- 1 Assurance of Support
- 2 Germany’s Faulty Assumptions
- 3 Attempted Withdrawal
Assurance of Support
On 5 July 1914, Alexander Hoyos (1876-1937), a leading hawk in the Austrian Foreign Ministry, and Count Ladislaus von Szögyény (1841-1916), the Habsburg ambassador to Berlin, met Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1859-1941) and Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (1856-1921), the German chancellor. Later that day, Bethmann Hollweg assured Szögyény that Germany would support her ally, whatever measures the Austro-Hungarian leaders decided to take against Serbia.
Germany’s Faulty Assumptions
In issuing the blank cheque, German leaders made a number of faulty assumptions. They believed that Austria-Hungary was ready to initiate war against Serbia immediately and that a rapid strike would present Europe with a fait accompli. They reckoned that the Tsarist regime was not militarily ready to risk a general European war. Moreover, they thought that monarchical solidarity would trump pan-Slav sentiment, that the Tsar would not support a state that had allegedly harboured the assassins of the heir to the Habsburg throne. In other words, the “blank cheque” was designed first and foremost to secure a triumph, either political or military, for the Central Powers in the Balkans. The “blank cheque” was vital in bolstering Austro-Hungarian leaders in their decision to embark on war against Serbia.
Attempted Withdrawal
Bethmann Hollweg had also built into his calculations the risk of a general European war and in supporting Austria-Hungary he believed that were a European war to happen, better that it happen in 1914 than several years later. This scenario, however, was not considered a probability on 5 July. When that prospect became a probability in late July, Bethmann Hollweg and Wilhelm II sought, but failed, to amend the cheque.
William Mulligan, University College Dublin
Section Editor: Christoph Nübel- Clark, Christopher M.: The sleepwalkers. How Europe went to war in 1914, New York, 2013: Harper.
- Mombauer, Annika: Die Julikrise. Europas Weg in den Ersten Weltkrieg, Munich, 2014: C.H. Beck.
- Otte, Thomas: July Crisis. The world's descent into war, summer 1914, New York, 2014: Cambridge University Press.
William Mulligan: Germany's Blank Cheque to Austria-Hungary, in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2015-07-01. DOI: 10.15463/ie1418.10677
Map 2
Images 3
Alexander Graf Hoyos (1876-1937)
Alexander Graf Hoyos strides down a street with a preoccupied expression on his face.
Unknown photographer: Alexander Graf Hoyos, black-and-white negative on a glass plate, n.p., 1914; source: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Bildarchiv Austria, NB 518641-B, http://www.bildarchivaustria.at/Pages/ImageDetail.aspx?p_iBildID=12992424.
Courtesy of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek.
Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg
This portrait shows German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg.
Unknown photographer: Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, black-and-white photograph, n.p., n.d.; source: University of Texas Libraries, http://www.lib.utexas.edu/exhibits/portraits/index.php?img=38.
This file has been identified as Public Domain Mark 1.0: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/.
Franz Joseph I and Wilhelm II
A painting of Franz Joseph I, emperor of Austria, with Wilhelm II, emperor of Germany.
Stalzer, Hans: Franz Joseph I., Kaiser von Österreich, colour print, n.p., 1914; source: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Bildarchiv Austria, PORT_00049534_01, http://www.bildarchivaustria.at/Pages/ImageDetail.aspx?p_iBildID=4859331.
Courtesy of Österreichische Nationalbibliothek.
