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

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

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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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Episoder(744)

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#51: 1 August 1914 III - The Kaiser's Rollercoaster

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#50: 1 August 1914 II - 'There Must Be Some Misunderstanding'

#50: 1 August 1914 II - 'There Must Be Some Misunderstanding'

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#49: 1 August 1914 I - Rolling The Iron Dice

#49: 1 August 1914 I - Rolling The Iron Dice

We're in the endgame now, but somehow, not everyone got the message.There was plenty of waiting to be done. Berlin was waiting on Russia's reply to its ultimatum, and France was also expected to reply...

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#48: 31 July 1914 V - Britain On Defence

#48: 31 July 1914 V - Britain On Defence

In our final JULY episode of the July Crisis, we return to Britain, where the pressure was building to make a decision. Russian mobilisation was clearly in the air, and if the news was true, German mo...

24 Feb 202544min

#47: 31 July 1914 IV - 'A Finger's Breadth From War'

#47: 31 July 1914 IV - 'A Finger's Breadth From War'

Now that Berlin had accepted that war with Russia was inevitable, it remained to prepare the diplomatic ground.German diplomacy had worked behind the scenes to court Romania and the Ottoman Empire, bu...

17 Feb 202534min

#46: 31 July 1914 III - 'We'd Like Those Chaps To Be In It Too'

#46: 31 July 1914 III - 'We'd Like Those Chaps To Be In It Too'

As the news of Russian mobilisation and Germany's Kriegsgefahr spread across Europe, urgent telegrams followed.Whether in London, Berlin, or Paris, the picture was becoming clearer, but that did not m...

10 Feb 202540min

#45: 31 July 1914 II - From Russia with Lies

#45: 31 July 1914 II - From Russia with Lies

Russian general mobilisation was underway, and with red imperial posters announcing this grave new step, it could hardly be kept a secret. Yet, somehow, Germany seemed the only power truly in the loop...

3 Feb 202539min

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