h has never been disclosed, is not a matter of conjecture.
Germany admits and asserts as part of her defense that she faithfully
exercised her mediatory influence with Austria, but not only is such
mediatory influence not disclosed by any practical results of such
mediation, but the text of these vital communications is still kept in
the secret archives of Berlin and Vienna.
Thus in the official apology for Germany it is stated that, in spite of
the refusal of Austria to accept the proposition of Sir Edward Grey to
treat the Servian reply "as a basis for further conversations,"
"we [Germany] continued our mediatory efforts to the _utmost_
and advised Vienna to make any possible compromise consistent
with the dignity of the Monarchy."
[German "White Paper."]
This would be more convincing if the German Foreign Office in giving
other diplomatic documents had only added the _text_ of the advice which
it thus gave Vienna.
The same significant omission will be found when the same official
defense states that on July 29 the German Government advised Austria "to
begin the conversations with Mr. Sazonof." But here again _the text_ is
not found among the documents which the German Foreign Office has given
to the world. The communications, which passed between that office and
its Ambassadors in St. Petersburg, Paris, and London, are given _in
extenso_, but among the twenty-seven communications appended to the
German official defense it is most significant that not a single
communication is given of the many which passed from Berlin to Vienna
and only two that passed from Vienna to Berlin.
This cannot be an accident. Germany has seen fit to throw the veil of
secrecy over the text of its communications to Vienna, although
professing to give the purport of a few of them.
Until Germany is willing to put the most important documents in its
possession in evidence, it must not be surprised that the world,
remembering Bismarck's garbling of the Ems dispatch, which precipitated
the Franco-Prussian war, will be incredulous as to the sincerity of
Germany's mediatory efforts.
Austria's Case Against Servia.
To discuss the justice of Austria's grievances against Servia would take
us outside the documentary record and into the realm of disputed facts
and would expand this discussion far beyond reasonable length.
Let us therefore suppose _arguendo_ that our imaginary court would
commence its considerati
|