in Afflerbach,
Falkenhayn
, p. 155.

122
. Berghahn,
Germany and the Approach of War
, p. 215.

123
. Falkenhayn diary, 31 July 1914, cited in Afflerbach,
Falkenhayn
, p. 160.

124
. George V, reported by Prince Henry of Prussia, Henry to Wilhelm II, 28 July 1914, in
DD
, vol. 1, pp. 32–89.

125
. Harold Nicolson,
King George the Fifth
(London, 1952), p. 245; Berghahn,
Germany and the Approach of War
, p. 219.

126
. Nicolson,
King George the Fifth
, p. 246.

127
. Lichnowsky to Jagow, London, 29 July 1914, in Geiss,
July 1914
, doc. 130, pp. 288–90.

128
. Wilhelm II, notes on Pourtalès to Jagow, St Petersburg, 30 July 1914, Geiss,
July 1914
, doc. 135, pp. 293–5.

129
. Lichnowsky to Jagow, London, 1 August 1914,
DD
, vol. 3, doc. 562, p. 66.

130
. Lichnowsky to Jagow, London, 1 August 1914, ibid., doc. 570, p. 70.

131
. Cited in Afflerbach,
Falkenhayn
, p. 164.

132
. Falkenhayn diary, 1 August 1914, cited in ibid., pp. 165–6. Falkenhayn's version of this exchange was broadly supported by Moltke, but may not be entirely trustworthy. According to the memoirs of the aide-de-camp and eyewitness Max von Mutius, the Kaiser asked Moltke for advice on whether a breach of the borders in the west – specifically the entry of the 16th Division into Luxembourg – could still be stopped. Moltke replied that he did not know, and it was a subordinate from the Operations Department of the General Staff, Lieutenant-Colonel Tappen, who affirmed that this was still possible. By this account, the Kaiser did not directly overrule Moltke, but remained within the conventional boundaries of his position. In any case, the extant accounts agree on the traumatic effect of this episode on the chief of the General Staff, who returned obsessively to it thereafter; see Afflerbach,
Kaiser Wilhelm II als Oberster Kriegsherr im Ersten Weltkrieg. Quellen aus der militärischen Umgebung des Kaisers, 1914–1918
(Munich, 2005), p.13.

133
. Cecil,
Wilhelm II
, vol. 2, p. 107.

134
. Mombauer,
Helmuth von Moltke
, p. 222.

135
. Wilhelm II to George V, Berlin 1 August 1914,
DD
, vol. 3 doc. 575, p. 74.

136
. Bethmann to Lichnowsky, Berlin, 1 August 1914, ibid., vol. 3, doc. 578, p. 76; Wilhelm II to George V, Berlin, 1 August 1914, ibid., vol. 3, doc. 575, p. 74.

137
. Lichnowsky to Jagow, London, 1 August 1914, ibid., vol. 3, doc. 596, pp. 89–91.

138
. George V to Wilhelm II, London, 1 August 1914, ibid., vol. 3, doc. 612, pp. 103–4.

139
. Lichnowsky to Jagow, London, 1 August 1914, ibid., vol. 3, doc. 603, p. 95.

140
. Cited Afflerbach,
Falkenhayn
, p. 167.

141
. Lichnowsky to Jagow, London, 29 July 1914,
DD
, vol. 1, doc. 368, pp. 86–9.

142
. Grey to Bertie, London, 31 July 1914,
BD
, vol. 11, doc. 352, p. 220.

143
. Harry F. Young, ‘The Misunderstanding of August 1, 1914',
Journal of Modern History
, 48/4 (1976), pp. 644–65.

144
. Stephen J. Valone, ‘“There Must Be Some Misunderstanding”: Sir Edward Grey's Diplomacy of August 1, 1914',
Journal of British Studies
, 27/4 (1988), pp. 405–24.

145
. Keith M. Wilson, ‘Understanding the “Misunderstanding” of 1 August 1914',
Historical Journal
, 37/4 (1994), pp. 885–9; on the impact of international financial instability on British thinking, see Nicholas A. Lambert,
Planning Armageddon. British Economic Warfare and the First World War
(Cambridge, MA, 2012), pp. 185–231; for a discussion of Lambert's views, see Williamson, ‘July 1914: Revisited and Revised', pp. 17–18; I am grateful to Sam Williamson for drawing my attention to this strand in Lambert's argument.

146
. Grey to Bertie, London, 1 August 1914,
BD
, vol. 11, doc. 419, p. 250.

147
. Bertie to Grey, Paris, 2 August 1914, ibid., doc. 453, p. 263; on the ‘impertinence' of this reply, see Wilson, ‘Understanding the “Misunderstanding”, p. 888.

148
. Communication by the German embassy, London, 31 July 1914,
BD
, vol. 11, doc. 344, p. 217; the warning was repeated on the following day, see communication by the German embassy, London, 1 August 1914, ibid., doc. 397, p. 241.

149
. Asquith to Venetia Stanley, London, 1 August 1913, in Brock and Brock (eds.),
Letters to Venetia Stanley
, p. 140.

150
. Grey to Bertie, London, 29 July 1914,
BD
, vol. 11, doc. 283, p. 180.

151
. Grey to Bertie, London, 31 July 1914, ibid., doc. 352, p. 220.

152
. Grey to Bertie, London, 31 July 1914, ibid., doc. 367, pp. 226–7.

