The Year 1914
On 16 July, Germany and Austria-Hungary loaned Bulgaria the equivalent of 500 million francs to upgrade their military. At this time, one British pound equaled twenty French francs, which equaled ten Russian rubles, the equivalent of U.S. $4.85.
On 17 July, an Austro-Hungarian report stated that Serbia was preparing for war and had called up 70,000 reserves. The French President and Premier left Paris for two weeks, with a scheduled visit to Tsar Nicholas II at St. Petersburg and a brief stop in Sweden. Britain's Lloyd George gave a speech in Parliament urging disarmament. The German High Command was already completing its final preparations for mobilization.
On 18 July, before mobilization, the strength of the Russian Army stood at 1,423,000 men, with reserves of 3,115,000. By the end of December another 3,438,000 men had been mobilized. As casualties mounted, the army would eventually face a shortage of trained personnel and a critical lack of non-commissioned officers.
On 18 July, the German Ambassador to Turkey cabled the Foreign Office in Berlin that “without doubt, Turkey today is totally incapable of carrying out an alliance.”
On 19 July, Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef gave his approval for the preparation of an ultimatum to Serbia. It was deliberately withheld for four days during a visit of the French President to St. Petersburg. The Austro-Hungarians concluded that Serbia would reject their ultimatum and that military action would become necessary.
On 20 July, the Austro-Hungarians began military preparations on the Serbian frontier. French President Raymond Poincare and Prime Minister Rene Viviani arrived in St. Petersburg for a state visit. Over 100,000 workers were on strike in St. Petersburg. The movement quickly spread to Moscow and Revel. On the 21st, at St. Petersburg, Russian police arrested strike leaders at the Pravda newspaper office and shut down their presses.
On 21 July, the French Ambassador in Berlin informed Paris of the first steps towards German mobilization. Germany was informed of the text of the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia. Emperor Franz Josef approved of the Serbian Note “without modifications.”
On 22 July, Russia's Foreign Minister Sazonov warned Austria-Hungary against taking any drastic action against Serbia. Austria finally informed Germany of the contents of its proposed ultimatum to Serbia.
|
