ultimatum. If it did, it was guilty of duplicity, for the German
Ambassador at St. Petersburg gave to the Russian Minister of Foreign
Affairs an express assurance that

_the German Government had no knowledge of the text of the
Austrian note before it was handed in and had not exercised
any influence on its contents. It is a mistake to attribute
to Germany a threatening attitude._[6]

[Footnote 6: Russian _Orange Paper_, No. 18.]

This statement is inherently improbable. Austria was the weaker of the
two allies, and it was Germany's saber that it was rattling in the
face of Europe. Obviously Austria could not have proceeded to extreme
measures, which it was recognized from the first would antagonize
Russia, unless it had the support of Germany, and there is a
probability, amounting to a moral certainty, that it would not have
committed itself and Germany to the possibility of a European war
without first consulting Germany.

Moreover, we have the testimony of Sir M. de Bunsen, the English
Ambassador in Vienna, who advised Sir Edward Grey that he had "private
information that the German Ambassador (at Vienna) knew the text of
the Austrian ultimatum to Servia before it was dispatched, and
telegraphed it to the German Emperor," and that the German Ambassador
himself "indorses every line of it."[7] As he does not disclose the
source of his "private information," this testimony would not by
itself be convincing, but when we examine Germany's official defense
in the German _White Paper_, we find that the German Foreign Office
admits that it was consulted by Austria previous to the ultimatum and
not only approved of Austria's course but literally gave that country
a carte blanche to proceed_.

[Footnote 7: English _White Paper_, No. 95.]

This point seems so important in determining the sincerity of
Germany's attitude and pacific protestations that we quote _in
extenso_. After referring to the previous friction between Austria
and Servia, the German _White Paper_ says:

In view of these circumstances Austria had to admit that
it would not be consistent either with the dignity or
self-preservation of the Monarchy to look on longer at the
operations on the other side of the border without taking
action. _The Austro-Hungarian Government advised us of its
view of the situation and asked our opinion in the matter.
We were able to assure our Ally most heartily of our