153
. Grey to Bertie, London, 8.20 p.m., 1 August 1914, ibid., doc. 426, p. 426; note the time of dispatch: this was a later telegram than the one earlier cited for that day, providing the ambassador with further detail on the conversation with Cambon.

154
. Keith Eubank,
Paul Cambon: Master Diplomatist
(Norman, 1960), pp. 170–71.

155
. Conversation with Cambon on 24 July recalled in André Géraud, ‘The Old Diplomacy and the New',
Foreign Affairs
, 23/2 (1945), pp. 256–70, here p. 260.

156
. Grey to Bertie, London, 28 July 1914,
BD
, vol. 11, doc. 238, p. 156.

157
. Keiger, ‘France', p. 133.

158
. Cambon to Viviani, London, 29 July 1914,
DDF
, 3rd series, vol. 11, doc. 281, pp. 228–9.

159
. Steiner,
Britain and the Origins
, pp. 181–6.

160
. On this aspect of the Entente, see John Keiger, ‘Why Allies? Necessity or Folly', unpublished MS of paper given at the conference ‘Forgetful Allies: Truth, Myth and Memory in the Two World Wars and After', Cambridge, 26–27 September 2011. I am grateful to John Keiger for letting me see a copy of this paper before its publication.

161
. Géneviève Tabouis,
Perfidious Albion – Entente Cordiale
(London, 1938), p. 109.

162
. Cited in Steiner,
Britain and the Origins
, p. 225.

163
. Asquith to Stanley, London, 29 July 1914, in Brock and Brock (eds.),
Letters to Venetia Stanley
, p. 132.

164
. Eyre Crowe, memorandum of 31 July 1914,
BD
, vol. 11, enclosure in doc. 369, pp. 228–9.

165
. On the growing importance of cabinet: Steiner,
Britain and the Origins
, p. 228. Cambon is cited in John Keiger, ‘How the Entente Cordiale Began', in Richard Mayne, Douglas Johnson and Robert Tombs (eds.),
Cross Channel Currents. 100 Years of the Entente Cordiale
(London, 2004), pp. 3–10, here p. 10.

166
. Austen Chamberlain,
Down the Years
(London, [1935]), p. 94.

167
. Colin Forbes Adams,
Life of Lord Lloyd
(London, 1948), pp. 59–60; Chamberlain,
Down the Years
, pp. 94–101; Ian Colvin,
The Life of Lord Carson
(3 vols., London, 1932–6), vol. 3, pp. 14–20; on Cambon's conversation with Lloyd, esp. pp. 14–15; Leopold S. Amery,
My Political Life
(3 vols., London, [1953–5]), vol. 2, pp. 17–19.

168
. Keith M. Wilson,
The Policy of the Entente. Essays on the Determinants of British Foreign Policy, 1904–1914
(Cambridge, 1985), p. 135.

169
. Asquith to Stanley, London, 31 July 1914, in Brock and Brock (eds.),
Letters to Venetia Stanley
, p. 138.

170
. Winston S. Churchill,
The World Crisis
(London, 1931), p. 114.

171
. Asquith to Stanley, London, 1 August 1914, in Brock and Brock (eds.),
Letters to Venetia Stanley
, p. 140.

172
. John Morley,
Memorandum on Resignation, August 1914
(London, 1928), p. 5.

173
. Cited in Wilson,
Policy of the Entente
, p. 137.

174
. Lord Crewe to George V reporting on cabinet meeting of 2 August 1914, 6.30 p.m., in J. A. Spender and Cyril Asquith,
Life of Herbert Henry Asquith
(2 vols., London, 1932), vol. 2, p. 82; Morley,
Memorandum
, p. 21.

175
. On Samuel's responsibility for these formulae and his success in drumming up support for them among his colleagues, see Wilson,
Policy of the Entente
, p. 142; also Herbert Samuel to his wife, Beatrice, 2 August 1914, in C.J. Lowe and M. L. Dockrill,
The Mirage of Power
(3 vols., London, 1972), vol. 1, pp. 150–51; Cameron Hazlehurst,
Politicians at War, July 1914 to May 1915: A Prologue to the Triumph of Lloyd George
(London, 1971), pp. 93–8.

176
. On Grey's words and his ‘emotion', see George Allardice Riddell (owner of
News of the World
),
Lord Riddell's War Diary, 1914–1918
(London, 1933), p. 6.

177
. On the place of Belgium in British pro-war opinion, see John Keiger, ‘Britain's “Union Sacrée” in 1914', in Jean-Jacques Becker and Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau (eds.),
Les Sociétés européennes et la guerre de 1914–1918
(Paris, 1990), pp. 39–52, esp. pp. 48–9.

178
. Cited in Hermann Lutz,
Lord Grey and the World War
, trans. E. W. Dickes (London, 1928), p. 101.

179
. C. Addison,
Four and a Half Years
(2 vols., London, 1934), vol. 1, p. 32, cited in Brock, ‘Britain Enters the War', p. 161.

180
. Keiger, ‘Britain's “Union Sacrée”', in Becker and Audoin-Rouzeau (eds.),
Les Sociétés européennes
, pp. 39–52; Samuel R. Williamson,
The Politics of Grand Strategy. Britain and France Prepare for War, 1904
–
1914
(Cambridge, MA, 1969), pp. 357–60.

181
. This is the argument advanced in Keith M. Wilson, ‘The British Cabinet's Decision for War, 2 August 1914',
British Journal of International Studies
(1975), pp. 148–159; reprinted as chap. 8 of id.,
The Policy of the Entente
.