Page - 96 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

96 Bloody Sundays to meet its alliance obligations should an emergency arise.204 For the time being, this announcement was not a source of much consternation. In Germany, the planners had however clearly already thought ahead and were agonising over war objectives. When asked what should happen to Serbia after an Austro-Hungarian victory, Hoyos allowed himself to make an unauthorised statement that was then most severely rebuked, above all by Tisza. Either Hoyos was improvising, or simply repeating the gossip circulating at the Ballhausplatz. At any rate, he told Imperial Chancellor Hollweg, von Jagow and Zimmermann that it would be advantageous to divide Serbia between Romania and Bulgaria. Hoyos later claimed that it would not have mattered which aim he gave : the Ger- mans simply wanted to be told of a clearly formulated goal. During the course of further discussions, he also claimed that he had left the issue open as to when exactly the war would begin, saying simply that it would be sooner or later. Bethmann Hollweg then replied that it was not a matter for the German Empire to give Austria-Hungary advice with regard to its policy towards Serbia. However, Germany would provide backing to the Danube Monarchy with all its force, and fulfil its alliance obligations in every way. In the report,he subsequently wrote for Emperor Franz Joseph, Hoyos said : ‘If I had wanted his [Bethmann Hollweg’s] personal opinion as to an opportune point in time, he would have said to me that if war were inevitable, then now would be better than later.’ With these words, Bethmann Hollweg simply added his own version of what the German Kaiser and the Imperial and Royal ambassador Szögyény had already said. In Szögyény’s report, the decisive passage reads as follows : in Kaiser Wilhelm’s view, there should be no delay in taking action against Serbia. ‘Although Russia’s position would be hostile, he [the Kaiser] has been preparing for this for years, and even if it should come to war between Austria-Hungary and Russia, we can be sure of the fact that Germany would with her accustomed faithfulness be at our side. If however we have indeed recognised the need for belligerent action against Serbia, it would be a matter of regret to him were we to fail to seize the moment, which is currently so in our favour.’205 This statement contained two messages : Germany would provide back- ing, and it also regarded the earliest possible point in time for war as favourable. These agreements by Kaiser Wilhelm and Bethmann Hollweg were later described as a ‘blank cheque’, and were also understood as such. Hoyos returned to Vienna, as he wrote, ‘in high spirits’. Once again, it seemed, the die had been cast. Hoyos had something else to tell his German hosts in passing. On behalf of the Ballhausplatz, he had been ordered to make it clear to Berlin that Austria did not wish to inform the Triple Alliance partner Italy of its plans to act against Serbia, since there was a risk of indiscretion and, that aside, Italy was likely to demand compensation. This fear was certainly not unfounded, since Italian diplomats frequently felt the urge to talk to the Russians, British and French,206 although it turned out to be a grave mistake that