#12: 8-12 July 1914 - Hartwig's Last Act

When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

Zack Twamley

19th Century, 20th Century, International Relations, Politics, Thirty Years' War, Korean War, 18th Century, First World War, Phd, 17th Century, European History, History, War

4.8 • 773 Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2024

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Now that German support had been acquired, and the delivery of an ultimatum to Serbia was virtually guaranteed, Berchtold had one final mission - to persuade the Hungarian Premier Stefan Tisza of the necessity of war.

This was easier said than done, since Tisza had good reasons for resisting calls for a war which he believed was unnecessary and dangerous. But Berchtold was fortunate in that the Hungarian was in the minority - Tisza was the only senior Habsburg official to press for a diplomatic resolution to the assassination, and he knew he was alone in this. The pressure was bound to increase on him to make the 'right' decision, but just over the border in Serbia, a shocking incident momentarily jolted Berchtold away from his mission.

Nikolai Hartwig, Russian ambassador to Belgrade since 1909, arrived at the Austrian embassy in Belgrade to finally pay his respects. The date was 10 July 1914, and Hartwig was there to counter several unflattering rumours regarding his reaction to the assassination. Hartwig was also keenly interested in any news of Austria's intentions towards Serbia. It had now been a fortnight since the assassination, and surely Vienna did not intend to do nothing. But Hartwig never learned these secrets, because he dropped dead of a massive heart attack just as he and his Austrian colleague were getting down to business. Although what followed contained no shortage of farce and conspiracy, Hartwig's death was yet another red flag, and to Berchtold, it furnished yet more proof that Austria would never be safe so long as Serbia went unpunished.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Yes! I just can't believe!
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0:10.2	Imagine you.
0:12.1	You in a nice, comfy seat.
0:15.2	With your hands behind your head, taking in the views,
0:19.7	instead of taking on the road, maybe even taking a nap. That's the bliss
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0:41.9	In summer 1914, the world went to war.
0:47.0	Now 110 years later, we go back to those figures, to those debates, to those questions,
0:58.0	in the greatest failure in the history of diplomacy. I am Dr. Zach Twomley. You're listening to When Diplomacy fails.
1:03.0	And this is the July crisis. Thank you. I'm On news being received in Belgrade of the strange circumstances attending the Russian minister's death,
1:45.0	sinister reports were at once circulated to the effect that Mr. Hartwig had taken a
1:49.9	cup of tea at the Austrian legation. I merely mentioned this as affording an indication of the
1:56.0	somewhat medieval morals prevailing in this city.
1:59.8	Britain's Chargey de Fair in Belgrade writes to the British Foreign Secretary 13th of July
2:05.6	1914.
2:10.6	By the time the first week of July 1914 had come to an end,
2:14.6	Austria-Hungary appeared locked into a policy of war with Serbia.
	...

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