External Links 4
- Äußerungenen des Englischen Regierungs Blattes, in: Neue Freie Presse 17930, 26 July 1914, p. 8 (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) (Article)
- Die deutschen Dokumente zum Kriegsausbruch 1914 (Auswärtiges Amt / Internet Archive) (Database)
- Telegramm des österreichisch-ungarischen Botschafters in Berlin, Ladislaus von Szögyény-Marich, an Außenminister Leopold Graf Berchtold ("Blankoscheck"), 6 July 1914 (100(0) Schlüsseldokumente) (Article)
- The "Blank Check": Ladislaus Count von Szögyény-Marich to Leopold Count von Berchtold, Berlin, 5 July 1914 (German History in Documents and Images (GHDI)) (Article)
Metadata
Author Keywords Bethmann Hollweg; Wilhlem II; Alexander Hoyos; blank cheque GND Subject Headings LC Subject Headings Rameau Subject Headings Key Person(s) Key Location(s) Regional Section(s) Thematic Section(s) Germany's Blank Cheque to Austria-Hungary Articles That Link HereGermany's Blank Cheque to Austria-Hungary
Summary
Germany’s offer of unconditional support to its Austro-Hungarian ally in July 1914 remains one of the most controversial decisions in modern history. Historians have interpreted the blank cheque in several, often contradictory, ways – either as a German attempt to escalate a regional crisis into a wider European war or as a move to localise war in the Balkans. Most historians agree that the blank cheque marked a victory for the war party in Vienna.
Table of contents
- 1 Assurance of Support
- 2 Germany’s Faulty Assumptions
- 3 Attempted Withdrawal
- Clark, Christopher M.: The sleepwalkers. How Europe went to war in 1914, New York, 2013: Harper.
- Mombauer, Annika: Die Julikrise. Europas Weg in den Ersten Weltkrieg, Munich, 2014: C.H. Beck.
- Otte, Thomas: July Crisis. The world's descent into war, summer 1914, New York, 2014: Cambridge University Press.
- Äußerungenen des Englischen Regierungs Blattes, in: Neue Freie Presse 17930, 26 July 1914, p. 8 (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) (Article)
- Die deutschen Dokumente zum Kriegsausbruch 1914 (Auswärtiges Amt / Internet Archive) (Database)
- Telegramm des österreichisch-ungarischen Botschafters in Berlin, Ladislaus von Szögyény-Marich, an Außenminister Leopold Graf Berchtold ("Blankoscheck"), 6 July 1914 (100(0) Schlüsseldokumente) (Article)
- The "Blank Check": Ladislaus Count von Szögyény-Marich to Leopold Count von Berchtold, Berlin, 5 July 1914 (German History in Documents and Images (GHDI)) (Article)
Assurance of Support
On 5 July 1914, Alexander Hoyos (1876-1937), a leading hawk in the Austrian Foreign Ministry, and Count Ladislaus von Szögyény (1841-1916), the Habsburg ambassador to Berlin, met Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1859-1941) and Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (1856-1921), the German chancellor. Later that day, Bethmann Hollweg assured Szögyény that Germany would support her ally, whatever measures the Austro-Hungarian leaders decided to take against Serbia.
Germany’s Faulty Assumptions
In issuing the blank cheque, German leaders made a number of faulty assumptions. They believed that Austria-Hungary was ready to initiate war against Serbia immediately and that a rapid strike would present Europe with a fait accompli. They reckoned that the Tsarist regime was not militarily ready to risk a general European war. Moreover, they thought that monarchical solidarity would trump pan-Slav sentiment, that the Tsar would not support a state that had allegedly harboured the assassins of the heir to the Habsburg throne. In other words, the “blank cheque” was designed first and foremost to secure a triumph, either political or military, for the Central Powers in the Balkans. The “blank cheque” was vital in bolstering Austro-Hungarian leaders in their decision to embark on war against Serbia.
Attempted Withdrawal
Bethmann Hollweg had also built into his calculations the risk of a general European war and in supporting Austria-Hungary he believed that were a European war to happen, better that it happen in 1914 than several years later. This scenario, however, was not considered a probability on 5 July. When that prospect became a probability in late July, Bethmann Hollweg and Wilhelm II sought, but failed, to amend the cheque.
William Mulligan, University College Dublin
Selected Bibliography
Citation
William Mulligan: Germany's Blank Cheque to Austria-Hungary, in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2015-07-01. DOI: 10.15463/ie1418.10677
External Links
