Bethmann’s Bad Bet
“The faces of August 1914 were mostly tear-stained.Not those of the so-called masses. They had not yet reason to cry. World War I had just begun. Rather, those of the diplomats and political leaders whose incompetence and duplicity had allowed a conflict that might so easily have been resolved to develop into what would become the greatest clash of arms the world had hitherto witnessed.” Sanford Rose
Dolors & Sense
By Sanford Rose
KISSIMMEE Florida—(Weekly Hubris)—9/16/2013—The faces of August 1914 were mostly tear-stained.
Not those of the so-called masses. They had not yet reason to cry. World War I had just begun.
Rather, those of the diplomats and political leaders whose incompetence and duplicity had allowed a conflict that might so easily have been resolved to develop into what would become the greatest clash of arms the world had hitherto witnessed.
They knew they had erred grievously.
Thus, when Pourtales, the German ambassador to Russia, presented his country’s declaration of war to Sazonov, the Russian foreign minister, both burst into tears.
And when Lichnowsky, the German ambassador to Britain, made an unavailing last-minute appeal to Asquith, the British prime minister, tears again flowed.
Goschen, who represented Britain in Berlin, bawled so copiously when he handed German Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg Britain’s declaration of war that he asked to be allowed to remain in the room long enough so as not to be seen in his lachrymal state by the office staff.
It is not known whether Bethmann-Hollweg cried.
He should have.
Bethmann was a scholarly and conscientious man with little experience of foreign affairs when he succeeded Bulow as chancellor in 1909.
Whereas Bulow was a tactical genius, Bethmann was a bungler.
Whereas Bulow could manage the kaiser, Bethmann was terrified of Wilhelm’s disapproval.
Whereas Bulow pulled off a major diplomatic coup in forcing Russia to back down during the 1908-09 Bosnian crisis, Bethmann only aspired to similar feats.
And in that aspiration lay the tragedy that caused the war.
When Bethmann gave Germany’s tacit approval to Austria’s draconian ultimatum to Serbia, he thought that Russia would back off, giving both Austria and Germany the coup of which Bethmann dreamed.
Russia didn’t back off.
Interestingly, Bulow warned him that it wouldn’t.
He didn’t listen.
Note: to read more about John Singer Sargent’s painting, “Gassed,” access http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gassed_%28painting%29.
Sanford Rose
Sanford Rose, of New Jersey and Florida, served as Associate Editor of Fortune Magazine from 1968 till 1972; Vice President of Chase Manhattan Bank in 1972; Senior Editor of Fortune between 1972 and 1979; and Associate Editor, Financial Editor and Senior Columnist of American Banker newspaper between 1979 and 1991. From 1991 till 2001, Rose worked as a consultant in the banking industry and a professional ghost writer in the field of finance. He has also taught as an adjunct professor of banking at Columbia University and an adjunct instructor of economics at New York University. He states that he left gainful employment in 2001 to concentrate on gain-less investing. (A lifelong photo-phobe, Rose also claims that the head shot accompanying his Weekly Hubris columns is not his own, but belongs, instead, to a skilled woodworker residing in South Carolina.)