#55: 2 August 1914 III - Lichnowsky's Last Stand

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

🗓️ 14 April 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

While Germany covered itself in infamy, the German ambassador in London did his best to maintain the fragile Anglo-German relationship. His mission was ultimately doomed, but no one could accuse Prince Max Lichnowsky of failing to try. An avid Anglophile and advocate of closer ties between the two countries, Lichnowsky continued to hope that his masters in Berlin could be persuaded that it was worth making a sacrifice in the war effort, if it meant Britain stayed out of the war.

Unfortunately for him, Berlin did not agree, and had effectively written Lichnowsky off as having gone native. Lichnowsky would not spare his masters from criticism, and would insist until the end of his life that Germany had been the agent of its own misfortunate, while he was just one of many casualties.

Support the July Crisis series, join the conversation, and find out more through these links:

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It's Safina and Emma here from the Secret Mum Club and we are currently sponsored by Kinder Surprise,
0:04.7	where Little Play means a lot. Because it's more than chocolate, it's a treat, a discovery, and play for the
0:10.4	whole family. With the App Play-Doo app, co-developed with Oxford's Department of Education, the fun continues
0:15.8	as toys come to life through digital play. And this year, children can learn all about baby animals
0:20.7	in Kinder Surprise's new
0:22.1	Natun's toy range.
0:23.8	Dotty absolutely loves Rory the elephant and learning about his habitat and the relationship
0:27.8	with his parents and much more.
0:29.6	It's the perfect combo of fun and learning.
0:31.9	Find out more at Kinder.com.
0:36.3	In summer 1914, the world went to war. Now 110 years later, we go back to those figures,
0:46.1	to those debates, to those questions, in the greatest failure in the history of diplomacy.
0:52.8	I am Dr. Zach Twomley. You're listening to When Diplomacy
0:56.7	fails. And this is the July crisis. Thank you. I'm Militarism, which, by rights, is an education for the people and an instrument of policy,
1:38.3	turns policy into the instrument of military power when the patriarchal absolutism of the soldier kingdom makes
1:45.6	possible an attitude which a democracy remote from military yunker influence would never have
1:51.3	permitted. So think our enemies, and so they must think when they see that in spite of
1:56.5	capitalistic industrialization and in spite of socialist organisation, the living are still
2:02.2	ruled by the dead, as Friedrich Nietzsche says, the principal war aims of our enemies, the democratisation
2:08.3	of Germany, will be realised.
2:11.3	Lignovsky, former ambassador to Britain, writes in his memoirs, 1916.
2:18.8	The face of British policy changed dramatically during that fateful Sunday.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Zack Twamley, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Zack Twamley and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.