Monday, July 20, 1914. It’s been nearly a month since Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, was assassinated in Sarajevo, but The Record has had little to say about a buildup to war in Europe. An editorial in today’s paper hints that that may change soon.
The big international story for American readers is still the impending transfer of power in Mexico that may end that country’s civil war. In Europe, the big news today is the trial in Paris of Mme. Caillaux, the wife of a former French finance minister, for the murder of a prominent newspaper editor. However, our paper finds space on its editorial page for an item titled “International Feelings.”
“There is a lack of international neighborliness in Europe which is largely responsible for the military preparations which are withdrawing hundreds of thousands of men from the pursuits of peace,” our editorial writer notes, “Nearly every day the people of France and Germany hear stories which cause them to feel that their respective countries are on the verge of war.”
The immediate cause of concern in Europe is tension between Austria and Serbia. Austria blames Serbia for the murder of Franz Ferdinand by a Bosnian Serb nationalist and may attack the neighboring monarchy in reprisal. Russia may go to war with Austria to protect Serbia, but Germany would have to fight Russia to defend its Austrian ally. Russia in turn is allied with France.
Rumors of war between France and Germany are nothing new to newspapermen. As our writer sees it, both countries spread such rumors to justify further military spending.
“A French military authority may assert that the war establishment is wholly unprepared for armed conflict with such a powerful neighbor as Germany. Then one of the military authorities in the Kaiser’s realm will announce that the Frenchman is ‘bluffing’ for the purpose of scaring the republic into fresh sacrifices for military expenditures.
“This announcement is likely to cause the Fatherland to devote renewed attention to its defenses. Germany must have an army superior to the 900,000 troops under arms in France” — or so the German military establishment claims.
The spending war between France and Germany is “creating a burden of debt which is causing dissatisfaction among those subjects who have grown tired of offering financial support to the ambitious schemes of a few unscrupulous statesmen,” our writer claims.
How will those subjects respond should war grow more likely? The Record makes no predictions but warns that “A manifestation of mutual suspicion on the part of two countries is most likely to be attended with evil results.”
— Kevin Gilbert