unt
Mensdorff the substance of the conversation that I had had with
the German Ambassador this morning about that reply.

"Count Mensdorff admitted that, on paper, the Serbian reply might
seem to be satisfactory; but the Serbians had refused the one
thing--the cooperation of Austrian officials and police--which
would be a real guaranty that in practice the Serbians would not
carry on their subversive campaign against Austria.

"I said that it seemed to me as if the Austrian Government
believed that, even after the Serbian reply, they could make war
upon Serbia anyhow, without risk of bringing Russia into the
dispute. If they could make war on Serbia and at the same time
satisfy Russia, well and good; but, if not, the consequences
would be incalculable. I pointed out to him that I quoted this
phrase from an expression of the views of the German Government.
I feared that it would be expected in St. Petersburg that the
Serbian reply would diminish the tension, and now, when Russia
found that there was increased tension, the situation would
become increasingly serious. Already the effect on Europe was one
of anxiety. I pointed out [as an instance of this] that our fleet
was to have dispersed to-day, but we had felt unable to let it
disperse. We should not think of calling up reserves at this
moment, and there was no menace in what we had done about our
fleet; but, owing to the possibility of a European conflagration,
it was impossible for us to disperse our forces at this moment.
It seemed to me that the Serbian reply already involved the
greatest humiliation to Serbia that I had ever seen a country
undergo, and it was disappointing to me that the reply was
treated by the Austrian Government as if it were as
unsatisfactory as a blank negative."

Grey informed Sir Rennell Rodd, British Ambassador at Rome, that the
Italian Ambassador at London had stated to Sir Arthur Nicholson,
Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, that Italy agreed to the
four-power conference, and that the Marquis di San Giuliano, Italian
Minister for Foreign Affairs, would recommend to Germany the
suggestion that Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Serbia should suspend
military operations pending result of the conference, and would
inquire what procedure Germany proposed to be followed at Vienna.

Sir Francis Berti