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THE JULY CRISIS
OF 1914: TIMELINE & CAST OF CHARACTERS
June 28, 1914:
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo by Bosnians affiliated
with the “Black Hand.”
July 5/6: Hoyos Mission to Berlin. Germany issues a “blank
check” to Austria.
July 7: Cabinet of Austria-Hungary meets in Vienna;
everyone but the Hungarian Prime Minister Tisza agrees that Serbia must be
punished militarily.
July 8-22: Lull in diplomatic activity while the wheat
harvest proceeds in Austria-Hungary.
July 23: Austrian ultimatum to Serbia includes the demand
that Austrian police officials be allowed to arrest Serb government officials on
Serb territory.
July 24/25: Flurry of diplomatic activity; Great Britain
urges international diplomatic conference.
July 28: Austria declares war on Serbia.
July 29: Austria commences bombardment of the Serb capital,
Belgrade.
July 30: Russia orders general mobilization of its army
reserves.
July 31: Germany delivers 12-hour ultimatum to Russia.
August 1/2: Schlieffen Plan implemented; Germany declares
war on Russia, but its troops enter Luxemburg and threaten Belgium.
August 3/4: The violation of Belgian neutrality persuades
overwhelming majority in British cabinet and Parliament to support war. Britain
declares war on Germany after its ultimatum is ignored.
CAST OF
CHARACTERS
Berchtold= Count Leopold Berchtold, Austrian foreign
minister, the top policy-maker in Vienna
Bethmann Hollweg= Imperial German Chancellor
Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, the top policy-maker in Berlin
Bienvenue-Martin= French finance minister and deputy
premier, highest policy maker in Paris while Premier Viviani and President
Poincaré were gone on their mission to St. Petersburg
Buchanan= Sir George Buchanan, British ambassador in
St. Petersburg
Cambon= Paul Cambon, French ambassador in London
Conrad= Conrad von Hötzendorf, Chief of Staff of the
Austrian Army (Moltke’s opposite number)
Grey= Sir Edward Grey, British Foreign Secretary,
the most important policy-maker in London
Hoyos= Count Alexander von Hoyos, Austrian diplomat
who traveled to Berlin in early July
Jagow= Gottlieb von Jagow, German Secretary of State
(Bethmann Hollweg’s foreign minister)
Lichnowsky= Prince Karl von Lichnowsky, German
ambassador in London and notorious Anglophile
Moltke= Helmuth von Moltke, Chief of Staff of the
German Army (Conrad’s opposite number)
Nicky= Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, reigned 1894-1917
Pourtalčs= Count Friedrich von Pourtalčs, German
ambassador in St. Petersburg
Sazonov= Russian Foreign Minister Serge Sazonov, the
most important policy-maker in St. Petersburg
Schoen=
Wilhelm von Schoen, German ambassador in Paris
Szápáry= Austrian ambassador in St. Petersburg
Szögyény= Austrian ambassador in Berlin
Tschirschky= German ambassador in Vienna
Willy= Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, reigned
1888-1918
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Excerpts from Imanuel Geiss,
ed., July 1914: The Outbreak of the First World War. Selected Documents
(New York: Norton, 1974)
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