"
Does any reasonable man question for a moment that, if Germany had done
something more than merely "transmit" these wise and pacific
suggestions, Austria would have complied with the suggestions of its
powerful ally or that Austria would have suspended its military
operations if Germany had given any intimation of such a wish?
On the following day, July 28, the door was further closed on any
possibility of compromise when the Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs
"said, quietly but firmly, _that no discussion could be
accepted on the basis of the Servian note_; that war would be
declared today, and that the well-known pacific character of
the Emperor, as well as, he might add, his own, might be
accepted as a guarantee that the war was both just and
inevitable; that this was a matter that must be settled
directly between the two parties immediately concerned."
To this arrogant and unreasonable contention that Europe must accept the
guarantee of the Austrian Foreign Minister as to the righteousness of
Austria's quarrel the British Ambassador suggested "the larger aspect of
the question," namely, the peace of Europe, and to this "larger aspect,"
which should have given any reasonable official some ground for pause,
the Austrian Foreign Minister replied that he
"had it also in mind, but thought that Russia ought not to
oppose operations like those impending, which did not aim at
territorial aggrandizement, and which could no longer be
postponed.
Pages:
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52