tance, at Vienna, by England in a friendly tone.
According to him Austria was not uncompromising; what she rejects
is the idea of a formal mediation, the 'spectre' of a conference:
a peaceful word coming from St. Petersburg, good words said in a
conciliatory tone by the powers of the Triple Entente, would have
a chance of being well received. He added, finally, that he did
not say that Germany on her side would not give some advice at
Vienna.

"In these conditions the Political Director announced that he
would ask the minister if it appeared to him opportune to
communicate to the press a short note in a moderate tone."

M. Chevalley, French Minister at Christiania, telegraphed to M.
Bienvenu-Martin that the whole German fleet in Norway was returning
to Germany. M. d'Annoville, French Charge d'Affaires at Luxemburg,
telegraphed that the last four classes of [German] reservists set at
liberty had been forbidden to leave their places of residence, and
were ordered to hold themselves at the disposition of the
_Kommandutur_ at any moment.

MONDAY, JULY 27, 1914

_Austria-Hungary._ On the following day Count Szapary,
Austro-Hungarian Ambassador at St. Petersburg, telegraphed Count
Berchtold, Minister for Foreign Affairs at Vienna, of a conversation
he had just had with M. Sazonof.

Mistaken impressions, he told the Russian Minister for Foreign
Affairs, were abroad in Russia as to Austria-Hungary's intentions.

"We were credited with wishing to push forward into Balkan
territory, and to begin a march to Salonica or even to
Constantinople. Others, again, went so far as to describe our
action merely as the starting point of a preventive war against
Russia. I said that all this was erroneous, and that parts of it
were absolutely unreasonable. The goal of our action was
self-preservation and self-defense against hostile propaganda by
word, in writing, and in action, which threatened our integrity.
It would occur to no one in Austria-Hungary to threaten Russian
interests, or indeed to pick a quarrel with Russia. And yet we
were absolutely determined to reach the goal which we had set
before us, and the path which we had chosen seemed to us the most
suitable. As, however, the action under discussion was action in
self-defense, I could not conceal from him that we could not
allow ourselves to be diver