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| Magazine Cover of 1 December 1912 |
December 1912 had a number of signals impending peril that should have alarmed the governing classes in Europe. On 2 December German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg told the Reichstag in a speech that Germany would go to war if Austria-Hungary was attacked by any other nation as a matter of defending Germany's future and security. A few days later Kaiser Wilhelm met with his military leaders and reportedly speculated on the inevitability of war with Russia and the prospect of facing a Russian-French and British coalition. The very next day (9 December) unrepentant war advocate Conrad von Hötzendorff returned to influence as Austro-Hungarian minister of war and the empire's military forces were almost immediately mobilized in response to the turmoil in the Balkans.
If the politicians missed these portents, not everyone did. At the end of the month Russian poet Alexander Blok sensed a gloomy future:
Now at this hour of dejection
Like magic, firmly, desperation
Dismays me filling me with remorse. . .
Excellent post. A fine anticipation.
ReplyDeleteAnd that poster!