TSAR AND THE WAR

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1927, Page 12

TSAR AND THE WAR

THE FATEFUL DECISION. KAISER’S DUBIOUS MESSAGE. Paris, Sept. 23. An interesting article which bears Hie character of an historic document is contributed to thq Revue des Deux Mondes by M. Sazonoff, formerly Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, who tells how the Tsar Nicholas came to give the mobilisation order on the tragic afternoon of July 30, 1914. It was after a conversation with General Yanouchkeyitch, Chief of the Russian General Staff, who intimated to M. Sazonoff that the only means of safety was the immediate mobilisation of all the forces of the empire, that he decided to see the Tsar and to submit to him a report on the situation. M. Sazonoff telephoned to Peterhof Palace, and, after waiting a few minutes, he heard a voice which he did not recognise at first. It was the voice of a man who was not accustomed to the telephone. He wanted to khow who the person was who was telephoning to him, and where he was. M. Sazonoff revealed his identity, adding that lie was'in the office of the Chief of the General Staff. When M. Sazonoff was asked what he wanted, he replied that he had a report which it was urgent to submit.

The Tsar received M. Sazonoff at three o’clock in the afternoon. His Majesty, who looked tired and anxious, suggested that General Tatishtcheff, who had to start for Berlin, where for several years he had been attached to the suite of the Kaiser, should be present at the reading of the report. M. Sazonoff consented, but lit the same time he expressed a doubt whether General Tatishtcheff could return to Berlin. “You think it is already too late?” asked the Emperor. M. Sazonoff gave an affirmative reply. General Tatishtcheff entered the room, and M. Sazonoff began to read his report, the Tsar now and then moving his head by way of confirming what was read. THE KAISER’S TELEGRAM. That very morning the Tsar had received a telegram from the Kaiser in which William 11. declared that if Russia continued her mobilisation against Austria-Hungary it would be impossible for him to continue the role of mediator, and the Tsar, who had to choose between peace and war, would be responsible for the decision taken. M. Sazonoff saw by the Tsar’s expression that he was offended by the tone of the telegram. “Nothing but menaces; not a word in response to the proposal to submit the Austria-Serbian dispute to the judgment of the Hague Tribunal,” is his comment on this telegram. In a voice fall of emotion the Tsar said: “He asks me to do the impossible. He appears to have forgotten that Austria has mobilised before us. Now he asks us to stop our mobilisation without, saying a word about the mobilisation of the Austrians. You already know that I have only consented to a partial mobilisation. If I accepted the demands of Germany now we should be disarmed before Austria. /That would be madness.”

M. Sazonoff replied that in no manner could the responsibility for war fall on the Tsar, that neither he nor ilia Government had wanted war, i.nd that in order to avoid it the Tsar had gone to the extreme in making the most painful sacrifices of the national dignity. M. Sazonoff assured the Tsar that his conscience was clear and that neither before God nor before 'he future generations of the Russian people could he be held responsible ’or the effusion of blood that this terrible war would cause to Russia and to Europe. M. Sazonoff stood silently oefore the Emperor, watching his face attentively, on which he could follow the phases of the internal struggle that was torturing him. The fate of Russia and of the Russian people depended upon his decision. “Everything had been attempted in order to prevent the disaster,” M. Sazonoff writes. “All had been useless. Nothing more remained to us bpt to draw the sword in defence of our vital interests. We were driven into an impasse.” Eventually the Emperor, pronouncing each word painfully, said: “You are right. It only remains for us to prepare to repel an aggression. Transmit to the Chief of the General Staff my orders for mobilisation.”

The Emperor had conquered the doubts which had oppressed him and his decision was irrevocable.