your interview.
EXHIBIT 2.
The Chancellor to the Governments of Germany.
Confidential. Berlin, July 28, 1914.
You will make the following report to the Government to which you are
accredited:
In view of the facts which the Austrian Government has published in its
note to the Servian Government, the last doubt must disappear that the
outrage to which the Austro-Hungarian successor to the throne has fallen
a victim, was prepared in Servia, to say the least with the connivance
of members of the Servian government and army. It is a product of the
pan-Serb intrigues which for a series of years have become a source of
permanent disturbance for the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and for the
whole of Europe.
The pan-Serb chauvinism appeared especially marked during the Bosnian
crisis. Only to the far-reaching self-restraint and moderation of the
Austro-Hungarian government and the energetic intercession of the powers
is it to be ascribed that the provocations to which Austria-Hungary was
exposed at that time, did not lead to a conflict. The assurance of
future well-behaviour, which the Servian government gave at that time,
it has not kept. Under the very eyes, at least with the tacit sufferance
of official Servia, the pan-Serb propaganda has meanwhile continued to
increase in scope and intensity. It would be compatible neither with its
dignity nor with its right to self-preservation if the Austro-Hungarian
government persisted to view idly any longer the intrigues beyond the
frontier, through which the safety and the integrity of the monarchy are
permanently threatened. With this state of affairs, the action as well
as the demands of the Austro-Hungarian Government can be viewed only as
justifiable.
The reply of the Servian government to the demands which the
Austro-Hungarian government put on the 23rd inst. through its
representative in Belgrade, shows that the dominating factors in Servia
are not inclined to cease their former policies and agitation. There
will remain nothing else for the Austro-Hungarian government than to
press its demands, if need be through military action, unless it
renounces for good its position as a great power.
Some Russian personalities deem it their right as a matter of course and
a task of Russia's to actively become a party to Servia in the conflict
between Austria-Hungary and Servia. For the European conflagration which
would result from a similar step by Russia, the "Nowoje Wremja
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