When Diplomacy Fails Podcast
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#56: 2 August 1914 IV - Let Loose World Madness
🕑 Added 2025-04-21 05:30:01 +0000 UTCEven as Moltke examined Germany's strategic options, the world was turning against Germany. Berlin pressed its case by pointing out the Russian sins of dishonesty and pre-emption, but was anyone listening? Britain's diplomats in Berlin, St Petersburg, and Vienna had had enough. The news from Luxemburg was a clear sign of things to come, and even if they were sympathetic to the Kaiser's position, the German response was viewed as an overreaction. Declarations of war came from Berlin and Vienna, not Paris and St Petersburg, and this was bound to drown out any pleas about technicalities.
To make up for this, German officials began reporting with increasing frequency on rumours and conjecture, dressing up impossible stories about outrages and violations as proof of Russian and French responsibility. But this only made their hole deeper, and even as Berlin cried foul, it was actively moving the ball forward, into Belgium. The imperatives of the Schlieffen Plan meant the ruin of Germany's reputation, and forced German officials to cling to the delusion that the eventual triumph would all be worth it - even while they opened Pandora's Box, and unleashed the madness of a great war upon the world.
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When Diplomacy Fails Podcast
Thanksss a million Ronald. Current situation is woeful, but at least the EU is mostly united and recognises the crisis for what it is. Whether it can successfully mobilise 27 states with their own ideas and needs is another story - but keep a watchful eye on Austria and Serbia just in case ;)
Ronald Henry
To Dr. Zack, thanks for the detailed accounting of Europe’s decent into madness. Could it all be happening again?
