The Letter That Engulfed Europe Into WWI

By August 1, 1914, Europe already faced war as Austria-Hungary began its invasion of Serbia, but that was a local war. It was the declaration of war by Germany and Russia that truly turned this into a European-wide war. This began with a letter as Germany officially declared war on Russia.

The German Empire Declares War On the Russian Empire

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand threw the Balkans into turmoil as two of the largest nations, Serbia and Austria-Hungary edged into conflict. This was a series of diplomatic exchanges between the nations Austria-Hungary attempted to use the situation to extract concessions from Serbia.

Although the Hapsburg Empire was much larger, Serbia had an ace in the hole, its alliance with Russia, Europe’s largest power. The Tsar warned that an invasion of Serbia would mean war with them. Meanwhile, Austria-Hungary’s ally the German Empire had also promised their support in whatever they did.

When it became clear that the July Crisis would not have a clear end, both empire’s involvement became inevitable. In response, Russia began mobilizing its armies to fight the two powers. Seeing this, the German Empire issued its own ultimatum to Russia, warning them that unless they demobilized their armies, their actions would be considered an act of war as can be seen by their official statement to Russia.

Presented by the German Ambassador to St. Petersburg

The Imperial German Government have used every effort since the beginning of the crisis to bring about a peaceful settlement. In compliance with a wish expressed to him by His Majesty the Emperor of Russia, the German Emperor had undertaken, in concert with Great Britain, the part of mediator between the Cabinets of Vienna and St. Petersburg; but Russia, without waiting for any result, proceeded to a general mobilisation of her forces both on land and sea. In consequence of this threatening step, which was not justified by any military proceedings on the part of Germany, the German Empire was faced by a grave and imminent danger. If the German Government had failed to guard against this peril, they would have compromised the safety and the very existence of Germany. The German Government were, therefore, obliged to make representations to the Government of His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias and to insist upon a cessation of the aforesaid military acts. Russia having refused to comply with this demand, and having shown by this refusal that her action was directed against Germany, I have the honour, on the instructions of my Government, to inform your Excellency as follows: —

His Majesty the Emperor, my august Sovereign, in the name of the German Empire, accepts the challenge, and considers himself at war with Russia.

German Embassy to Russa

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