#38: 29 July 1914 IV - Vienna Waits For You!

When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

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By the evening of 29 July, a new wave of panic was overcoming the German government. In Berlin, the question of restraining Austria had long been treated with a wink and a nod, but news of Russian mobilisation seemed to change everything.

For Bethmann Hollweg and Jagow, this change moved them to take a stand against Austrian policy at long last. They demanded answers, compromise, and more information, and the Chancellor was willing to go further still. Although long since forgotten in the mad scramble that followed, Bethmann was sufficiently alarmed to advocate the nuclear option - he would cancel the blank cheque entirely, if Austria did not see sense.

This message would be as terrifying as it was confusing for the Austrians, who had frequently been assured of their ally's solidarity, and of their freedom to craft whatever policy they wanted. But with Britain stating its conditional neutrality, France and Russia united in their defiance, and now Italy complaining more forcefully about Austrian behaviour, not even Berlin could ignore that Vienna was forcing it towards the abyss. The real question for the German government as the 29 July became 30 July, was whether they would pull back, or jump.

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