5 July, Potsdam: After reading the documents the Kaiser expresses some caution mentioning the possibility of “a serious European complication” and that he needs to hear the opinion of the Chancellor.
After lunch Szögyény again presses the seriousness of the situation and the Kaiser authorises him to tell the Emperor “Austria-Hungary may reckon on full support from Germany”. As he had said, he must first hear the Chancellor’s opinion but did not doubt he would entirely agree with his own view.
He says “… there should be no delay. Russia’s attitude will be hostile in any event, …. we should be confident that Germany will stand by our side with the customary loyalty of allies. …. if we had truly recognised the necessity of a military action against Serbia, then he would regret it if we failed to exploit the present moment, which is so advantageous to us”.
The Kaiser thinks that as things stand today, Russia is not prepared for war and will think long and hard over whether to issue the call to arms. [More]