Drafting: The preparation of the reply is chaotic as changes are made up to the last moment. In the final version the Serbs give the impression they are accepting as much as possible of the ultimatum while rejecting outright only point six – the participation of Austro-Hungarian officials in the judicial inquiry.
The drafting is clever and subtle. The wording is conciliatory and caveats are included on nearly every point which would lead to lengthy discussions and enable Serbia to avoid implementing many of them.